Beadwork as Meditation

by Jennifer VanBenschoten

Ask anyone who knows me well, and they'll tell you that I'm scattered.  All you have to do is take a look at the current state of my beading table to see for yourself:

But somehow, out of all that chaos, I can take a pile of beads with a needle and some thread and create something of beauty, even if the finished product itself seems to be a bit chaotic:

When I first started beadweaving, I was amazed that those tiny little beads and long lengths of thread had the power to relax me the way that they did.  When I was beading, I found that I was totally focused on what I was doing, and any other worries or problems that I had seemed to just melt away while I immersed myself in the rhythm of the thread path.

Even now, over fifteen years since I first picked up bead and needle and thread, I still think it's wonder that beads have the power to relax and focus me.  In a world where things seem to be zipping past at lightning speed, it's so important to find something that you love that makes you slow down and really pay attention.

There's something very Zen-like about the repetition of the needle moving through the beads as I work.  And there's the transformative aspect of the work as well: I start out with a pile of beads and some thread, and I end up with a piece that is definitely more than the sum of it's parts.

Is there a particular aspect of handmade work that appeals to you? 

Inside the Beadworks

by D'Arsie Manzella

Usually when I invite someone into my studio my heart rate goes up and I start chattering on like a wild raving metal enthusiast explaining the workings of my machinery, the mold making process and even the composition of my metal alloy.

This will happen no matter the guest's vocation or interest. I just can't contain myself. I will inevitably treat their visit as a college course they are not sure they signed up for. My friend will nod, smile and even exclaim "Oh!" or "Wow!" no doubt thinking that they have stumbled into the wrong classroom. The one with the crazy little animated professor.

But my blog reading friends, I will spare you the lecture, I will remain calm and try not to hop around with excitement while giving you a small peek into my beadworks.

This is my workstation.
You see my molds stacked to the right,
my sweet sisters on the left
and the pile of work before me right now!
The Count helps me keep track of inventory.

Working here on a large order for Chautauqua Institution.
These are Bell Towers and Hall of Philosophy Pendants.
I grew up in this place and am so
honored to be able to do this project.

Inventory awaiting the grinding and the tumbling.


And me, myself in my super hot safety goggles.
Hey, safety is sexy.

I hope you're having a wonderful and
productive day in your own sacred studio space!

Student seeking...a learning experience

by Patty Lakinsmith

I've been thinking a lot about classes lately, and what makes or breaks the experience from the student perspective. Bead and jewelry classes, that is. Classes can be very expensive, and sometimes require that you travel to some far away destination, and you want to feel like you've gotten enough from the experience to justify the time and expense.

I've had some really fantastic classes with amazing teachers, and I've had a few where I left feeling somewhat less than satisfied. What makes a learning experience valuable for a student, I'm wondering? I'll offer some of my own thoughts, and then it's your turn.

I like to feel that I've landed in the right class for my skill level, so I'm interested in a little reminder up front about the basic skills required for the class. If it becomes evident that I lack some particular type of experience for the class, I like to feel that the instructor will help guide me through the parts that might be challenging.

I like to feel that the instructor is paying attention to me, what I'm doing, how well I'm following what he or she has explained that I do. In short, I like to feel that there is a creative conversation going on, back and forth, and not just one way communication.

I like to feel that I'm learning some special techniques, like no other I could find on the internet by just googling around. I just love when an instructor shares a breadth of tips with us that transcend the particular bead we happen to be making.

I would like the instructor to ensure that help is given out to each who requests it, and not just to the most vocal students. Once I had a bad experience where I was explaining my specific need for help to the instructor and another (louder?) student completely derailed the instructor to help her, leaving me out in the cold with the problem I had asked for help with. I would like my instructor to be sensitive to that and politely prevent the derailment from occurring, and to deal with one student at a time.

I like leaving class feeling like I have a brand new set of tools that can be applied as I want them, in my own unique work. It's especially cool when an instructor teaches techniques that are so multipurpose that each student could use them and nobody would end up with the same end product. Making that transition from learning how one instructor creates to how you can apply those techniques in your own special way to your work is the very difficult homework that we all take away from our classes.

