Pick your Path - a secret Beadalong with Cliff Swain-Salomon

The past months have been very busy for me.

 I've been working on several patterns among which my brand new Lady bug, and a tassel (Gazebo, for IBW) and I still am working on on my rainbow project, for International Beading Week. I just wrote a separate article about this. I am a permanent IBW Ambassador after all.

I have also been working since quite a while on a design parallel to the mystery project for the secret beadalong with the wonderful Cliff Swain-Salomon who invited me to join him in this project for the Facebook Group Seed Beads & More.

Pick your path flowers and pods

 We called this project "Pick your Path", because that is exactly what it was all about: making decisions as to what to make with the techniques taught: we made bezels, petals, flowers and pods... 

Pick your path flowers

 

 

Cliff and I published alternately a portion of each step, in writing and in video, so that each participant could try the various possibilities and in the end, choose what they liked most.

 

In fact, we very gently took them down the rabbit hole of designing with beaded elements.

 

Pick your path - various elements and steps

 

I enjoyed seeing what people made. So many different colors and styles! And one big surprise was that no matter what color was chosen, everything that folks made looked lovely. 

 

We mentioned that the pod could be all sorts of things (a pumpkin, a Chinese lantern, a poppy seed pod, a pomegranate). 

Then, folks started to see things that we hadn't mentioned, like an urchin, a cactus... 

Someone even mentioned a thistle, and another a puffer fish! 

 

 We were happy to see that, thanks to our teachings, many felt more confident to create their own flowers and pods, and some even tassels and a potted daffodil flower with stem and leaves and all.

Pick your Path flowers, one with IBW flower petals.

We kept secret until the very end that all the way long, the participants were making...

 

... pencil toppers!

 

How fun is that?

 

I developed a design in parellel, based on my portion of the bead along. It started with a photo of a "Fritilaria Meleagris" posted by Anita Adamson a while ago and of course with a photo of urchins.

 

 

Here I used my own bezel, which is very different from Cliff's. I also included two seed bead brands - and used another bead count. It is also a pencil topper, but it can sure be a flower... 

 

 

 

... or a table decoration, a hair pin adornment, a focal, a brooch, a bottle lid, a doll house poof or a knob cover if you leave out the inside tube... 

 

 

 The way the various colors are placed is the result of many, many explorations.

 

 

You will find the tutorial how to make this urchin here. 

I will be really grateful for your support.

Please note that the urchin is different from the Peyote Cactus (the cactus that gave the name "peyote" to the beading stitch). 

 

Peyote cactus

This cactus includes Cliff's bezel, fine petals and embellishments. The pattern is already half-way done, and, as soon as I can, I will get back to tutifying this fundraiser for RMHC - the Ronald McDonald House Charities.

 

Of course I will let you know when it will be ready, on Facebook and through my newsletter (subscribe to my newsletter to be sure to not miss it).

 

Peyote cactus

 Last but not least, I updated my workshop page with 2 more dates for the Sunshine workshop - there will be more dates, so if these two don't suit you, do not worry. I still need time before I can get "back to work" and take care of this type of things. 

You can contact me to be added to a waiting list. Don't forget to let me know your time zone so that you don't get added to the wrong list.  

 

Sunshine beaded by Eileen Montgomery (Canada)

 

 I look forward to beading together with you again. 

And perhaps we will meet on a special
Zoom drop-in during International Beading Week.

 Be(ad) well, take care

 

Cath

IBW 2021 - "Hanging in there"

Beady peeps holding hands

 

International beading Week 2021 starts in one week!!!

Visit the Beadworkers Guild website, go to the page for IBW related events and then come on over to the group, invite/tell folks about your upcoming events if you plan to do something, may it be online or in real life. The incredible Cate Venn and her not less awesome husband Christopher, are hosting an informal Zoom beady get together the evening of the 29th and posted details about it in the group.

If you don't organize an event, show us your work made with one of the IBW patterns generously donated by the IBW Ambassadors. Show us photos of your mini-meetings with your beading buddy. Or videos if you like that better. Why? Because we need to share, more than ever, good moments. We need your joyful participation to help

HANGING IN THERE

which is our motto this year.

 

Thanks to the lovely members of the moderating/admin team who work hard behind the scenes, we will have a wonderful week of beading frenzy the IBW Facebook Group despite the pandemic.

Like every year, I am "hanging out there" to contribute too, and I will show you how to do my kind of freeform peyote. I don't think that I can call it freeform "à la Cath", but if like me you prefer to have some sort of methodology to help you "letting go" of strict structure, this might be your thing. And if this method is less about "letting go", it is a lot about "acceptance", because the beads will dictate their will.

 

My project may look like nothing yet, but wait for it! I am confident that you will love the final result. I'll show the WIP and will give guidance in the group, starting the 24th!

Hopefully, it will inspire you to get out more beads and do freeform peyote.

