Wherein We Recuperate from Bead and Button Shopping

Holy cow.  Y'all, I have been to some big bead shows in my day, but nothing quite prepared me for the wonder, the spectacle, the complete eye candy overload that was the marketplace of the Bead and Button Show.

Now, I used to live in Milwaukee, a mere hop and skip from where the Bead and Button show is held. But the annual show wasn't started until a few years after I moved away.  (I've always taken that a little personally.)  And I've always had it on my bucket list to go. When I moved to Chicago this year, it became a much more likely possibility.

So Sunday, I headed up the road. Got to the Wisconsin Center right as the show opened.  I was ready. Or so I thought. After two hours, I had only made my way through two rows of about seven or eight. And I had only four hours left. That's when I kicked it into high gear and power shopped.

Knowing that it would be WAY too easy to spend too much, I had decided that I would only shop for things I couldn't find at home or at regular bead shows.  So I concentrated on art beads, special findings, and things that I knew I'd kick myself the next day for not buying.  No seed beads (gasp!!), no Czech glass, no gemstone beads.  Ready?  Here goes:

First, the gemstone cabs:

Isn't this delicious? It's copper mosaic turquoise (that I grabbed the instant the woman next to me put it down)

(l to r, top row: ruby in zoisite, rhyolite, lapis. Bottom: crazy lace agate)

Two jaspers, just begging to be bezeled

And the art beads:

I've been lusting after Golem Beads for a long time.  I finally got some!

BeadyGirl Beads - fun!

Diane Hawkey - sublime

Beautiful paisley beads from Dyed in the Fire

Not technically all beads, but two Czech buttons and some new Czech shapes from Lisa Kan

Sharon Peters - not some of her great, whimsical creatures, but these beads will always
remind me of the hysterically funny conversation I had with this joyful lady

Time for the true confession - there were also some less visually exciting purchases, like lots of chain, some gold filled wire (now that the price has come down to nearly human levels), and some ultrasuede for backing.

If you ever have the chance to go to Bead and Button, you should go.  One of these days my schedule will allow me to go for some classes as well, but for now, I've got this one crossed off the bucket list. And I'm already planning for next year's journey!

Taming the Monster

Every now and then, I start a project that becomes, for lack of a better word, a monster.

You know, one of those interesting "what if" ideas that quickly devours your work table.

My latest one has been sitting around in its UFO state for a really long time.  Mocking me.  Taunting me.  Causing me to mutter under my breath like the crazy lady in the neighborhood.  Oh wait, I am the crazy lady in the neighborhood.  Anyway, I was starting to measure the length of time this thing was taking me to complete it in geological terms -- paleozoic, mesozoic, necklacezoic....

You may have seen it at this point:

or at this point:

ANYWAY, I had gotten to a point in the monster's development where it was time to add the neckstrap.  I wanted to do something that would echo the swirl of turquoise that winds around the glass discs in the focal.

Tried one idea.  Ugly.  Tried another idea.  Fugly.  Tried yet another idea. Not bad, but not quite substantial enough to stand up to the boldness of the centerpiece.

Finally, finally, finally, I came up with something I feel good about.  What do you think?

The photo's overexposed, but you get the idea --
this is not for the shy woman!

So happy to have tamed the monster!

I Promised I Wouldn't Do This...

...but apparently I lied.  Or was easily tempted to change my mind.  Or had a bead that was too perfect to ignore.

Let's go with #3.

I swore I wouldn't do another challenge until after the holidays, but the other night I heard a little voice saying "Psst, hey, I'd be perfect for this month's Art Bead Scene Challenge."

What, you don't hear your beads talking to you?  Okay, maybe it's partially the fever I've been fighting for a couple of days, but I'll let you be the judge.  Here's the inspiration artwork this month, Revolving by Kirt Schwitters.

Revolving by Kirt Schwitters 1919
Assemblage-Wood, metal, cord, cardboard, wool, wire, leather, and oil on canvas
48 3/8" x 35" (122.7 x 88.7 cm)
Museum of Modern Art, New York

And on the work table, just begging to answer this challenge, was a lovely lampwork swirl focal by Nikki Thornburg-Lanigan.  So here's what it became:

Okay, I admit it.  I'm weak and give into the beady temptation too easily.  Can you blame me?

A Beautiful Bowl of Soup

My bead soup arrived!  My bead soup arrived!  My bead soup arrived!  And to make it official, Alice of  Alice Dreaming is a rock star of a swap partner!

Alice truly, seriously, completely awed me with the soup ingredients she sent.  I had been out of town for ten days, and I knew that her package would be waiting at the post office among the mail that had been held while I was gone.  Y'all, I was a model of self-control as I waited for the post office to be unlocked this morning.  Yes, I was there before they were open, and I was first in line.  And yes, I ripped open the package as soon as I was back in my car.  Patience only goes so far, folks.

It's as though Alice picked up the drawer where she stores her collection of lampwork and art beads, and emptied it into a box that she then sent off to me.  She assured me that she bought multiples of some of these (often my buying technique, too -- I knew I liked her!), so she still has some duplicates of these beauties in her collection.

Good grief, Blogger, WHY do you flip my photos like this sometimes?!?

There are beads by Diane Hawkey, Twinstar, Libby Leu, MissFickleMedia,  Off Center Productions, and Two Sisters Designs, along with a Melinda Orr clasp.  These are artists whose work I've admired for long time, but that I haven't had a chance to work with yet.  I can't wait to get going with them!

Here's what I sent Alice -- in my typically indecisive manner, I couldn't choose between the two focals.  So I  put together a soup that (I hope) will work with both.

See why I couldn't choose between these?

Our reveal is August 25.  Hope to see you back here then!

February Art Bead Challenge

To celebrate the three day weekend (thanks, George and Abe, for having birthdays close enough to warrant a Federal holiday for you and the other presidents!), I've been spending lots of time today at the bead table, working hard on my first entry for the Art Bead Challenge.


These challenges have been so intriguing and inspiring, but this month I finally had enough time and an appropriate art bead, so yippee skippy, I'm finally giving it a shot.


The inspiration this month is The Conference of the Birds by Habiballah, from a manuscript of the Mantiq al-Tayr (The Language of the Birds) of Farid al-Din 'Attar, c. 1600.  Isn't it spectacular?  You can read more about the artwork, and the challenge, here.


My eye was immediately drawn to the peacock and to the lovely lavender shades in the stream.


I started with this porcelain focal by Forever Young, which I topped with a carved cinnabar bead with a phoenix (sadly, you can't see the phoenix in this photo, nor can I get the photo to display upright.  Crap.)

Then I added a couple of carved bone beads, lavender jade, a carved agate barrel, a dyed agate lentil, copper wire, and fiber.  I don't often use fiber in this way in my work, so this was a little added degree of personal difficulty for me.

The reveal date for all the challenge entries is February 29 (Leap Day).  With such gorgeous art for inspiration, I can't wait to see what everyone has created!