What about the less tangible side? Do students want to take classes in a vacation-like setting, to just relax? Or do they want to learn as much as possible, foregoing many comforts in their quest to pack in the information? I've definitely leaned toward the latter, although the older I get the more I entertain thoughts of the former. Yeah, a cruise with beads, sounds great!

Now it's your turn. What classes have you taken that live on in your memory as outstanding learning experiences? What made them so special for you? What teacher characteristics are important? What is your biggest class peeve?

monday giveaway -

mary jane dodd

'i shut my eyes in order to see.'

~ paul gauguin

i find that when i work in metal, my desire is to enhance its innate ability to be soft, to provide contrast to what one often associates with this medium... 

using color palettes that are often much more subtle than this, i found myself inspired by the monthly challenge at art bead scene - 'nave nave moe' by paul gauguin... his rich colors and luscious forms... 

these earrings are offered up as the giveaway, they are copper but have sterling silver ear wires... the drawing will take place on april 11th... 

please leave a comment to be entered and perhaps share your thoughts on this::

if you had to share 2 of your favorite books - technique, project oriented, or even just eye candy, what would they be? do you have a technique that you have learned that is indispensable to you? do you have one that you desire to learn? i am hoping that by sharing your tried and trues here, it may help someone else in their process... 

sharing your world

mary jane dodd

Handmade Portraits: Nanopod from Etsy on Vimeo.

this beautiful short film - for i refuse to call it a video - was shared with me by a friend... meet tosca hidalgo y teran - who also happens to be a fellow etsy seller... 

 unclassified

her work is beautiful, complex, insightful and intelligent... while her detailed descriptions share the depth of her knowledge, inquiry and vision - this film has made her unforgettable to me... 

when selling your work, the 'hows' and 'whats' - the nuts and bolts of the piece - are necessary to explain... value obviously increases when more complex techniques, more expensive materials, greater skill are employed with higher levels of proficiency... and while i love to read about what one has put into their work & may marvel at the execution, it is the 'whys' that cement people in my brain and heart... they draw me in so i feel connected... i want to understand why specific choices were made, why there are important to the creator... 

to read more about tosca ... and etsy.tv

and thank you renate for always sharing things of interest and beauty with me... you keep me dreaming and striving... 

designer of the week -

mary jane dodd

our contributing followers are presenting us with beautiful and inspiring work - to the point that i had to randomly pick this week - for that i thank you! it is wonderful to see how the 'call' is speaking to people... 

molly alexander

who did all of the enameling and wire work herself... i love the soft colors, the metals and leather, that gorgeous jade used as an accent... 

you can visit molly's blog here and her etsy shop here ... 

there are still a couple of days if you would like to enter - simply follow these rules - and you can be entered to win the terrific items donated by our sponsors!

remember, if you would like to be a sponsor for our monthly challenges, just contact me... besides sharing your talent, you will be getting a free month of advertising on the blog... 

.......the hurrier I go...........

by Kelli Pope


"The hurrier I go, the behinder I get."
~ Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland


Have you ever felt that way? WOW!! What a week!! My first Spring art show is this weekend, and I'm nowhere close to being ready. Working full time leaves little time for my "creative getaways". I love to just hole up in my studio, and get lost in jewelry making. (Sometimes the mood calls more for making components where I get to HAMMER!! :o) I'm sure some of you can relate!!) Due to a crazy work schedule and other commitments, I just haven't fully filled that creative need this week, nor the inventory I'd hoped to have. I think most, if not all of the pieces I posted last week, went to one of my wonderful retail shops in Cadiz, Ky.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. I could not do it all without my wonderful, supportive husband. (Nor would I want to!) He's cooked and cleaned, run errands, antiqued components and kept me sane this week. LOVE YOU, STEVE!!!!! You are my rock! Thank you for supporting my need to create!

Here are a few of my favorites from this week.... then back to the studio I go!!!

Hammered sterling silver, and antiqued, hammered copper

Hammered sterling silver, hammered antiqued copper and patinated copper components and pendant by Shannon LeVart.

Antiqued, hammered copper with FABULOUS ceramic beads by Mary Ann Carroll! Don't you just love that texture??

( They may just be my most favorite, EVER!)

