Buy Handmade at Local Craft Shows!

Whether it's a local temple's Hanukkah bazaar, a school fair or a church's Christmas Art Raffle, find the best gifts and decorations for the holidays at local craft shows, from local artisans. We empower the artists of our community by supporting their craft, and at the same time we find extraordinary and one of a kind things to present to family, friends, co-workers, teachers, everyone to whom you wish to give something to say, "you are special to me."

I'll be in such a show myself on November 21 and 22nd, at the first Holiday show of the Haverford Guild of Craftsmen, St. George's Church in Haverford, PA, corner of Ardmore and Darby Roads. I  only joined this group last Spring and found myself among the warmth and camaraderie of dedicated artists working in all different mediums. Our common bond– a generosity of experience, sharing tips in craft, marketing, running a business, setting up displays, exhibition opportunities, using new technology, and more.

The Haverford Guild is a local branch of our state guild of craftsmen, the Pennsylvania Guild.   Our members will put on a fine show, diverse and affordable! From copper flowers to silken scarves, joyfully colored ceramics to glistening, modern glass... and of course, like myself, plenty of jewelry artists selling styles for everyone.

If you live near me, come on out for our show. But wherever you live, check out the local craft shows for the really special gifts.  And just go to the mall to see Santa!

Happy, healthy Winter Wonderland to all!

New tax ruling for artists

You intend to make a profit from your art. You work at it full time, but just don't make a lot of money. And you try to claim deductions and so on, but the IRS says whoa, you aren't making enough money to call this a real job.

UNTIL NOW.  A new ruling says that you CAN claim your pursuit of art as your job even if you do not make much money. There are still rules, of course. You must show that you work to make a profit and that this is not your hobby.

Please read this article and share with your accountant. Don't have an accountant? Get one. Take your art seriously as a business and so will the IRS.

Learn it. Make it. CRAFTSY!

I am excited to announce I am now an instructor on Craftsy.com! CLICK HERE to review and sign up for my class: Essential Seed Bead Techniques

In several lessons I take you through the basics of five popular stitches and variations: even and odd count peyote, tubular peyote, flat brick stitch with increase and decrease, circular brick stitch, flat right angle weave and faux cubic RAW, square stitch, flat and tubular herringbone... plus a special lesson on closures. Each lesson includes a finished piece of jewelry we bead through together.

Tubular peyote empowers you to make cool beaded beads.

If you're getting started or want to learn more, I hope you consider taking my class Essential Seed Bead Techniques .

Of course I use my Doodlebeads drawings to help make things clearer, in combination with watching actual stitching, step by step.

Faux cubic right angle weave is just a step beyond flat right angle weave.

About Craftsy.com:
Craftsy presents a variety of advantages over live classes and other online education venues. Here are some of the most important highlights of Craftsy:
• Our classes are yours to keep--watch any time and as many times as you like.
• We select only expert instructors with authoritative knowledge.
• Classes are interactive, so you can ask your instructor and classmates questions.
• Our production team ensures the videos for every class are of the highest quality.
• Craftsy classes are filmed in high definition so technical details are easy to see.
• Every class is equipped with helpful features like video notes and 30-second repeat.
• You can share projects for feedback and tips, or browse for inspiration.
• If for any reason you are not satisfied you can return your class for a full refund.

See you at Craftsy.com!

Happy beading!

CREATE YOUR STYLE Lights Up the Main Line Bead Society

It was my recent pleasure to illuminate members of the Main Line Bead Society in Springfield, Pennsylvania about being a CREATE YOUR STYLE ambassador, share current Innovations and Trends, and introduce them to the www.create-your-style.com web site.

 

The group learned how we become ambassadors and what our responsibilities are in exchange for our association with the Swarovski family and legacy. They were impressed when I listed the global regions we come from and how we recently welcomed our first Russian Ambassador. They had no idea there were so few of us but that we came from so many places!

I showed them several of our sampler "candy boxes" to see how we are introduced to new innovations, our  "bible" of products and how we were recently bereft at the discontinuance of crystal yarn, to name a few of the now "vintage" products. We talked about the current hotties of gemcolor pearls, crystal rose and luminous green, as well as upcoming colors of nature blends and birthstone beads. I made up little sample bags that members passed around, and also displayed my own designs using some of those elements. 