 

Gazebo cascading Tassel

Best of all, for us folks who cannot meet in person, the Guild has programmed MANY "drop-in" ZOOM meetings, bringing beadworkers together to share the love of the art of beading and stay in touch despite the sanitary restrictions. Beading keeps us sane! 

 

Find all the dates here.

 

As every year, the Guild will do a draw and to enter, all you need to do is making a tassel and sending a photo of it to the Beadworkers Guild. Post it in the IBW Facebook group too, even if that is not mandatory. There are wonderful prizes to win!

 

You don't have to be a member to join the fun. And it's free! All you need to do is place your reservation in your cart in the Guild's shop, check out as a guest, and there is nothing to pay.

 

Among the new patterns offered by the IBW ambassadors is included my Gazebo cascading tassel. It will be available only during IBW so make sure to not miss it.

 

Of course you can become a member of the Guild any time, and get the beautiful 4 quarterly Journals. 

I am sure that you will like the bunch of bead-obsessed folks you will meet and will adore the magazine. 

 

 
And you know what? This month's issue cover girl is... moi! With another tassel and a necklace! Here two photos showing the necklace  left and the tassel on its own right. I should have made a video of it. It sparkles so much!

 

Last but not least, you can use a special discount code in my shop at the occasion of this wonderful week of beading frenzy.

Use coupon code
IBW2021

to get 20% off on everything during IBW (from 24 July to 1 August 2021).

 

Happy Beading to all!

Cath

Beadworkers Guild Challenge 2021 - Save the planet - Bead it, dont bin it!

Gland - Switzerland

Here in Gland, where I live, glass, paper (clean of grease), cardbox (dito), PET (dito), metal, aluminium and even oils (mineral and non-mineral) are recuperated and recycled or treated. Same for batteries, mobile phones and other devices. 

Peels and other food waste go to the compost bin.  Every flat and house has a bin for that.

Old furniture and other stuff like that goes in a big container and will be sorted and everything that can be recycled will be sent to the right plant doing that.

The things not entering one of these categories and that are not toxic (which one has to bring back to the shop where it was bought, like medecines), go in the bin and will be burnt near Geneva, in a plant with specific filters for air protection, and the resulting energy heats the city of Geneva. We nevertheless have to pay our garbage bags a high price (to encourage recycling).

WWF/IUCN/Ramsar Convention main entrance.

The fact that Gland hosts the world headquarters of the WWF, brainchild of the IUCN, whose HQ are also in Gland, is certainly a reason why we have all this and I appreciate it. I even worked for the IUCN in the past and organised the creation of a beaded tree by people from many countries.

The WWF "celebrate" their 60th Jubilee this year. There are some specials in their online shop.

Now after reading the above, you may understand that I am glad that I already had kept something that I didn't want to bin, for I might still be searching for the subject of my entry in this year's BWG challenge: a bird.

Peace Astray

Peace Astray

Nothing was purchased for this project. The bird came from a broken kitchen clock, the cabochons and beads from stash, the crystal chain and chimera paws were left over from previous projects (my square for the Museum of Beadwork and my Fantasy Chess Play), the wooden base came from a beam hubby cut to raise his mom’s sofa and the metallic pin supporting the bird comes from an old bead-display.

Tools and glue for bead mosaic were in my home since several years, but I feared to waste materials. This year’s theme and Jan Huling’s 3 top tips in the 87th Journal lead this complete novice to do bead mosaics, inspired by Betsy Youngquist’s work.

 

The Guild encourages participants to challenge themselves. I had never done bead mosaics before so the whole project was a challenge and it was much harder than I thought (in particular on a base with carvings like this bird had). Gluing beads implies stringing them to «unstring» them in a specific manner. Adding one bead at a time with tweezers was sometimes easier. I learned so much! Using the right amount of glue, removing beads and glue with the right tools, etc. I had much fun.

Special characteristics:

The crystal chain draws a peace symbol on the back of the bird, hence the name Peace. This was not intentional. I added it without looking at it from the top, and suddenly it was there!. I also used a really special hollow cabochon made of old embossed metallic plane dashboards, which I got from Ruth Buffington (an amazing bead artist whose steam-punk creations I admire). This cabochon represents the loss of directions.

My work was that of a beginner, so unsurprisingly it didn't win anything, but I don't care about that. I knew that before submitting the piece. The importance is to participate. I am happy with both the journey and the result, and grateful that the BWG challenge has me push my boundaries.

There were very, very little participants in this Challenge, last year too. I hope that next year, with the super inspiring new theme and the probability that all the entries will be on display as in the past, there will be more entries. Why not yours?

Next year's challenge theme is "Hollywood or Bollywood".

Oh my!