Hammered sterling silver, and ceramic beads and pendant by Mary Ann. These beads have a GREAT finish on them.. glassy with a bit of a crackle.

Have a wonderful week, jewelry fans!!! I hope the hurrier YOU go the "aheader" you get! :)

Copyright in a Nutshell (Sandwich)

For today's post, I want to share some thoughts with our readers about being an artist and copyright.  As an artist who has had original designs published in national beading magazines, I get a lot of questions about whether or not it's okay for someone to make a copy of an artist's work and sell it.  It's a common misconception that just because a set of directions have been published in a book or magazine it means that it's okay to make those pieces and sell them or teach them to others without asking for permission from the artist who designed them.

Take a few minutes to watch this video by artist Tara Reed about copyrights and stealing sandwiches:




 I think Tara has a very good point - artists have bills to pay, just like everyone else.  So while it's great that we can share some aspects of our art for free through our blogs and by offering free tutorials sometimes, it's also very important that we find a way to bring in income with our art.  For my family, my art is very important because that's how I earn 100% of my income.

 And copyright theft isn't just limited to visual arts and crafts.  A few months ago, there was an uproar over a small culinary magazine that copied articles from cooking blogs and published them in their magazine without giving any credit to the original authors.  When one blogger found that her article had been used without her permission, she contacted the editor of the magazine.  The reply she received from the magazine's editor told her that she should be "thankful" that they did such a good job editing her article and how any content on the Internet was actually just public domain.  (In reality, content on the Internet is subject to copyright, just the same as it is in books and magazines.) 


But there are still people out there who think it's okay to copy a design they see in a book or magazine or on the Internet, just because they can.  Last year, I opened a catalog from a major bead supply company and was shocked to see a copy of one of my designs which had been entered in their beading competition!  While it wasn't an exact copy, it had all of the same elements as my original design with a few minor changes, which made it a derivative of my original.  (Like Tara explained by taking some of the ham and some of the bread out of her sandwich.)  Even though I emailed and called the company several times to see if I could have the design removed from their website, they never followed up with me.  As a result, I no longer choose to spend my money with this company or promote them in any way. 

As an artist and a businesswoman, protecting my designs is very important to me.  It makes me very sad (and a little angry) to see unethical copying of art and design. 

So what can you do to prevent copyright theft?

I like the idea of promoting education about intellectual property rights and copyright.  The more people know, the better it is for everyone.  Some people copy designs and sell them without really knowing that it's not the ethical thing to do, so I think it's important to help them understand that what they are doing is actually taking money out of someone else's pocket.

The other thing that I think all artists can and should do is to continue to grow and develop your work as much as possible.  The more you work, the more you can develop your own style.  Art is all about finding your own voice, and you can't do that by using someone else's work!  Copying someone else's design or project is great for learning a new technique or improving your own crafting skills.  But take those techniques and skills and turn them into something that is all YOU!

Marcia DeCoster at Bead Society Meeting - DeeeLightful!

Marcia DeCoster

Sinced I waxed so poetic about it last week before it even happened, I thought I'd pass on the summary of the Northern California Bead Society meeting that I wrote for my own blog.

The evening of Marcia's talk was just...wonderful. I attended my first Northern California Bead Society meeting where Marcia DeCoster was the featured speaker, and she gave a wonderful talk. She had just wrapped up the new and enormously popular Beading by the Bay retreat in San Francisco, and BSNC was able to book her for the talk.

In addition to providing an entertaining timeline of her beading career, she spoke very comfortably and casually about developing core skills in beadweaving, how to structure your environment to foster creativity, the importance of reusable components, where to find inspiration and influences for your work, the notion of exploration, and capturing ideas as they are born.

Marcia finds that her best inspiration for new designs comes when she is away from home, surrounded by other creative people, and able to focus on new ideas.

A collaboration between Marcia DeCoster and Heather Trimlett

Some of the beaded eye candy Marcia brought.

As a newbie to the seed beading world it was fascinating to me to see her work in person (it is both richly complex and beautiful), and I can hardly imagine how some of her weaving patterns come to be. Having at least dipped my toes a little into the sead beady sea I was able to understand some of the terms she used, but many are still Greek to me. I was grateful to have done the little bit I have done, or I'm sure I would have been completely lost, yet still awed.