There was no internet where they meet so I simply chatted for a while about the Create-Your-Style.com web site. No one knew about it! It was great fun to turn people on to the wealth of information and inspiration there from the interactive features such as the online design tool to the videos from the Professor of Crystal Nick Regine, the APPS, the Ambassador blogs, and the shopping! Lots of questions and note-taking ensued.

And their favorite part of the meeting... maybe, might have been, ya think? SWAG!

Thanks to the VERY generous support of Swarovski, I came loaded down with CYS gift bags for everyone with issues of Water and several packages of elements, plus a few cool things for which we had a drawing including copies of our Crystal Jewelry Inspirations (which I signed for them), color carousels, a couple issues of Sound and little books of designs and projects.

I am looking forward to workshops with this wonderful, enthusiastic bead society. I think the fave designs being considered were my Deco Rose bracelet and my Filigreellipse earrings. I'm looking forward to teaching them.

 Thanks, MLBS for such a sparkling evening!

TREND TRACKING: leather cord and sliders

No question that leather cord bracelets sporting sliders and charms are sizzling hot right now. Few jewelry projects are as easy to create, even if you've never made jewelry before. Can you glue, trim the end off a strip of leather, and do a bit of addition and subtraction to measure a length of cord? Then you are good to go.

Me, too! So I am giving myself a well-deserved and easy break this morning to play with some of the trendy Cousin's slide bracelet components, which you can find at Jo-Ann's.  Here's the step by step for my slider cuff:

1. Measure your wrist for your desired bracelet total length. Mine is 7".

2. Measure your clasp length, clasped. This one is 1 ½".

3. Measure for cord length: here's the bit of math. Our parents were right, we do need math for everything.

You need to account in the cord length for the ends that get glued into each clasp. Measure the clasp depth: I took a small strip of paper, inserted it into the clasp, and marked where the clasp ends. Then I measured the section marked off on the paper. My clasps are both about ¼" deep.  Measure both in case they are different, and add both increments. My math:

My desired finished length: 7"

Clasp length: 1 ½"

Clasp depths x 2 = ½"

Subtract clasp length from total length = 5 ½".  Add ½" for clasp depth and my leather cord needs to be cut to 6". Ultimately this will give me 5 ½" length of leather cord exposed.  Add the 1 ½" clasp. Comes to 7", right?

4. Trim nice, straight cuts at the cord ends. Use a sharp craft knife and a cutting board, pressing with a firm and controlled sawing motion. Use caution when using knives if any kind.

5. Use an emory board to smooth the ends, and wipe the dust away.

6. Now comes the really fun part: choose your sliders! Play around with your sliders to come up with a pleasing arrangement. I tried a few ideas, and took photos to remember so I could recreate my fave.

7. Once your sliders are arranged on the cord, glue the cord ends into the clasps. MAKE SURE your clasps are facing the proper direction so the sliders show correctly if they have a top and bottom, like the owl in my design. I prefer my clasp's hook facing in, it's easier to hook that way. 

Use a viscous glue such as E-6000. Drop glue in the clasp and insert the cord end completely. Don’t use too much glue or it will overflow. If this happens, wipe excess away immediately using the edge of a card, such as the one on which your sliders probably came packaged. Place the glued bracelet to dry 6-8 hours someplace flat and away from little hands or paws. Here's my finished cuff again. All told including writing this blog with photos, my slider project took under two hours! For anyone but especially me the seed bead devotee, this is insanely instant gratification... except I need to make that glue dry faster!

My First Wire Crochet with Swarovski Crystals, Beadalon Findings and Dagger Beads from Unicorne

My first wire crochet!

I had not yet been drawn to wire crochet since it tends to be organic and I am a more architectural designer. But I needed to learn this technique for an upcoming Jewelry Television gig. I already know how to crochet and bead crochet, I just never did it with wire. Nothing like a deadline for live TV to compel you to take on something new and learn how to do it well, and fast!

