Review: Creative Seed Bead Connections

With so many crossover techniques in jewelry design, Creative Seed Bed Connections is a very useful tool for those wanting to incorporate metals in their seed bead designs. Lots of beautiful patterns! My favorite is "A Piece Of The Past", especially the bracelet, which is on my to do list. But you'll have to get the book to see it. *smile*

Maggie Meister's Classical Elegance

Reading this book, I feel as though I've stepped back in time. Maggie Meister of Amphora Designs has managed to recreate the essence of century's old jewelry designs, but in seed beads. In Chapter 3, she shows a gold seed bead bracelet that is so breathtaking and the original that inspired the design. It's truly fascinating to read the history behind the designs in this book, all museum quality pieces. This is a must have for any serious seed beader!

Bead Soup's On!!

I connected with my bead soup partner, a hugely talented seedbead artist. Not sure we're supposed to reveal that info yet, so will hold off for now. We were supposed to not ask what they'd like, but to send something that might challenge them. I SO hope she likes what I've sent out today. Wanna see??

Please stop back 3/30/13 for the reveal. Can't wait to see what I get!

Bead Board With Folder by Creative Options

 

Look what came in the mail this week! This lovely new bead board from Creative Options! Let me begin by saying that it's got great visual appeal. The lovely padded cover incorporates all my favorite colors; purple, turquoise and green. There's a bit of orange too, but barely noticeable. The company name is even embroidered on in the lower right hand corner. Did I mention the visual appeal?? I couldn't wait to open it up to see what the inside looked like!

On the left it has green elastic stretch webbing material to hold all your tools. On the right is a bead design board where you can lay out your design. It has a plastic cover which will hold your beads in place too. The bead board is held in place by elastic in the 4 corners, but is removable so you can set it up wherever you like while working. Also, on the lower left is a small zippered pouch which will hold any other small miscellaneous items you might have, such as needles, beading thread, tubes of beads, etc. A sturdy velcro tab holds it all closed for traveling. They've thought of everything and at a very reasonable price! I found it on Amazon for $17.94. You can also check your local craft shops, Michaels, AC Moore, Hobby Lobby, etc. If they have it, you can use your weekly coupons for even more savings. I absolutely love mine & can't think of a single thing I would change about it! If you go to their website, you'll see lots of other craft organization products that they carry.

Sherry Serafini’s Sensational Bead Embroidery

Sherry Serafini's latest book is a true work of art! It looks and reads more like an art book, than a pattern book. So beautiful in fact, that it would make a lovely coffee table book. The numerous project photos are simply breathtaking!

It is set up differently from most other pattern books in that it has a chapter at the beginning that delves into the various bead embroidery stitches, color theory, design, tips, etc. Then, for each subsequent project, Sherry gives a supplies list and then verbally describes the steps for each project. If you're a visual person, you might find this a bit more challenging since there are no step by step photos. However, bead embroidery is essentially a freeform art form and she does have the specific stitch descriptions in the front of the book.

Here's a bracelet I made inspired by Sherry's work, similar in design to her Fade to Gray Cuff. I'm pretty happy with it. What do you think?

Tuesday's Treasures - Enchanted Beads

It's not often that I get to meet a fellow artisan in person, but I had the pleasure of spending an afternoon with Ileana Munteanu of Enchanted Beads in NYC recently. What did we do you ask?? We went bead shopping of course! ;-)


Let's get to know Ileana a little better....

1. If there’s one thing that defines you, what is it?

Patience!

 

2. What role does your family play in your art?

They admire what I do and, despite their busy life they help me. My son built my website years ago.

www.enchanted-beads.com. My daughter is  my marketing advisor (she works as a Marketing Director at an important firm in Manhattan, NYC). My granddaughter, 11, is a permanent source of inspiration and sometimes helps me with Shows.

 

3. Where do you live and what is it like?

I live in a building overlooking the Verrazzano Bridge, in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, NY. The view is always wonderful, all year long. It is great to live close to the Ocean and take long walks on the shore. It is also a source of inspiration! I love my neighborhood!

 

4. Where did you learn to craft or are you self taught? 

I am self taught. I was always passionate about making things with my own hands. Being very creative  I used my free time for designing things that I could wear or I would need around the house, a mosaic table for example. Later, I started making evening dresses with beautiful appliqués (flowers, leaves, butterflies) made of pearls and tiny beads, that looked like a piece of jewelry. Little by little, I realized that what I enjoyed best in designing and making an outfit was actually the elaborate embellishment. I started to make little pieces of jewelry . My decision to concentrate only on the embellishments was how I started my jewelry collection.

 

5. How long have you been working at your craft?

More than 15 years.

 

6. Where do you receive your inspiration, in general?

Nature is my main source of inspiration. Flowers, ladybugs, butterflies are featured in my pieces. Sometimes I get inspired by the semiprecious stones I find. I put them together with pearls, gemstone beads and colorful seed beads in a specific design, carefully coordinating the colors to achieve a natural, shaded look by incorporating several nuances of beads for each color I choose.

 

7. What is the best piece of advice you can give other artists?

Do your homework, search for a path that fits your style, participate in as many contests as you can and don't get discouraged even when you are rejected or when you don't make it to the finals. Keep trying, keep improving yourself,!

 

8. If you won a thousand dollar craft shopping spree, what would you spend it on?

Beads, beads, beads, findings, beading books.

 

 Here are some links to where you can find Ileana's work:

 

Website

Etsy

ArtFire

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