Love Beads...

My friend Julie Cowan and I do stuff together, especially beading stuff.  We met on Facebook and have been friends now for quite some time.  She's been so generous to me, and so kind, and she is a very special friend.  We sometimes exchange things, send each other chocolate or beads or funny things (she sent me awesome gourmet cookies one time, too!!)...  we just took a 'class' together from CraftEdu online and had so much fun with it!  The class is by Cindy Chavez, and focused on making a goddess or doll form, and embellishing it with fabric and fibers and beads.   Today, we had a little exchange, Julie and I, as we had mailed each other things on Tuesday, and both boxes arrived at the same time, so we opened them while messaging on FB.  SO much fun!!  It could only have been better if we were sitting together in a coffee shop for the exchange.  :)

She sent me the goddess she made, and she is just so exquisite!!  If you look closely at the photo, you can see tiny little acorns and the beautiful fibers Julie used, dragonflies, flowers, gorgeous branching wings and the sweetest face... just like Julie herself.  It's very special to me - we had so much fun doing the class 'together' online, and this was a huge surprise to me, I had no idea Julie would give her to me!!

I can't reveal my goddess yet, as I am still waiting for Sherwood's flash camera part thing to come... the first one didn't work!!!  

Now, before you read any more... go and read Julie's blog, please - she tells the story so much better than I can.  

If you've gone and read it, you know what a huge honor Julie did me.  It took me a very long time to actually create the necklace, and Julie was very patient with me.  I had so many things happen this year that weren't good ones - and I didn't want to work on the piece when I wasn't happy or feeling good.  NO bad moods or sadness while making it, nope nope nope.  So I worked on it when I was ok and things were ok, and I tried very hard to make something that would reflect Julie's love and care of her Mother.  It was such a huge gift Julie gave me, to ask me to make this necklace.  I was terrified of sending it off when it was finished, because I was so afraid that she might not care for it - especially the beaded bits on the beads her Mom made, because I wasn't sure that covering even part of them up was an ok idea...  The bands of RAW on the beads were made to cradle them, and protect them, in the same way that Julie cares for and protects her Mom, and I left as much space as possible between the bands so that her beads would show through.  I chose purple because I know Julie loves it, and because it really set the turquoise off in the beads.  Each one is different, and has a different bead count because the beads were so one-of-a-kind themselves.  I strung it with lampwork by Irish at Lampwork Beads and Juls of Julsbeads, sterling beads and made loops with more silver at the ends, and then made a hexagon rope with a sterling flowery clasp because Julie loves nature and her garden so much; I wanted it to be as full of things she loved as possible.  

It means the world to me that she likes it - and that she put it on right away when she got it today.  Love you, lady bird - thank you SO much for asking me to make this special piece for you.   

Published! Website! Free things!

I have had one of my pieces, an interview and a whole project published, and haven't had a spare second to sit down and say thank you and write about them.  I am so happy to have been included, and my delay definitely wasn't from lack of excitement!  I also have some news on my website front, and a few freebies to offer up to anyone interested.

Firstly, I was hugely honored to have been included in the Gallery Section of Marcia DeCoster's Beads In Motion book.  This is one amazing book, let me tell you - the premise, that the beads can be used to construct pieces with movement and motion, makes every project a winner, and of course Marcia's design and color sense will just blow you away.  If you don't have it in your beading library yet, you MUST go get yourself one!  My favorite project from the book is the Victorian Slide Bracelet, with the fabulous Swing Dance Earrings (Lark has a free PDF download for these, too!) a close second.  Both of these look not only fun to bead, but fun to wear!!  (I'm a self-proclaimed fiddler when it comes to jewelry - I will constantly twiddle and play with whatever bead work I have on, so this book is heaven!)

Victorian Slide Bracelet 

Swing Dance Earrings

Marcia included my Spring Buds Necklace on Page 123; Spring Buds features a lampworked bead made by Diane Woodall, which swivels within it's 'bower.'  Thank you SO much, Marcia!!  Sabine Lippert's Pendulum Necklace is above me on the page, which makes me grin ear to ear.