Cath

I am romantic

When Preciosa asked me if I would like to make something with their beads I accepted immediately because they would send me beads in their newest finish, ivory, and if there is one color I love, it is ivory. Unsurprisingly, they asked their team of designers to focus on wedding, änd I happily dove into the box of beads to make as many things as I could (I was very busy with another thing and the deadline was quite short). I used a variety of stitches:

Diamond Weave - based on my design "Isatis"

Saint-Petersburg stitch.
This one really looks like a feather

Based on my design "Isatis"

MRAW - based on "Sera alla Scala"

Bridal Sera alla scala on a bust
This is a favorite design, with its
heart shaped rope.

I made this beadwoven haircomb with little petals and assorted hair pin.

The 2-hole cabochon beads which came in 3 sizes are fantastic. There are so many design possibilities. I have always wanted to create a fronthead piece for a bride, and with the super thin wire from beadalon and little haircombs, I made this dainty front jewellery using crimp beads to hold the beads in place. I found it really challenging to get the symmetry right. 

Because they sent all sorts of shaped beads and pastel pearl lined seed beads, I decided to give bead mosaic a try. It was quite a learning curve, but I had lots of fun! The shaped beads really lend themselves well for mosaics. I made little pendants and earrings. You may think that using glue is easy or fast, but it is really not. I placed the beads one by one in most cases.

with beaded fan attached to the clutch

I hope to do more bead mosaic in the future, but my favorite technique remains off-loom bead weaving and I made something I adore:

The new pastel pearl lined seed beads are absolutely delightful, but it is hard to capture their delightfulness in photos and their texture is marvelous. Really round seed beads feel magical in woven "fabric". The celestial light blue seed beads made me think of a perfect summer sky in Switzerland. It inspired me to create my own Eros & Psyche clasp using a Claspgarten clasp and transparent glass cabochon. I think that in this piece the beautiful pearlescence of the seed beads show well.

The stitch for the bracelet is hexagonal Diamond Weave (var. 3) with thread cover beads. The motifs in the bracelet are clouds. I added pearls and larger seed beads to better show the clouds. You will find a (free) graph for the clouds here.

Seeing my work skillfully photographed by Preciosa's photographer is always a moment of true delight. Discovering in their album what my fellow bead designers made is a treat you may like to enjoy too. Nevertheless, the clasp that I made myself is more beautiful in real life and the bracelet is one of my forever favorites. 

The clasp shows a miniature detail of the oil painting "Amour et Psyché" by William Adolphe Bouguereau in 1890. The painting features Greek mythological figures Eros and Psyché, sharing an embrace and kiss. I love this painting.

Thank you for reading me. If you too like beadwoven bracelets like the one above, you can purchase the e-book Diamond Weave in my shop.

Black Tiles Matter

The newly founded Museum of Beadwork launched a beautiful collaborative beading project called "The Beaded Square" project to celebrate their opening. Bead artists from all horizons were asked to bead a 6"x6" square for a permanent exhibit. You can see the photos of all the squares here and will discover amazing art. Not one piece is the same, but all are amazingly beautiful. 

This is my square (photographed on a red background that is not part of the square).

Black Tiles Matter

 It was a humbling process to create. I am not a very good bead embroiderer, which shows, ugh. Admittedly, I am not even able to cut paper or fabric straight, but with this piece I discovered that doing straight bead-embroidery is... de la folie. But I really wanted to make my tile like this.

Pondering where to place the
"jewels"

The guidelines for the squares (size, etc.) included a preference for jewel tones. That tickled me, and my muse, rebellious by nature, said "make a dissent tile with Diamond Weave black tiles and call it "Black Tiles Matter" (as a wink to "Black Lives Matter", of course).

As a beadweaver, I used quite a bit of beadweaving and because so many things happened in 2020, the BLM aspect of the piece is quite obvious.

The overal construction was inspired by the sky view of the road painted with yellow letters in New York City:

The variations in the black tiles represent black lives in their diversity. The crystal stones represent talent, potential - some have loads, some not - it doesn't matter: they all matter.

The long bugles and the crystal cup chain represent walls (of wealth) and fences (of fortune), or how power emprisons the black lives. 

 

The raised center represents the growing force beneath the whole BLM movement, deep and strong. 

Because the long bugles broke the thread continuously, I attached them all with coated wire. It was all lovely, nice, quite straight... but didn't feel good. Because unfair systems should not be maintained. So I disturbed it, and broke the "walls" intentionally.

Artwork by Banksy

Cesar A. Cruz said that "Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable" (Banksy spread the word). I think that many beautiful, non-disturbing things can be considered as Art, but love that our beadwork can convey messages. And that even a collar can have a deep meaning when related to actions - like the one worn by late justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg to express dissent. It has become so well known, that when searching for the word "dissent" with Google, her image, and items showing just her collar with the words "I dissent" are among the first results.

It is wonderful that now there is a museum of beadwork, chanting the beautiful art of beading and beadweaving. And I'm grateful for the opportunity given to be part of what might well be or become one of the most prestigious collections of modern beadwork ever. Many thanks to the museum, their founders, sponsors and staff.