Several CREATE YOUR STYLE with Swarovski Ambassadors are wire crochet dynamos so I turned to the Crystal Jewelry Inspirations book for tips. Many thanks to Laura Timmons for her project which described a method of braiding individually crocheted strands. Aha! It was just the technique I needed to employ. Thanks, Laura! I also looked at the web site of Dixon Chick Stephanie Dixon, so thanks for the additional inspiration, Steph!

I wanted to feature these striking, silver-dotted, red glass daggers from Unicorne Beads, so I strung them between sections of alternating sizes of Swarovski Jet crystals for two crocheted strands, one strand also including Beadalon oval links in gunmetal. The third strand uses all Jet crystals in sizes 5mm and 8mm. All strands use 26 gauge Artistic wire from Beadalon, non tarnish silver. Thanks to Laura I realized I could crochet single strands and braid them together into a more substantial form, though I used only 3 strands and her project uses many more.

Finishing up is straightforward enough if you've done any wire work that includes end cones or caps and wire wrapped loops with a clasp. Here's what I did: secured all braided strand ends together into a tidy "nest" that fit inside my bead cap, leaving long ends to string through the bead cap and form a wire wrapped loop.  Twirled the wire ends into a thicker gauge cable for the wire wrapped loop. Made a wire wrapped loop capturing one oval link. 

Used Beadalon's Quick Link connectors to extend the necklace with more small gunmetal oval links, and used an ear wire as the clasp. 

I suppose I should say that I got hooked on wire crochet and look forward to exploring it again.

Tune in to Jewelry Television (JTV) JEWEL SCHOOL on Feb 3 and 4th, 10-noon EST, to see the cool crochet kit you can buy to get started yourself!

Crystal Jewelry Inspirations, My Journey as a Contributing Ambassador

 

It is my honor and pleasure to blog about being in the Crystal Jewelry Inspirations book of designs from the CREATE YOUR STYLE with SWAROVSKI ambassadors. Our common passion for Swarovski materials makes for a special bond not only between ambassadors but between us and everyone who loves Swarovski crystals! Kalmbach editor Karin Von Voohees empowered ambassadors around the world to share our styles and techniques as a group like never before!

How I chose my design

Let me tell you my journey for Crystal Jewelry Inspirations. I considered several existing pieces before ultimately creating something totally new just for this book.  First I presented to the editor my Fossil Pendant, one of my personal favorites to wear. Didn’t make the cut for the book because it doesn’t have enough crystals. I like featuring crystals in ways that set them apart from other materials in a piece but for this book, the design needed to be ALL about the bling.

Then I thought about this colorful necklace which always gets lots of comments when I wear it. But though it uses a great variety of stitches and is all crystals, it isn't totally my distinct signature style as an artist. It's very fun to make and to wear, though, so I will write this one up for sure. Some day!

Finding my design voice

I wanted to contribute something to this collection of special designs that people would connect to me and my style. I love rubber O-rings and also wanted to make a piece that was more than two dimensions. Loom weaving is, I think, an unexpected technique for crystals and something I teach and demonstrate often.  A loomed cuff worked up into a foundation cuff pretty fast so I could get right to adding embellishment and detail in all the circular brick stitched O-ring "orbits." Color was based on my desire to be graphic but feminine, stylish but edgy. Round crystals in jet (black) and crystal (white) checkerboard with fuchsia perfectly captured elements of fashion and futuristic, in my humble opinion.

The closure challenge

Everyone should give their work the happy ending it deserves. I chose to design an original clasp that was totally integrated rather than bring in a manufactured closure. I started playing with a toggle and buttonhole. First I just wired up a rubber tube, but needed to consider how to keep it in place.

The best answer was to use memory wire, which spirals into the third dimension with kinetic energy!

Everything about Crystal Jewelry Inspirations is meant to empower, instruct, and inspire. The diversity of projects and gallery pieces is simply stellar! See for yourself.

You're also invited to see more of my designs at www.leslierogalski.com, and shop for projects, kits, patterns, and more at www.sleeplessbeader.com.

 Happy beading!