Spring Buds Necklace

And, speaking of Sabine, I want to encourage you to visit her blog and read THIS post, and to visit Marcia's blog and read THIS post;  Sabine has been working on something important to the beady world, an alliance for a better, more honest and ethical beading community, something with a real positive slant rather than the usual negative view, and I think Marcia and Sabine have said everything perfectly, so I'm not going to try to word it any differently.  :)

In August, I was honored again, to be included in Issue #5 of Digital Beading Magazine Australia with an interview and my first ever published project!!  I didn't know who else was in the magazine until I received my copy of it - and was just knocked out to find that I was in there along with such beady superstars as Kerrie Slade, Lynn Davy, Kinga Nichols, Karolina Emingrova, Alla Maslennikova and many more.  My project is Springtime Wrap Bracelet - a beaded bracelet inspired by the macrame wrap bracelets which have been so popular this year.  I thought it would be fun to try to come up with the same kind of look in seed beads, and so wrote this project out earlier this year.

Springtime Wrap Bracelets

If you'd like to make the project, Digital Beading Mag can be found HERE, and you can buy the single issue if you aren't sure you want to subscribe.  But I can almost guarantee you will want to get the subscription, because this magazine is PACKED with projects and fabulous things - just busting at the seams with beadiness.  Kinga's cuff project is magical, Lynn's collar project is gorgeous and soooo versatile, and Kerrie's spiral rope with peanut beads has actually inspired me to get a few peanut beads and try them out; I honestly haven't picked up a single farfelle bead yet, but now I must! :)   A huge thank you to DBM for including my project - it's been so much fun, and I have had so many people tag me in photos of wrap bracelets they've made.  I love every single one of the ones I've seen, everyone can make something unique with it!

The website has been desperately needing a bit of updating, and Sherwood and I have spent the weekend working on it.  I found that some of my photos didn't have credit listed for the designers, which made me completely miserable - HUGE apologies to any designer whose work wasn't credited - it is now!!! A lot of my newer pieces weren't in the gallery, we needed to add some links and update the publications list and I wanted to make a customer gallery.  I really wanted to change fonts, as I was unhappy with the one I chose, so we did that too.  I am happy to say that we managed to get almost all of it accomplished.

The Customer Gallery is up and running, and it's full of beautiful variations people have made from my tutorials.  Please come and check it out!  If you've made one of my projects and would like to have your piece in the Customer Gallery, just send it to me at nedale67@gmail.com or post it on FB and tag me in the post, or send it to me via FB messaging.  This gallery is still in progress - if you've already sent me photos but they aren't up yet, they probably will be this time next week, so please check back!

My Tutorials Page has been updated as well, and there are now added links for the Mini Tutorials from here on my blog - Twisted Herringbone with Twins post and the Colorplay Ropes post.  There are also TWO full PDF patterns available for free, immediate download!   I have discontinued both my Lila Earrings Tutorial and my Perfect Evening Earrings Tutorial from my Etsy shop, and so both are now free for the taking if you visit my site.  (I'd love to see photos, if you decide to take advantage of them!)

 Perfect Evening Earrings

Lila Earrings

I have a sneakiness up my sleeve at the moment, and I had an idea for a necklace that I'm just itching to create as well, but I have to wait for my custom components to be made...

A New Thing!!

Do you micro macrame?  No?  Why NOT?  Yes? Then no wonder -  it's fabulous!!  I just love how it looks, and the lush colors the cords come in... drool...  I recently started looking into how this art is worked.  It turns out, for someone like me, it isn't as complicated as I was positive it was.  If you can follow a beading pattern, you can follow a macrame pattern.  

I have to say that I was initially very intimidated.  The only kind of knots I'm used to are unwanted ones that spring on you while you're carefully beading something and can't afford a knot.  It took me a long time to figure out how to make a surgeon's knot, and I'm not saying how long it took my mom to teach me to tie my shoes.  I can't even untangle necklaces when they get sprawled in a pile.  So, I was anxious... but I fell so in love with the idea of making things with the cords after I saw some of Sherri Stokey's gorgeous work, and found out that she was selling tutorials.  Sherri's work is beautiful, and it has the added (for me) bonus of having SEED BEADS in it! (I'm only slightly obsessed...)