Amazing!

Keep your eyes on her website this fall, when registration for 48 lucky beaders opens for next year's Beading by the Bay retreat, featuring instructors Sherry Serafini, Rachel Nelson-Smith, and Marcia.

Marcia, Little Hoot, and Rachel.
Visit Marcia's blog to read the story about Little Hoot.

Mary Ann, I did ask her about her hands, and she said that yes, like many other beaders, she has suffered with some pain. She treats it by doing the standard recommended exercises, taking advil, and taking a rest from beading. She said she doesn't bead as much as people would think, which is no surprise given her involvement in all of the other aspects of her beading business.

There you have it! A DeeeeLightful evening.

winners all

mary jane dodd

for spring has sprung in the northern hemisphere and autumn begun in the southern...

'in the spring, 

i have counted 136 different kinds of weather 

inside of 24 hours.'

~ mark twain

and congratulations to carol of dillman's dallies for winning d'arsie's earrings!  please contact her here ... 

you also still have a couple of days to enter march's call to create - for the generous offerings to one randomly chosen winner - see the right hand sidebar!

final day

mary jane dodd

to win these wonderful earrings by our own d'arsie manzella... please make sure to leave a comment here ... 


d'arsie makes the most wonderful mini sculptures - and i have turned to her work when i needed something very meaningful and special... 


this piece is one of my most powerful amulets... her wise mama  sits at the soft spot in my throat, allowing me to speak my truth when i feel vulnerable...

(and, yes, i would love this tattoo!)

mary ann posed some interesting questions to our readers - because we really want to talk about what you want to hear about! it helps us to develop a better relationship with you - we love the idea of community and want this to be a place where collectively we share and learn... we know that artistic minded people are often isolated - i know i am so grateful to blogger for allowing me to meet so many wonderful individuals... 


drawing for d'arsie's earrings will be tomorrow!

Designer of the Week

Congratulations Kristy Bowman!!!!!!!!!!!!




Here's what Kristy had to say about these fun earrings. "Bronze Metal Clay charms handmade by me, fun Lampwork Glass beads by blueseraphim.
I just made lots of bronze pieces and was looking around the studio for something that would work with some of them for this months challenge. I think these lampwork beads fit the bill to perfection, they have really great colors and even have loads of fun like the goofy cupcakes posted on the challenge page!"

Designer of the Week

Designer of the Week

Spring has SPRUNG!!!! (well, almost!)

by Kelli Pope

.................and so have my fingers!!! :0) With my Spring shows just around the corner, and coming on fast, I've been working furiously this week to get ready for them. Of course, as is usually the case, some of the shops where I'm on consignment, are also in need of pieces. So, my winter break is over, and it's on, on, on until ......... well, next January!! Better find some good finger exercises, huh?

Hammered sterling silver, with my own ceramic beads & pendant

Hammered copper with my turquoise ceramic beads & pendant

Hammered copper with my sage ceramic beads & pendant

Hammered antiqued brass with my ceramic beads and crawl glazed beads by Mary Ann Carroll

(a great pairing!! wish you could see the beautiful sage green highlights on these beads)

Hammered sterling silver with my light blue beads and butterfly pendant

Hammered antiqued copper with my turquoise on red stoneware.

Earrings on top left feature patinated copper from MissFickleMedia that go great with my beads!!

Hammered sterling silver with beads by Mary Ann Carroll, paired with beads by Gaea

And back to the studio I go...........

What are you excited about making this week??

treasure hunt

mary jane dodd

sea spray by jamie spinello

as one who tends to be very task oriented when it comes to spending time on etsy, i am in LOVE with etsy circle and activity feed...


the activity feed is the spiral just to the right of the orange 'etsy' box in the grey bar across the top (are you blown away by my technical lingo or what?)... as you add to your circle your world will expand - 


oh the places you'll go and the people you'll meet... because when someone in your circle favorites a shop or item, you get to see what they have discovered! i don't often linger and search randomly... and i know i am missing out on magic... but let's face it, we have to make choices with our time... but now every day is a treasure hunt... 


because someone in my circle had favorited a shop - i got to meet jamie spinello above... 

tuareg necklace

and ineke hemminga's shop that benefits the nomads of the tuareg region in south algeria...

if you haven't looked into circle and the activity feed, i encourage you to do so -

do you have a feature on etsy that you would like to share? they surely do have vast resources available - 

hOw dO yOu dO it?

by MaryAnn Carroll

You guessed it!  Very good!  Those BIG O's are just like the little balls that you will start out with when you make ceramic beads using this little tutorial.