Recycled Wine Cork Earring Card Hole Punch

Holiday time is so busy! I make tons of earrings as gifts and to sell at holiday craft shows. And all those earrings must be professionally presented on earring cards. 

I make my own cards rather than buying commercial ones, so I must punch holes in them myself too. Here's my easy and recycled material two-holes-at-once hole punch. Since my earring lengths vary, I do not like using a jig which puts the holes in the same place on each card; sometimes I need holes way up close to the top of the card, sometimes lower. I eyeball my position of the holes depending on the length of each pair of earrings. Make yourself a little guide if you don't feel comfortable doing this by sight.

Cork earring card hole punch with push pins

Cork earring card punch closed

HOW TO MAKE THE CARD HOLE PUNCH

1. Slice a wine cork in half lengthwise. 

2. Glue (any craft glue works) or use double sided tape to adhere two push pins to the flat sliced side of one half of the sliced cork.

3. Place the card on a soft board (I use an inexpensive cork hotplate)

4. Eyeball where to center the holes between the card sides. My visual guide is to align the holes under specific letters in my name at the top of each card.

5. Keep the push pins parallel and find the best place for the holes that allow enough room for the earrings to hang from the earwire when they're in the holes without lying too low on your card.
6. Push the pins through the cards.

 

TIP: You may want to make more than one of these and vary the distance between the push pins to suit the scale of your earrings, with holes father apart if you make larger earrings.

I hope this tip helps you spend less time making gifts and more time giving them! (Or selling them!)

HAPPY HOLIDAYS–and check out the Little Cogs Earring Kit on www.sleeplessbeader.com for a fun earring project!

Studio storage and finished jewelry

Storing your stash is one thing; storing your finished creations is a whole new adventure. I used to pin my finished pieces all over  my booth display panels which were stuck in a corner of my room. Some things hung from hooks I made to cling to branches (yes, from trees). But it was a mess, the pins were bending all the time,  and I feared the ruin of my display panels.

I ended up hanging pegboard. I was not sure how it would look, or if it would be cost effective because I'd need LOTS of hooks, and worried about how pieces would hang.

As it turned out the boards look really clean and their natural wood color works great as the background color. Hooks come in lots of sizes and shapes, and I slipped sturdy tubes over several pegs to help round out the way pieces are hanging.

Thanks to my hubs Mike I only bought  hooks with smaller gauges of pegs (the part that goes into the holes) to fit easily. IMPORTANT TIP if you want to do pegboard! Larger pegs distort the holes and are a pain to move around. Make sure to look for the hooks with the slimmer pegs!

I also still use my branches and hammered copper hooks so my jewelry wall has a bit more of a display feeling than just plain pegboard. Why not paint it, you ask? Because paint scratches-- and what color would match all my jewelry? Plus you can see that the pegboard matches the woodwork trim in my studio!

Now I am on the look-out for a nicer tube-thingy than cardboard to pad some hooks. Maybe there's an interesting but neutral color,  easy-to-cut hose... or the tubes used to control network wires. I'll find something.

But meantime I am quite happy with clean arrangement,  ease of organization,  low cost and especially the now-I can-see-everything-and-so-can-customers look of my jewelry wall!
PS: Yes, it's a TV, and yes, that's my Swarovski CREATE YOUR STYLE Ambassador apron on my dress form! 

SLEEPLESS BEADER.COM New Shop!

EVOLUTION for Sleepless Beader! I've been working hard to grow the kit and tutorial sales part of what I do. This gives everyone out there a chance to make my designs and reveals which designs are ready to become workshops and classes with me at the helm, too. I have teamed up for this facet of my beady path with one of my sisters who is a whiz at the biz end of things. Her skills have enabled me to focus on what I do best, design and of course social networking! She's got the tech savvy to take over financials (taxes, tracking and ordering inventory, kitting and shipping, costing) and web based stuff such as our new site, and she even knows how to do some seed beading! With her help, the brand new sleeplessbeader.com commerce-enabled site will launch soon!

Along with the shopping cart part we'll have a newsletter sign up, calendar of events, special offers, a gallery, fun and games! Look for Sleepless Beader at the upcoming Bead Fest on August 17-19th at the Oaks Expo Center–Artisan Table 445. Kits and tutorials at the show will include popular favorites and new designs I have finally gotten around to writing and illustrating. Good thing I'm sleepless!