I mean, does this not inspire you?!

I gasped when I saw it - I looooove it!

And then there is this fantastic Hydrangeas bracelet!!  But it felt like it was too complex for me; I've never made so much as a friendship bracelet.

Then, Sherri came out with her new video tutorials on Craft Edu.  Not only does she have a fabulous beginner's video (FREE!) wherein she gives you tips and tricks and helpful product suggestions and a toolkit list, she has a wrap bracelet tutorial that shows you almost all of the most common knots!  And not only does she use seed beads, but she uses some really pretty focal beads in there as well.

Sherri and I had been talking back and forth a little, because I was so nervous about trying it, and then I found out that I didn't have everything I needed to make one.  Focal beads, yes lots.  But the cord was another matter, and even though I thought I had size 6 beads... um, maybe not so many.  And no board to tack things to.  Being the lovely lady she is, Sherri told me I could make up a temporary board by sticking some cork board (I had!) to a clipboard (I had!) and that she would send me some cording so I could try it out, and see if I liked micro macrame.  Not only did she send me cords, she sent me enough to make TWO wrap bracelets, and a beauteous selection of size 6  seed beads as well.  Then, to top it all off, she offered me her Wrap Bracelet tutorial free!  Did I say Sherri was wonderful??!

I started off well, and took some in progress photos, but then I got so into it I forgot to take any more, lol!  Here are the ones I managed to take when I dragged myself away from knotting.  (I was SO excited when I made that first set of square knots!!!)  I asked Sherri if I could add beads in the middle of the square knots, and she said I could add beads anywhere I wanted, which of course is a fabulous and fantastic thing to say to a beader, and I found myself adding beads in lots of places.

I found out that I had to work really hard on overhand knots, which I thought would be the easiest.  They did not want to lie neatly and be good for me, and I re did each of them about four times.  I got better at it nearer the end of the bracelet.

I adored spiralling.  I wasn't perfect at it (you can see how wonky it started out), but I think I got the hang of it pretty well, and  I like how it looks nearer the end of the section.

I wasn't so good at the double half hitch knots, those ones took me awhile before they started to look neat and tidy, and I couldn't get my spacing right with just the bare cording, so I just HAD to add more beads...

When I got to the next section of square knots, I went a little nuts with the beads.  I had a TON of fun with this section.  I think it's my favorite part.

I couldn't find a copper clasp I liked with this, so for now I have it tied with some fun and funky fiber - and I may leave it there, as it looks pretty cool.  Here are the final photos by Sherwood.

I had so much fun with this!!  And Sherri's tutorial is fabulous and easy to follow,  I absolutely recommend it.  She has really clear photos, and you can pause the video as many times as needed and go back to check and see if you did it right.  Her instructions are concise and she gives tips to help you get a neater and more finished look to your knots.  If you haven't tried micro macrame but have been interested in it, grab this tutorial and go knot!  It's addictive, and it's really gratifying to see your bracelet come together.   Also, take the time to stop by Sherri's shop, Knot Just Macrame for more tutorials, and for some gorgeous finished pieces, too.  And if you'd like to see even more and hear about her upcoming tutorials and schemes, here's her Facebook page, My MicroMacrame, and her blog.  :)

I am sooooo late with this blog post!  Huge apologies to my wonderful friend as I meant to write this out two whole weeks ago!  Life has been getting in the way and I'm a catch as catch can blogger at the best of times.

Bead Hoarder's Blog Hop and a New Tutorial

Goooooood morning!!  I am taking part in Lori Anderson's Bead Hoarders Blog Hop today, and I also have a brandy new tutorial out in my shop, so I thought I would combine the posts.  :)  Thank you so much, Lori, for hostessing this hop.  For those of you who don't know Lori (where have you been??), she has been ill this year, and it amazes me that she still does the things she does.  It takes a lot of effort and energy to put together hops and to organize all of the blogs, and I know that these mean a great deal to the participants.  You rock, Lori - and I hope today is a good day for you.

