Nicole’s Brooch Kit

I cannot believe it is almost a month since my last blog post!!! shameful!!! and I apologize but I’ve been so uninspired (and tired) lately…. I started lots of projects but was neither inspired nor did I have the energy to finish any of them… until yesterday!

Yesterday I received a package in the mail from Nicole Campanella of Beadwright!!!! I was so excited !!!! I love receiving packages, especially when they contain beads!!! :-)

So I went to my favourite place to bead… my bed… I opened it and was pleasantly surprised to find one of Nicole’s beading kits inside!

I’ve never had a beading kit before and I never made a brooch before so I was super-excited to try it out and quickly opened it and laid it all out on my bed!

Inside was everything you need to create a gorgeous bead-embroidered dichroic brooch: Instructions, a beautiful dichroic cabochon (see photo below) , my favourite beadbacking (which Nicole makes), leather, beads, thread, wax and even a needle! All I had to provide was the glue, a pair of scissors and a few hours of my time :-)

So I set off to make the brooch! The instructions were clear, concise and easy to follow, there were plenty of beads (even some left over in case I decide to make something to match). Everything was clearly labelled so that when the instructions required to use one of the materials I knew exactly what to use!

I had so much fun making this!!!! and it couldn’t have come at a better time, in terms of me feeling uninspired and because I’ve been wrecking my brains trying to figure out what to give my mother for her upcoming birthday… and this is just perfect!!!

Picking up needle and beads again jump started me into finishing 2 of the many project I’ve had on the go and had no inclination to finish!!! So come back in a few days and check them out! In the meantime, here are Nicole’s links:

Kits: http://www.etsy.com/shop/Beadwright?section_id=5100236
Etsy Shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/Beadwright
Website: http://www.nicolecampanella.com
Blog: http://www.beadwright.blogspot.com
Nicole’s Beadbacking :
http://www.nicolecampanella.com/MYWEDSTIE/Bead_Backing.html

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Disclosure: I was asked to try out and review Nicole Campanella’s bead kit and I received the kit free of charge. This post reflects my honest opinion and Nicole Campanella is not compensating me for my endorsement as it pertains to the products received and reviewed.

Copper Fields

A few weeks ago I received my HUGE order of my favourite beadbacking from my dear friend Nicole Campanella of Beadwright and inside my seriously HUGE box she added a bag filled with goodies!!!! My favourite of all that was in the bag were these absolutely STUNNING dichroic cabochons. You have to understand, until then the only time I had ever seen dichroic glass was on the web, I had not seen one in real life and wow… they are just so gorgeous!!!! So the first thing I did was bead around one, of course :-)

Copper Fields – Pendant

Not only is Nicole the loveliest person… a talented beader…. but she makes the best beadembroidery backing!!!! and the best thing about it is that it comes in an array of colours! and… so much cheaper than the lacy stiff one (which only comes in white)!

Above is one of the cabs she sent me which I finished beading about a week ago… and below are the other 2 that are screaming for my attention!!! :-)

 

 

 

 

 

and these started me thinking…. I want to make some!!! So I’m now researching the possibility of me learning how to fuse glass… I’ve become obsessed in the search for information…. I need to try this out… I’ll let you know what develops….

and hopefully soon I will have made something out of those 2 gorgeous cabs above!

Wishing everyone a fabulous weekend!!!

Turquoise Delight Cuff

Yeahhh!!! I cleaned the table!!!! :-) it took me exactly 4 hours!!!! so no beading today... but at least now I have some room to bead!!! :-)

As promised here is Turquoise Delight Cuff - I was inspired to do this after having finished the Sherry Serafini necklace that I posted earlier.  As it happens, turquoise and bronze is one of my favourite colour combinations.... and seeing that I had loads of turquoise beads left over it was a given that I would make something with them... and here is that something! :-)

In my mind I knew exactly how I wanted it to turn out, but it took me a while to get the result I was looking for.  First I tried to bead embroider the cuff part... but that didn't look right...  then I tried a different version of that ... and although I really like how it looks and I will probably make something else with it (eventually).... it just didn't work!!! the cuff part just didn't want to curve and I didn't have a suitable clasp nor could I think of how to make one... so discarded that idea.... then I tried to weave a peyote band to attach to the centrepiece.... even worse!!!

