How to end and add thread to bead work

Don't worry about ending and adding thread to a piece of bead work. See if my Doodlebeads video helps simplify this task.
Check it out here on You Tube: Click the arrow to watch!
Leslie's video on ending and adding thread

Transform ready-made elements into hand-crafted style

I have these great, ready-made silver-plated quick link rings from Beadalon, shown at the top of this photo. They're about the diameter of a quarter. They're really cool, but for my style they're just a tad too shiny, too perfectly formed. Others love these attributes, but I like more of a hand-crafted look in my work.

First I hammered them with a small rivet hammer, flipping them on my steel block to hammer both sides. Those rings are shown in the middle of this photo. They looked way better to me, but I still wanted more.

I decided to oxidize them. Using bowls designated for crafts only (with  NOT FOR FOOD written on them in marker) I first mixed a neutralizing solution of baking soda and plain water in one bowl--about 2 tablespoons of soda to maybe a pint of water. Next I heated water in a glass bowl, and put in two drops of Patina Gel Liver of Sulfur. It's really stinky so open a window. I used tweezers to dunk the rings, watching them darken and removing them quickly right into the baking soda water to stop the reaction from getting too black. Then I rinsed them in plain water and dried them off. My oxidized quick links are the bottom rings in this photo. They totally look like fused silver rings that I made myself!

 Cool, huh! Plus, the liver of sulfur solution degrades in a couple days and makes a great fertilizer. Just store it in a jar until it turns clear, then water your tomatoes!

Tucson wrap up 2011

Back from the not so warm but still FABULOSO realm of the Tucson shows. I find it hard not to post all my photos and share all my stories. Let's start with my recent acceptance as a CREATE YOUR STYLE with Swarovski Elements Ambassador. I have rarely been among such creativity and camaraderie in one group. At the meeting held to introduce new innovations, trends and colors, we got up close and personal with the STYLE BOOK, a binder of mixed media concoctions so dense with fabric, fashion notions, texture, sparkle and color that we salivated ... and it wasn't from the champagne! The trend book plays the role of gathering the latest from Swarovski CREATE YOUR STYLE looks in one place. Yum.

Each ambassador received a "candy box" with samples of some of the new shapes, colors, and materials. Be on the lookout for the BeCharmed Helix Beads, Trapeze Crystal Buttons,  rich and creamy Crystal Vintage Gold pearls and the Organic Cosmic Triangles.

To better see the remarkable faceting in the newest elements, HUGE versions were on display--tons of bling!

Here I am at the party Swarovski threw for staff, ambassadors and guests. On the far left is Kristal Wick, my successor as the editor of Beading Daily.com, and Tammy Jones is the editor of Jewelry Making Daily.com.

This party was so rocking even the bar staff were dancing along with everyone else!

Teaching for Swarovski was a blast and an honor. I had 7 students learning to make my Comet Anemone Cuff. They were all wonderful and I hope they take more classes with me.

Here's a neat trick: wet your raw stones to see how their natural color will be after the oils from your skin patina their surface. But take note--don't wet them until AFTER they are weighed for price! This is a strand of unpolished turquoise I bought. You can see the richer greens in the center where they're wet.

At the TierraCast showroom they had a new theme of Steampunk Victoriana. If you're into that style (as I am) you'd go bonkers-- every shape of key, wings, all sorts of chain, locks, mechanical-looking ephemera, hearts, and every color metal from brass to black. Truly extraordinaire, mes cheres. To make things even more memorable, a small stage was set up with period props and costumes to pose for photos. With me (I'm in the striped top hat) are Denise Peck, the editor in chief of Step by Step Wire Jewelry, and Karen Keegan, one of the best event managers at Interweave press.

And, though the temps may not have been as high as we all hoped, there was a lot of warmth and sizzling creative energy everywhere.

There's still no place like Tucson during the gem shows!

New demos for John Bead in Tucson

Here I am in the John Bead booth at the Doubletree Hotel. People were really interested in what I was beading with the new Miyuki tila beads.

A second demo brought more people to learn about farfalle beads, little peanut shaped beads with center holes. Lots of shoppers knew me from my Doodlebeads DVD and my work on the TV show Beads, Baubles, and Jewels. They all said that my drawings helped them learn bead stitching better than any other way they tried!

More posts to come. Today I have one more demo and then I'm off the the Gem Mall.