Do I have beads I hoard??  Oh my goodness yes!!  I can't get out of Etsy window shopping without grabbing up amazing goodies, even if I'm just pricing things out.  Something ALWAYS falls into my cart that I just can't live without...  and lots of them stay with me for years, as I never had a plan in mind for them, I just couldn't pass them by.  Of course, they aren't ALL art beads, some of them are just incredible Thai silver, or findings that I must have that have a special bead or design inlaid on them.

In doing some playing around lately to come up with a design I had in mind, I made myself a wrap bracelet in sterling silver.  I wasn't sure if it would be a bracelet, or a necklace... it could have turned into anything; at one point I thought it was an anklet, lol.  It does look nice as an asymmetric necklace, but for me, it would have to be longer to make me really happy.  It fits perfectly wound around my wrist three times. The two major beads I had hoarded in this were the gorgeous (heavy!) Thai silver round, and one beautiful blue lamp work bead by Clare Scott, and one silver glass spacer bead by Judith Billing.  I have a LOT of Clare's beads, and have been working on get more and more of Judith's work as well.  They seem to have little galaxies in them, and I find them mesmerizing.  I also had the cute little butterfly charm for years now, but since I wasn't sure if it was base metal, I hadn't used it in any jewelry for sale.  Since this one is for me, it didn't matter and I threw it on as a last minute touch.

I can't wait to hop around and see what everyone else made with their hoarded beads, but it will have to wait until tonight because I have a visit to my Dad to see about today, first.  Please visit Lori's blog to see the complete list of participants and hop the hop!  :)

The new tutorial is for a necklace I named In Bloom, which features delicate little flowers made from a 8mm chaton base with layers of petals surrounding.  I love how my St Petersburg variation looks like feathery greenery as a background!  I had a hard time deciding how to finish the piece off, and a few friends of mine suggested this chain as a solution - huge thanks to those friends, as I had a complete blank out until they kick started my brain.   I have had a difficult time with my tension on the second half of a double St Pete's chain, and so I came up with this modified version which lays nice and neat and doesn't have the "thread-showing" issue I had with the traditional stitch.

The clasp on my peaches and cream version is one of my favorite Elegant Elements clasps, thank you to Beadsmith!! 

The tutorial is up for sale in my Etsy shop if you'd like to make your own! :)

Encouragement ~ We All Need Some

Do you have times when you just really doubt your art, or your ability to create it?  I do.  I have times when I look at things I've made in a space of time (say, three weeks or so) and each and every piece has at least one thing that makes me say "Huh.  That sucks."  Which of course, leads to me wondering if *I* suck as an artist.   When I go through one of these times, it generally depresses me and leads me to a kind of creative desperation, wherein I MUST  MAKE SOMETHING THAT DOESN'T SUCK.  And that puts enough pressure on my poor tired brain to make sure that whatever I may come up with, will inevitably...suck.

 UFOs

Another UFO

 Awhile back, during a non-sucky time, I noticed a lot of beaders out there having their own doubts and desperations.  These folks were all different skill levels and on different artistic paths, some beginners, some quite advanced and successful, although they all had beads in common as their media of choice.  A lot of what I heard made me sad, because it boiled down to wonderful people who didn't feel they could move onward and upward with their art because they were afraid to TRY.   They were afraid to start working on a creative idea of their own because there would be no clear path, and they might fail.  Or they 'could NEVER be as good as' so-and-so.  Or bead soup and/or freeform was intimidating and just too random (which I completely understand because me and orange? um no).  Or they were afraid of having too many UFO projects, and a box full of random bits, which would make them feel like they had put in tons of effort with no result, as well as having a now full box of usable beads that would have to be ripped apart in order to be recycled.  I am perhaps odd here, as all of my UFOs go in the same box as the RipIts; I never know if I'm actually going to go back and finish it, or just salvage parts from it.