 

 

But that gave me the idea, which I did use, to peyote stitch a band in the bronze Japanese seed beads and to attach it to to ultrasuede, sandwiching a brass cuff in between the beading and the ultrasuede to give it substance. Finally something I knew would work!!! It took about a week of working it all out but I got there in the end!!! :-)

Why am a telling you this? to show you what goes into designing a piece and how upsetting and annoying it is to have someone copy your design without a second thought to how much work it took to get there!!!

Nicole Campanella, over at Beadwright, is still taking in comments regarding bead ethics... pop over there and leave your tuppence worth! ;-)
http://beadwright.blogspot.com/2008/10/what-is-beadwork-ethics-do-you-know.html

I'm really pleased with how it turned out!!! It looks amazing on!!!! I might have to make a similar one for myself, seeing that this is my favourite colour combination and I actually don't have a bracelet in these colours. :-)
Till the next time.... happy beading!!!

Bead Ethics

The funniest thing happened to me a few weeks ago... well not funny ha ha... I mean funny=strange.... I went to my local shopping centre with my son, because I promised him a present :-), wearing my Black and Pearl Pendant (which is the project I taught for a class a few months ago) and I was accosted by a woman. ... All exited she started telling me that I must have learnt how to make the necklace in the same place where she did :-) well I was taken a bit back!!!! understatement of the year!!! :-) seems that one of the students that came to my class is the owner of a bead shop that is part of a larger chain of shops here in Israel.... and seems that she is teaching my class.... hmmm... my first instincts were to give this nice woman in the toy shop my card and feebly explain that it was my design.... I've never felt such a mixed bag of emotions... on one hand I was upset that after having spoken in the class that the design belonged to me but they could go ahead and teach the technique, which here happens to be bead-embroidery, and having printed the instructions with the appropriate copyright statement, that still someone who has a successful business would feel it ok to go ahead and teach the class without even giving me credit!!! The other half of me felt quite chuffed at the idea that people were actually signing up for my class, even though none of the earnings are going to me :-) Well, I was so confused about these mixed emotions that it took me a week to even mention it to my friends, or actually anyone.... one of the first people I told is my dear friend Nicole Campanella, who wrote back saying that lately she has received so many similar e-mails from other beaders that she decided to write a series on her blog about it. Her first post is What is Beadwork Ethics - Do you know? She is asking people for their opinions/thoughts on bead ethics... I feel really strongly about this matter, I felt just as strongly about it even before my little incident.... so please if you have an opinion on the matter let Nicole know by leaving a comment on her blog: http://beadwright.blogspot.com/2008/10/what-is-beadwork-ethics-do-you-know.html

Flatwork - My first appearance in a publication

I've been meaning to write this post for a really long time, well since May :-) when I received my copy of the book Flatwork by Nicole Campanella of Beadwright, but time has just not been on my side....

I feel truly honoured to have been included in the "Inspirational Gallery" of this great instructional beading and project book. Thank you so much Nicole!!!

FlatWork by Nicole Campanella
Beadwright Publishing

ISBN: 0-9767840-3-3
ISBN13: 978-0-9767840

For more details on the book and the author, please click on the following links:

Nicole Campanella
Beadwright Blog
Beadwright Etsy Shop

Nicole was kind enough to include 3 of my pieces !!! :-)

Aztec Treasure	Ancient Cuff	Eye of the Storm - SOLD

Eye of the Storm was my entry for the EtsyBeadweavers "Stormy Weather" Challenge and came in 2nd!!!! I'm almost a bit sad to say that this piece sold a few days ago. It really is one of my very favourites... and it will be missed, but I'm sure it has found a loving and caring owner who will wear it with pride :-)

Flatwork

Ok.... I just haven't found the time to post this... mainly working but also beading... so I decided to stop beading (temporarily of course) and write about the new book by Nicole Campanella of Beadwright that is about to come out and is already flying off... well not off the shelves, as it hasn't even reached there yet!!! ... but the pre-orders are flying in!!!

"Flatwork" is a beading project book with a gallery of flatwork created by artists from all over the world... and yes.... Nicole was kind enough to include some of my pieces in her book!!!! Isn't it amazing?!?! :-D I'm so exited.... I cannot wait for the book to come out!!! it's definitely one for my forever-growing beading library!!! For more details on the book and the author, go to:

http://www.nicolecampanella.com/

Thank you so much Nicole for including my work in your book!!!! :-) I really can't wait to see it and to try out all your wonderful techniques.... this book is G-d sent to me and just at the right time as I'm getting more and more into bead embroidery and am itching to learn so much more!!!!

Go order your copy, before it's too late :-)