Creative, huh?

Thank-you ;o)

Okay, joking aside, periodically, I will do my posts about what goes into making my handmade ceramic beads, pendants, components, etc.  If you are beadmaker using whatever medium that you love and you have a tutorial that you would like to share on our blog, please contact me at artsanbeadsplus@gmail.com.  I think the more we share about the process, the more there will be a greater understanding about what goes into creating handmade.  This also goes for those of you who have completed jewelry made with all handmade components.... The more the merrier, I've always heard!

This tutorial is one that I actually made for Kelli Pope quite some time ago.  It seemed like the right time to take it back out and share it on our blog.  Some of the information that I have in this [no longer sanding because of dust] really deserves more attention than just dust.  Clay has particles in it called silica.  If inhaled for long periods of time it will create serious health risks.  If you are interested in making ceramic beads, please check out the Beads of Clay website to learn more about safety.

Here is the basic method that I used when I create beads.

Visit Ceramic Bead Artists to see some more fun tutorials.

I will work on another tutorial about what comes next... 

Hey, if I dig far enough into my computer,

I might already have one!!

~Thank-you for being someone who supports creating handmade with handmade~

Bead Society Meeting tonight...with Marcia DeCoster!

I'm so excited about tonight's Bead Society of Northern California gathering! I've been a member for over a year, but have never managed to make it to a meeting, held over 50 miles away. But tonight, superstar Marcia DeCoster is the guest and she will give a presentation on "The Road to Opulence: My Journey With Beads". I know it's going to be hugely inspiring.

I've just taken the plunge into the seed bead world myself, and suspect this is going to be a fascinating evening. Marcia just finished teaching the annual Beading by the Bay weekend workshop, a popular event I could only hope to join one day. I may have to very soon, however, since next year the 3 instructors will be Marcia, Rachel Nelson-Smith, and Sherry Serafini. Rachel is an extremely prolific and talented local bead weaver with a great book and another "in the oven", and I'm proud to call her my friend as well. We're driving to the meeting together and I'm taking my copies of Marcia's and Rachel's books to be autographed.

Anyway, I'd love to share this experience with you! I will definitely have my camera and will take lots of sparkly pictures, but let me ask you this. If there was one question you could ask of either Marcia or Rachel about beading, what would it be?

LMAJ Giveaway...

Have you heard of Mamacita Beadworks?

Well, if not... just look at what you have been missing.

These were donated by D'Arsie Manzella, a very, very talented artist.

Visit D'Arsie's shop for some other fabulous work.

Minnow Earrings

Hand cast pewter minnows displayed in front of hand crafted Raku tiles.

Ear wires are silver plated copper.

Thank-you, D'Arsie for the very cool donation!

And, what do you need to do to enter this giveaway?

Since our blog is still in its infancy, we have been discussing updating with some new and innovative ideas. With that said, who better to ask the following question of, but our current readers.

What types of posts do you like when you read a group blog?

Do you like human interest stories with a personal twist related to beads and jewelry?

Do you like tutorials?

Are you a fan of challenges?

Is there something else that keeps you returning to read group blogs?

Please leave a comment letting us know what types of posts keep you coming back.

Also...if you are the "hard-to-get-ahold of" type...

please leave us an email where you can be contacted.

We will announce the winner on Monday, March 21st.

~creating handmade with handmade~

"Wow!! That is Expensive!!!"

by MaryAnn Carroll

For any of us who make beads and/or jewelry, I would guess that this is a reaction that you have probably heard, whether mumbled to their friend or made directly to you at some time.

Well.... I say...

"You get what you pay for!"