UFO/RipIt/Salvage Box

After hearing about all of the doubts that were floating around in Beadland, I decided I really wanted to see how other artists dealt with these issues and ask some questions, with the hope that I would be able to put not only my own doubts in perspective, but perhaps share with others who might feel the same way.  It's taken me a long while to get this written, as I have been going through some family stuff that has kept me really off balance, but this morning (taking into consideration that I am now going through yet another *I suck* time) I was finally able to concentrate enough to sit and write.  I looked to a few of my favorite artists for their thoughts last month and they were all stunningly generous with me, allowing me to write my blog post and include both their words and some of their amazing art.  Sherry Hutchinson Serafini, Marcia DeCoster, Heidi Kummli, and Diane Hyde all spent some of their very valuable time on this and sent me thoughtful responses.

This is what I asked each of the artists:  I am wondering if you feel like you had more false starts and/or self doubts in the beginning when you started out, vs now, or if it feels like it has been consistent throughout?  Have you had any recent cases where you just scrapped an idea after you started, or did you push through to finish the piece and decide you didn’t really care for it?  Do you still have some of the self doubt issues while working or before starting?  How do you handle them, and what would you say to someone else who was having them?  And, as far as false starts/RipIts go, did you feel that you learned something from each, or that they were pretty much wasted time? Is there something you say to yourself when you get to a certain point of dislike in a project that helps you to keep pushing ahead?  And... if you have a UFO or RipIt Box, how big is it?  


Diane said,  "Every piece you create is an opportunity to learn, but even so, I always have to remind myself of that. I have an ongoing love hate relationship with everything I make. It almost becomes a formula; I have a brainstorm, I sketch it out in specific detail with side notes, arrows, and little diagrams, gather all the beads and components, and finally start it. Somewhere along the way my thoughts take over in a never ending dialogue with my inner creative, happy muse. I become indecisive about individual beads, color positioning, fringe placement…..it goes on and on. The piece starts to morph in a direction I never saw coming, and all of a sudden I’m a little disappointed in the whole piece and wonder what the heck went wrong here? In my early years of beading I would abandon these false starts, stuff them in a drawer or baggie, and move on, but over the years I’ve learned to keep plodding on with these projects. Somehow if I give them more time they sometimes get better towards the end, and occasionally I actually like the final results. But on the darker side I usually see the parts that could have been done differently, or a little better, a different pearl here, etc. As an artist it’s just part of the process to look at your own work with an overly critical eye. You just can’t listen to all of it all of the time. The funny part is the few times I have created a major piece for a competition I am totally ok with (no total loathing) it either doesn’t make the cut, or doesn’t place in the final judging. It’s like a divine comedy - you throw yourself into a creation for weeks, months, a year….and it’s rejected by the very people you wanted to impress. On the other end of the spectrum the pieces I am not completely happy with or am ambivalent about seem to get chosen. From that I have learned when I am at odds with a piece it’s a good sign. Go figure. All I can say is just keep going no matter what! Love it. Hate it...it’s all going to make you a better beader. Perhaps I'll even go visit my graveyard of unfinished projects and see what's there."

The Gatekeeper, by Diane Hyde

 Heidi said, "As far as false starts more now than when I began 30 years ago I think it's about the same. I don't ever scrap a false start I push through.  When designing my jewelry line I often come up with a better way to make something thus the first piece isn't as good as it could be but I finish it and sell it anyway.  By playing with different approaches on designing my line I can make it more efficient to make and better quality.  If I am designing a larger piece I have an idea in my head of what I want but as I get into making it things usually change as I work on the piece, something doesn't look as good as I thought or fit just right.  I have made a few larger pieces that don't quite come out as nicely as I though but I always finish them.  It always surprises me that these are usually the ones that sell first, lol, maybe I should screw up more often.  If you're going to put so much time into something you should a least finish it.  I don't have much self doubt when starting apiece but rather excitement and the challenge of how to make it happen.  Always follow your heart and lay the components out a head of time so you can see how they will look together, by doing this you can exchange things where needed.  My mistakes are my biggest teachers, I always learn from them; I never think of them as wasted time.  As I said I never give up on a project especially if I have a lot of time in it just push though because someone else will love it.  I don't really have any ditch projects I suppose I do have a few things that I didn't put too much time in and for those I trim them and set them aside and will incorporate them into something else."