CraftOptics

The better to see you with, my dear!
Just got a pair of CraftOptics lenses. Wow these are cool!












They are naturally a bit more to wear than just normal glasses, but the soft silicone nose piece makes it really comfy. There's also a little light which works off a small battery pack that clips onto your pants or whatever, like a cell phone would. The light slides right onto the optic part for targeted illumination. Clever! The light cord runs through a clip on the arm of the specs, and has a small spring action clip to attach to your shirt so it stays out of the way. VERY nicely engineered. (My lenses look lit up in the photo but it's just a reflection from my laptop screen.) AND they come with croakers, the soft cords that slide onto the arm ends like the kind of eyeglass cords surfers wear, with a button that slides on the cords to adjust the specs to stay put or let them hang down.

The magnifier part flips up to reveal my personal prescription. The glasses are nice and large so it's easy to look up through the top part to see normally, and then look down through the optic part for magnification, as you need. It's all very well thought out the way these work.













Great for my eyes and especially my craftsmanship! I expect to be using these on Beads, Baubles, and Jewels segments taping soon, so you'll be able to see them in action–rather, see me in action using them–when the episodes go on the air. I'll let you know when they're on!

And yes, mine are purple.

Deep Blue Bling

Did you know that the average human eye can register quantities of 5 at a glance without counting, and after that, not so much? So if you instantly see 6 sets of 5 crystals, good for you!

So this box comes from Swarovski today, and it is RATTLING which of course makes us all salivate, right? I forgot that Xilions were being sent to me for an upcoming taping of Beads, Baubles, and Jewels for segments sponsored by EK Success. Check out the 6 blues I chose to play with in size 6mm. They are, clockwise from top: Indicolite, Montana, Pacific Opal, Jet AB, Mint Alabaster and center, Light Azore.

I must have been an interplanetary hitchiker to love these colors because they're super stellar, like extraterrestrial gleams of brilliance from otherworldly galactic entities. Don't let my inadequate photography fool you. (I actally had to tone down the luster or you'd be seeing sparkles before your eyes for days.)

Or in earthly realms, perhaps I wish to be a mermaid in the Caribbean swimming in such aquatic magnificence. I just love these colors, is what I'm saying.

You can space out in your own sparkling waves over these hues too. Look for them wherever EK Success is sold and in your local bead store.

What did I make from them? I'll show when they're created!

Fun with Beadalon

Making new videos for the Beadalon web site brought out
a variety of my facets, er, faces. :-)

Look for the videos now on Beadalon's You Tube page. My latest videos include how-to-do, why-to use, and what-to-use for: loom bead weaving, Elasticity stretchy cord designs, WildFire beading thread, all sorts of beading needles, bead organization and storage, arranging a beading work area, and Hybraid (Is it a wire? A beading thread? It's both!)

Here's one showing some basics for a well equipped beading work area.


Even though I was feeling a bit wired and threadbare myself after a long week just back from doing two back to back Jewelry Television shows, I know the videos now showing on Beadalon's You Tube page will educate and inspire you.

Stick around, because you never know when some of my actual design tutorials will appear, too!

Sorry, This Class is Cancelled

Or, why I cant teach one or two students
even if you buy me dinner.

Steampunk Herringbone Cuff by Leslie Rogalski (c) 2011
Only one student signed up. 
Cuff was recently selected to be featured
in the new Lark book Showcase 500 Beaded Jewelry
now on advance sale on Amazon.

People grab my arms when I wear pieces such as these and exclaim, ooh, teach this, teach this!

So I write up tutorials, a laborious and lengthy process. I spend days re-making designs I have so far only made intuitively– measuring the number of beads, calculating sizes, counting components, and simplifying technical aspects as I re-create my one of a kind pieces so I can teach them clearly and step by step.

I take photos I hope will entice, fill out forms meant to present the projects as fun and doable, and submit packages to events. I'm ecstatic when I get juried in. I make hotel and flight reservations. And then... I get one, maybe two students (thank you!) who sign up.