After my most recent glaze firing, I was once again faced with the dilema of pricing.  I try to be fair, but also, I put a lot of time into my work to make a high quality product, so I'm not going to give them away.  What I do is this... I base my prices on the amount of time that I put into each bead.  Beads that are basic rounds with one glaze take the least amount of time so they are the least expensive.  If a round bead, however, is large, then it takes up more room in the kiln which means fewer beads in that firing (beads cannot touch each other during a glaze firing).  In that case, that bead would be priced higher do to that fact.

Then, we have the beads above which were created from porcelain clay at the same time.  They are basically the same size (I don't measure while making beads) and both glazed.  The beads on the right cost more than the beads on the left.  Although you might think that the beads on the left look like they have two glazes, they don't.  They have one glaze that "breaks" on the edge of a ceramic piece.  This simply means that while the glaze is melting in the kiln, certain areas will puddle in greater amounts and edges, bumps, etc. will not.  Both very cool.....  but the time invested was different.

And then we have these expensive little babies that you see above.  Well....I LOVE the look (picture doesn't do them justice, but the time invested far exceeds that of some of my other beads.... 

And they all came out of this little kiln shown above.  This is a doll kiln, which is perfect for the amount that I am able to create at one time.

I also own these ceramic beads above.  I believe that they are manufactured in China.  While there is nothing wrong with them and some do have some of the same effects as my handmade, they were most likely produced in a factory, which is why the price is considerably lower than handmade ceramic beads.

Those, most likely, came from a kiln such as the one above.

So.... I hope that you learned a little more about why those of us who create handmade might need to charge more......

Like they sometimes say, "Wow!!  That is expensive!!"

I say.......

"Yup! You get what you pay for."

To see a funny little video about pricing at shows, click HERE for one of Patty's posts.

call to create

mary jane dodd

our march call-to-create is based around these colors:

and just look at the wonderful piece created by alice peterson of peachtree!  you can also find alice over at the bliss guild... 

here is what alice had to say about her entry ~

'I am so ready for spring (aren't we all) and I couldn't help but think of spring when I saw the inspiration for this month's challenge.

The gorgeous butterfly is from Menagerie Studio on etsy, and the sweet little pink glass bead is from Quinlan Glass. Prehnite faceted nuggets and Vintaj components finish the piece.'

thank you alice for submitting your work! 

there is still time to enter our call.... click here to read more about this month's theme... 

and good luck! we have some beautiful beads to give away to a lucky winner!

Fun with MissFickleMedia

by Kelli Pope

After my first couple years of making jewelry, I finally found my "zone" as Patti called it. I stopped trying to make what everyone else was making, or what people were asking for, and made what I liked. What I would want to buy and wear. To my surprise, and delight my business just took off!!!!!!!! I was thrilled. No longer was I a "beader". I was finally the jewelry artist I had longed to be. What I'm drawn to is earthy, rustic, casual, natural. I found myself drawn to wood, lava, stones, patinated metals and rustic ceramic beads. That's what I wanted to share with everyone. Soon, someone introduced me to ETSY, and I found Mary Ann Carroll and Shannon Levart (MissFickleMedia). I was SOOOOOOOOO hooked. I knew, if I could made my own beads, and patinated my own metals, it would be very similar to what I found in their work. Their art just spoke to me! Even though I'm finally making my own ceramic beads, I still buy from Mary Ann, and probably always will. She has some glazes and shapes that just scream out to me to buy them. (I've joked with her that I need B.A..... Beads Anonymous.... bead buying is QUITE addictive!! Especially with her beads!)

Below is what I found last week when I opened my last package from Shannon. YUMMY!! Chains and pendants and links, OH MY!!!

And to my absolute delight, it all goes WONDERFULLY with the ceramic beads I just made!!!

Her saffron chain, with my leopard shino beads.

Her aqua chain and pendants with my turquoise beads and pendants! And last but not least, Shannon's "warrior cross". Please check out her blog to read about it. http://missficklemediacom.blogspot.com/ This beauty instantly replaced another dangle on one of my own necklaces. I knew I could not part with it.

I love the way it speaks out on my simple, silver necklace.

Thank you Shannon for your BEAUTIFUL work!!!