Free Bird by Heidi Kummli

Marcia said, "Actually I think I may have had less false starts [in the beginning], but less good work. I wasn’t as discerning about color, or the engineering of a design and would often plow ahead and then be disappointed in the result. I think because I teach beadwork for a living, the teachability of a piece needs to be a significant factor in most of my current design work. Sometimes a piece feels too simple to have enough of what I like to call ‘teachable moments’. If I can teach you in fifteen minutes and then just say ‘Now do that for the next ten hours’ I don’t think it serves the student very well. So sometimes I will start out a design and realize it is not going to serve it’s teachable purpose and I’ll move on. Pushing through to completion is the harder answer though because there is always (or almost always) that point of doubt, or that consideration for multiple directions of how a design might evolve and we hope to choose wisely. However sometimes the outcome of the design decision doesn’t become evident in its failure or brilliance until we’ve invested many hours.  I think it’s a common theme. Certainly with the building of fundamental skills over time it is easier to realize your vision in beads, but there are still times I don’t know the best way to approach the design and then the self doubt can take over. I’m quite sure a more competent beader, or a more artistic beader would have the answer. Through the community of beaders that are now connected on the internet, I’ve come to realize there is a certain fallacy to this. I think no matter where we are in our design journey we can be dwarfed by those we perceive to be better then us, although I think the majority share the same struggle. We look at someone else’s finished piece and think that they somehow got there effortlessly, when they likely went through many of our same issues along the way. To another artist experiencing design insecurity I would say we each have our own path to follow. When you are in the mode of self doubt try to stay present in your own work and not be influenced by what you perceive someone else’s process to be. 

"Rip apart? Surely you jest? You do know that I am the girl who doesn’t even put beads away at the end of a project, I add them to a vase, so ripping apart, that never happens. But I do have a bowl of false starts that I save. I don’t think I always take away the lesson immediately, but I do often revisit the bowl to see if some snippet of beadwork might serve me now by taking it in a different direction, so in that way the false starts do continue to add value. Pushing ahead is often driven by a deadline, although having said that, I try to make sure that what I end up with is a project that I am going to feel really good about teaching or sharing. I want there to be teachable moments, I want the engineering to work so that it is comfortable to wear and functions well and I want colors that work beautifully together. As a piece develops if any of those things is out of synch I will start again."

Bollywood Cuff by Marcia DeCoster

Sherry said, "No, because I didn’t have any expectations. I was just doing what I like to do and people were encouraging me to exhibit.  I was asked to teach, and yes was terrified at the prospect because I wasn’t quite sure how to convey exactly what I was doing.  I push thru in most cases.  I do feel it’s the journey not the destination.  Not every journey is a rewarding experience, although almost always a learning one.  If a piece really isn’t fun for me though, I just don’t do it.  I don’t like wasting time or being bored.  I pretty much just nose dive in without serious thought.  I just enjoy the process.  To someone else I would tell them to just follow their inner voice and create what pleases them.  If they find the piece is irritating and not working out, walk away from it.  Put it away.  I’ve put away pieces for up to a year and came back to find that I was ready to work once again.  Usually it is something learned if I think about it.  Seriously....I don’t dwell on my art.  It is what it is, some pieces are not as good as others, but they each tell me something.  Whether it be a color combo or a construction issue.  If I really don’t like a project, I simply don’t finish it. Why waste a second of time on something that makes you nuts.  UFO’s are usually beaded or painted pieces that I’ve worked on when playing with different techniques.  Not a large project.  So my box is a big one as there are days where I just want to mess around with different approaches.  We have all had moments of self doubt, but dwelling and fretting over it isn’t a good thing.  I believe in ‘just doing it.'  If I had to pinpoint a moment when the boredom sets in it would be towards the end of a project.  Not out of dislike, but being anxious to start a new one.  Bead embroidery takes foreeeever......so by the time I get to the closure, I’m all ready thinking of the second, third and fourth piece!"

