Bead Fest Pity Party – Class of One

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Bead Fest Pity Party, Contents Jewelry, Heather Powers. Susan Lenart Kazmer, Humblebeads, Industrial Chic, leather infinity link tutorial, Tracy Statler, WoolyWire

Welcome to day 3 of the Bead Fest Pity Party!  Today’s theme is Class of One. We pull out our beading books and other resources, try something new, and share.

The thing I collect and then neglect is tutorials.  I see something I want to try, buy or mark the tutorial, and then it sits because I am a chicken.  But I have to get over the idea that what I try needs to work out perfectly the first time. The artist teaching the tutorial has a lot of experience doing that technique and using those materials.  I need to be patient enough to practice.

First up, I tried a tutorial by Tracy Statler that I bought a while ago to make leather infinity links.  These links are the coolest.  They are so versatile depending on what leather you use, what bead (or beads) you use and what you use the link for – a charm holder, a link in a bracelet or a focal.  So, of course I want to learn how to make this wonderfully versatile item.  Here is my first try.

My technique with this infinity link needs a lot of improvement, but I feel good that I’ve tried it for the first time because subsequent times will get better.  I learned some valuable lessons making this one that will help future efforts. Getting started is always the hardest part for me, so this was a great first step.

I also mark many projects I want to try, then kind of go around haphazardly collecting some of the materials and never really getting around to completing the item.  So today I decided to pick a project I’ve claimed more than once I would make, pick out stuff for it, and make it.  I chose the Pod Collage Necklace by Ali on Lima Beads.  I really like a lot of her designs, so it was fun to finally try one.

It varies quite a bit from Ali’s version (no pods!) but I loved the idea of putting a bunch of fun stuff together.  I especially like the WoolyWire wrapped around a channel bead, so I did add that.  I also used a seed bead enameled washer component by Contents Jewelry and an Industrial Chic component by Susan Lenart Kazmer available at Michael’s.

I had fun in my Class of One.  Have you tried something new lately?  Check out Humblebeads last several blog posts to see what our host, Heather Powers, has been up to and see who is having a sale this weekend.  Thanks for joining me.

Bead Fest Pity Party – Inspiration Adventure

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Bead Fest Pity Party, Diane Hawkey, Happy Mango Beads, lilruby, omekit, PottyMouthGems

Today is day two of the Bead Fest Pity Party.  Welcome!  Today the challenge is to find some inspiration – go to a farmer’s market, museum, park, etc. – and take some photos.

I didn’t have time to stray too far from home today.  In addition to taking part in the Pity Party, I have some home improvement projects going on and a bunch of cooking to do so I use what is left of my most recent farm box before I go on vacation.

But what a lot of inspiration can be found just walking around my neighborhood!  Orange is one of my favorite colors, and I love this beautiful flower with the olive green middle and little white dots that look like Nonpareils.  This is great color combination to use in a piece of jewelry.

The rock wall above reminded me of some granite beads I have from Happy Mango.  Maybe I can figure out some way to put them together in a little “wall” as a bracelet focal.

In addition to showing me how close autumn really is, my walk and the things I decided to take pictures of showed me that I take as much (or more) inspiration in shapes and textures as in colors.  I love the look of these stumps, and they remind me of some great wooden beads and buttons I’ve seen lately.

I love the industrial look and dotty texture of this access cover.  Although the angle of the sun washed out the pretty yellow color, it brought to mind a dotted connector I got from PottyMouthGems and this fun found object necklace from lilruby that has been one of my etsy favorites for a while. When my first idea for the dotted connector did not work out, I became a bit stuck.  This could help unstick me by associating that component with a different style.

This tangle of foliage, some still green but most turning brown, made me think of suede lace.  I thought of braiding some green lace (I have some I got from omekit) and brown lace together for a bracelet and using a Diane Hawkey acorn I have as a charm.

I took a bunch more photos that are really inspiring me.  I’m usually very focused on my goal – walking to get to the bus stop, shopping the farmer’s market to get cooking supplies – but this exercise has shown me that if I take a moment to look around, inspiration is waiting for me everywhere!

Let me know about your inspiration adventure.  You can still enter my Bead Fest Pity Party giveaway through Sunday.  And come back tomorrow for Bead Fest Pity Party – Class of One where the challenge is to try something new.

Bead Fest Pity Party Giveaway

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Bead and Button Show, Bead Fest Pity Party, Earthenwood Studio, Heather Powers, Humblebeads, NKPDesigns, Sherie Presta Ceramic Beads

Stay with me during this post and you could have a chance to win these lovely and colorful pendants from Earthenwood Studio and this nugget of colorful goodness by Natalie Pappas of NKPDesigns.

In order to stave off the blues for those of us who aren’t going to Bead Fest in Philadelphia, the clever Heather Powers of Humblebeads is throwing a (pity) party! This weekend we won’t be at Bead Fest, but we’ll have a festival of fun right here at home.  Heather is hosting on her blog and the Creative Bead Chat Facebook page and has invited us to join in.

Today’s theme is Bust Your Stash.  The idea is to pull out something that has been in our stash for a while, particularly something that is from a large bead show.  We can share a story and a picture, make something with it or have a giveaway.

My art bead stash isn’t all that old, but I thought I’d tell a story and have a giveaway.  My mother and I have been beading for a long time and have attended the Bead & Button Show before.  But my dad has become interested in metal work and beads more recently, and went to his first big bead show – Bead & Button – just this past June.  The picture and story are about my dad and his work.

After I had followed my own very efficient list at the show that let me spend my own bead money in record time I decided to “help” my dad.  It was fun, and toward the end of our time at the show, I led him down the art bead aisle (the primrose path?)  He fell in love with some black and white beads from Sherie Presta Ceramic Beads.  It took him a couple of looks to decide to buy them, but as evidenced by this beautiful hinged bracelet he made with one of them, it was the right choice.

Now, on to my giveaway.  While walking to and from Presta’s booth some brightly colored goodies from Earthenwood Studio caught my eye.  That was the final artist I bought from at the show, and you can win these two pendants from my take along with an NKPDesigns bead that was one of my first purchases when I began to understand what art beads are and started buying them in earnest.

Just leave a comment before midnight CDT on Sunday, August 25th about a bead or beads you have an especially fond memory of buying/getting, and I will pick a name at random on Monday, August 26th.  Make sure I have a way to get in touch with you and check back here to see if you’ve won.

Thanks for joining the party!  Check the Humblebeads blog or Creative Bead Chat Facebook page to see who else is joining in, and hope to see you here tomorrow for more fun.