I can just feel all you other teachers sighing and nodding. It is never an impulsive decision to cancel a class even if we have but one student, because every single student is important and valued, very valued.

Cubic Right Angle Weave Fiesta Links bracelet
Leslie Rogalski (c)2011
Only two students signed up.
Have been told by those who learned this from me
that it's the best class ever to learn this stitch.

The truth is we cannot afford to travel to shows unless we make a profit. Not just cover travel expenses, not just be compensated for all the time it took to develop the class, write the tutorials, determine the best way to get a technique presented. Make money, as in, to put in the bank and save for the kid in college or get a real haircut not by your neighbor in beauty school.

It's not a profit just to pay your way and break even. That's living hand to mouth. I bet most of you are close to doing that no matter what your jobs are.

Purple Path Tila Herringbone cuff
by Leslie Rogalski (C)2011
Taught it to several "I'll never like seed beading" friends
who now can't stop beading.
SIGN UP FOR THIS CLASS
AT BEAD FEST SPRING

Sometimes it's hard not to be mad when a class you signed up for is cancelled. Teachers think you are the BEST PEOPLE EVER for wanting to be our students. We just wish there were more of you signing up. Then we can not only come to the shows and teach the classes, but eat, too.

There are a couple amazing shows with registration open NOW for fabulous classes, with renown, master teachers. They are very varied in time and cost and skill level, so there is bound to be at least one class you'd love. Maybe even one of mine.

Bead & Button is in June in Milwaukee, and Bead Fest Spring is almost here, April 13, 14 and 15th at the Oaks convention center, easy to reach, just a few miles from Valley Forge PA.

Hollywood Filmstrip loom cuff by Leslie Rogalski (c)2012
Sign up for it at Bead Fest Spring
Kit includes the loom and beads and the cool special bezel cuff!

Treat yourself for your birthday. Or your unbirthday. Celebrate your emancipation from that guy you thought was Brad but was really the pits. Classes are kosher for Passover, and I know the Easter bunny would leave a gift card for a class in your basket if you promise not eat all the jellybeans except the green ones.

BEAD FEST SPRING, Oaks, PA

BEAD & BUTTON SHOW, Milwaukee, WI

Diane Fitzgerald's Favorite Beading Projects

It is not every day you have the chance to get the inside scoop from a master, let alone one who shares your own passion. Diane Fitzgerald is such a worthy mentor for anyone who makes, wears, or simply appreciates the art of beadwork. I encourage you to enjoy her journey with her in her new book from Lark,  "Diane Fitzgerald's Favorite Beading Projects." 

The appealing variety of styles, techniques and materials on the cover are indicative of the lovely, feminine and colorful projects found inside. Diane's designs are lush with seed beads but she also uses beads in other shapes and materials. 

Variations of designs include these
juicy versions of the Hard Candy bracelet.

Diane has chosen 24 personal favorite projects to represent her journey (so far!) as a teacher, designer, historian, and ambassador of global bead arts.  The delightful introduction by another bead master, Jean Campbell, fills in the storyline about Diane and how she became who she is.

Diane can be such a romantic.
The soft fabric used in this
Apple Blossom Necklace proves it.

There is a range of skill levels but truly anyone familiar with beading can make everything in the book. The projects have wonderfully clear illustrations and well written, step by step instructions. The photos are nice and large making it easy to see the beads, read the tutorials, and follow the illustrations.

Excellent details abound in close up photos.

There are also tips on using color, improving your technical craft, and inspiration from the four corners of the globe—which, by the way, Diane has visited. She has literally searched the world for inspiration and technique, and has gathered a history of beadwork along the way which is shared in comments scattered through her book.

Fortune Teller beads predict happy hours with bright colorss.

You all know I'm a seed bead devotee above most other materials. I have not been around the world  but I have been around as an artist, teacher, editor, and beady babe. I know a lot of beady peeps. So,  I have high expectations when it comes to inspirational and informative beading books. "Diane Fitzgerald's Favorite Beading Projects" will make your fingers itch to bead!

Diane's Zipper Bracelet is my personal favorite.
I  love the purple iris cube beads, too!