Sedona Sunrise by Sherry Serafini

And since all of the lovely ladies above took the time to answer my questions, I thought it only fair to sit and write down my own answers, too...  

I think I've been consistently off balance, with doubts all the way through to where I am now, although I get them much more heavily when I am stressed in other areas of my life.  Yes, recently I've had a really hard time with several projects and ideas, and although I pushed myself to finish one project (my triangle necklace pictured below) I have several more staring morosely at me from my Pile O Things.  The triangle necklace is done itself, but the planned tutorial is on hold until I can figure out how to reproduce my bezel, and there are several things about it I still don't care for, design-wise.  I have self doubts continuously while I start and work on my pieces.  If I were talking to someone else who was doubting, I would probably tell them to sit quietly for a moment and try to think of what it is they really want to convey with their piece.  A season?  A feeling?  A piece of architecture?  A living thing, human, animal or vegetable?  And then to just set to work with the beads, and see where it went.  In other words, to let your heart and talent guide you, even when your brain isn't agreeing with you.  If someone is afraid of starting, I always say the same thing - don't ever be afraid to play.  Just PLAY with those beads, and let go of the caring of what happens - it's ok if it's ugly, it's ok if it doesn't turn out perfect, it's ok if you missed stitches or broke a bead.  Do little exercises if you think it will help; make a swatch of work all in one stitch, and then make another swatch in a different stitch.  (I make rope swatches, which I can finish later or not, or make one long rope while switching stitches and beads and so on; many of them look like deranged snakes...)  Make something ugly ON PURPOSE.  Then look at it and decide what you would do to make it beautiful, and make a second one, using your 'beautiful' ideas.  Or, ask some of the beady people around you to help you brainstorm; the other day I did just that on Facebook, asking my friends what they would do if they had some of my flower components to work with, and one of the ideas that came up is something I am now exploring as a possibility for finishing that project.  I feel that each and every stitch has taught me something, whether I liked my result or hated it, and that each one was worth it if only for the lessons learned.  

I would like to thank each of you wonderful ladies so much for sharing your thoughts, feelings, and process with me, and allowing me to further share it with all of Beadland.  Each of you touched on something that rang very true for me; Diane's 'divine comedy' remarks, because yes it DOES feel that way; Heidi's 'mistakes are my biggest teachers' comment, because I feel just the same way (even when I'm frustrated); Marcia's 'we look at someone else’s finished piece and think that they somehow got there effortlessly' because I have done this time and again, even though I should know better; and Sherry's 'just doing it' because I think I need to do that much more, rather than the fretting and fussing I indulge in.  And in asking these questions, and reading through the answers, and writing this post, I feel so much LESS alone and doubtful.  It happens - but not JUST to me.  It happens and the incredibly talented, awesome artists who answered these questions went through some of the same feelings and LOOK what they are creating!!  The doubts and false starts may keep prodding and showing up, but I won't give up - and I hope you won't, either, if you're having any of your own doubts right now.  Now, off to see if there's anything I can do with this....

Flower Component by Me...

A Little Something New...

I have a new tutorial out!  It's a little-ish one, and fairly simple, but I have been having a lot of fun with it.  Do you remember this necklace I made?

This tutorial shows how to make a bangle bracelet using the same technique I used to make the rope for that necklace.  The rope for the necklace uses a bead soup mix of mostly size 15s and Delicas in varying sizes with bugles and accent beads, while the bangle uses size 11 seeds and size 15s, and I've added in larger rondelles to show how to put single beads along the rope.  This is a modified version of CRAW,  using a 'cube' with six faces, so you can change it much the way you could change up a CRAW rope (I showed examples of this in my Color Play Ropes blog post HERE).   Endless variations!  I hope that this brings some inspiration and fun for those of you who are already comfortable with CRAW, and for those of you who haven't tried it yet, there is a mini tutorial on 'normal' CRAW at the beginning, too!  :)

As you can see, I went a little bangle crazy...  and I show how to make some of the variations as well, so that you can make a funky rope as well as a classic looking bangle.  :)

If you'd like to make some Hexagon Bangles too, my tutorial can be found in my Etsy shop.

I have another special blog post in the works which has some really special guest 'speakers' in it.  I'm really looking forward to sharing it!  

New NEDbeads Policy Updates

Hey there, beady land!  I know I am a terribly inconsistant blogger... I had hoped to do better with it this year, but so far life has jumped in front of me too many times to really pay enough attention to the blog.  Today's post is one that I hope lots of people will find, however, as I am changing up the policies regarding my tutorials.

I don't know about you, but I have been hearing so many things about copyright everywhere that the thought of one more discussion really makes me want to run the other way, but I was recently gently convinced to read two more discussions on others' blogs, and am really glad I did. I found out that there are many designers out there who feel as I do, and aren't afraid to market their designs in a way that feels much more comfortable for me, personally.  There has been so much angst and anger everywhere in the beady world over this particular issue, and many horror stories as well of how many designers have had their work disrespected, copied, stolen, etc etc.  And when someone has a policy of selling their tutorials or patterns without giving the purchaser permission to sell the finished work, or ask that a higher price be paid for using the design commercially, I respect that and support it.  It's a personal choice that I think each designer needs to make for themselves.  Above all else, I believe that we need to respect each others' work, and practice good ethics.

I have realized that the policies I have in place on my own tutorials (no selling finished work from my tutorials without a commercial license) aren't making me happy.  I don't feel good about them.  I don't feel good about them because they don't reflect my beliefs about art and creativity, and they don't make me feel good about sending designs out into the world.  I know there are unethical people out there that will do what they wish, and that outright copies will be made and sold, and that there are times when I won't be credited with my work.  But I want to share, especially with those who have inspired me, or taught me something, or showed me a new way of looking at my beads.

I want to learn, and never ever stop learning.  I want to create pieces that make others want that same thing.  And I want to share what I learn about how I go about creating, and my process.  If there is anything I can offer to the community that has taught me so much and helped me to learn how to take my own path, I want to offer it.  My hope is always that people will enjoy my tutorials, and to take whatever parts of them inspire them most, and create something later on that is theirs completely with whatever they have learned in the process.  I've had some lovely ladies who created marvelous things based on my tutorials, but changed in such a way that their own creativity took them in a completely different direction in the end (one special friend in particular created a beaded bead from my Runway bracelet base!) and they ask if I mind if they sell the pieces.  Do I mind??  I am ecstatic!!!  I love to see them, I love that they took them places.  I am truly and honestly honored, any time that I can show someone something that sparks their own creative voice.  To me, this means that I am passing it on, paying it forward - and that means a great deal to me.

So my decision has been that I want to change my policies and allow any work made from my tutorials to be used in any way the purchaser sees fit OTHER than mass production.  The tutorials themselves - all written material and images - will retain my copyright and can't be shared, taught, or reproduced without written permission.  Don't share the tutorial - but by all means, share what you learn about your own process if you can, you WILL inspire someone else along the way.

My prices will remain the same, and won't go up.  I realize that people who have purchased commercial versions of these tutorials will be feeling rather miffed right now, since they paid a higher price.  If you have purchased a commercial version from me, please send me an email at nedale67@gmail.com  and I will give you a half price discount on another pattern of your choice.  Please do NOT purchase your pattern and then email me - I will set up a listing for you when you contact me.

I will be working over the next few weeks to amend the wording on all of the pdfs and listings in my shop, as well as the policy statement, but given some of the things that I am dealing with personally right now, it may take awhile.  So please disregard the 'For Personal Use Only' portion of them, as this public post gives permission to sell your finished work.

I have a new tutorial in the works as I write this, I can't wait to show you!!

Bead happy, bead ethically, respect your designers' policies and hard work and have a fabulous week.