How to use your bonus beading time

I never know when I will have BONUS time on my hands to bead. Bonus time is unplanned free time, say, waiting to pick up your kids, or sitting at halftime. Not wanting to waste that time on just dawdling, I have a bag of beading materials all packed and ready, usually with me in my handbag! Whether it is waiting for one of my daughter's shows to start or waiting in an airport, I am determined to use my bonus time wisely and productively.

I actually have two different kinds of bonus beading kits: a large one for predictably long periods of time, such as plane or train rides, and a small one for car rides or to keep in my every day purse.

Since I am heading to Tucson soon on a 5 hour flight, I have my large kit ready. It's a clear cosmetics case that zips closed and has dimension, so I can fit everything I need for small, relatively easy to manage projects:

My list is personal to me, but here are my must-have-with-me-everywhere items:

• A generous handful of small baggies with a variety of colors of size 11 and 10 Delicas
• Size 11 and 8 regular/round seed beads in black, copper and silver.
• A small tin with assorted findings: ear wires, headpins, jump rings in various sizes and metals, small pieces of chain, crimp tubes, closed jump rings, crimp covers, wire guardians and toggle clasps.
• Two spools of Beadalon WildFire beading thread, one green, one black
• Needles in a plastic case
• At least 2 small Bead Stoppers
• A spool of multipurpose stringing wire
• Several pairs of various sized rubber O-rings
• A small scissors suitable to pass through airport screening
• A small chain nose pliers
• A small metric ruler

These items allow me to make my peyote rings or create something, anything, wherever I go! Of course, for a trip such as Tucson or Bead Fest where I have lots of time for impromptu bead-ins with other beaders, I pack far more than this travel kit!  So what is in your must-have-with-me travel kit?

Okay, advertising alert: Did I mention that I sell my own travel tins for small beading projects? My hubs Mike designed the copyrighted logo for my tag line: BYOBeads, for beaders on the go (TM). The tin is a lightweight aluminum jewel case, 7 1/2 x 5 1/4 x 3/4 inches, lined with a folded velux bead mat so it holds your beads in place when it is closed. It's the perfect size for a plane or train table--I even hold it in my lap when I am a passenger in a car. Because it has a lip around it, beads don't fall out! And, you can keep your needle stuck in the mat. A small scissor fits, too. I only post these by request on my Etsy site for easy Pay Pal purchase, so let me know.

And remember: there's always time for a few more rows.

Beads, Baubles, and Jewels tapes new series for 2011!

It may not sound exciting to say I go to Cleveland twice a year, but I go there to tape a TV show! Here I am on the set of the PBS series, Beads, Baubles, and Jewels with host Katie Hacker. We're excited to be working together, can you tell? Katie is the host with the most, and makes it SO much more fun than ever.

On the table are yummy new "sunflower" Swarovski crystal fancy stones, which I show used in a beaded netting bezel technique. (You have to wait for the series to air before that project is available, sorry!) You know, I'm not usually a big yellow fan but this sunflower color is just brilliant and fiery. A true dazzler!


Thanks to Beadalon, who sponsored my segments. I only use their WildFire beading thread for all my seed beading--all my beading, actually. Thanks to Swarovski for sending me samples of this fabulous new color, and to John Bead Company for the Miyuki Delicas I also used in this lesson.

I think this series will air about April. Stay tuned!

Leslie's Almost Annual Home Show 2010

I have an Almost Annual Home Show to sell my work before the holidays. Some friends wish I had these shows more than once a year. I love you guys! I love everyone who comes to my shows and those who track me down at dance or elsewhere to buy from me if they miss the show.

In this photo you can see a third of my display, set up in my living room. At the time we had no furniture in the room because we awaited having our floors redone. It worked great having all the extra space. The walls wrap around in a semi-circle allowing for maximum crowd visuals. The panels are MD display panels, (look for them online they are the best) with table runners (the black and tan areas) with my earrings on cards (designed by my fabulous hubs Mike), and bracelets and necklaces on tree branches and hooks I fashioned from copper 12 gauge wire. Notice the overhead lighting--constructed from Abstracta display rods and clip on lights. Good lighting is as important as good work. I also had displays on a table in another room--next to food and wine! And, I put up small cards on the display with tidbits about myself and my work--why I do what I do, about the materials in the pieces, etc.

I SO recommend hosting a home show to sell your work! It's fun just having all your different circles of pals together oohing and aahing over your work--a great marketing event to see what people like most. I send both emailed and snail mail invitations with directions to my house, and extend the invites to friends of friends.

Exhausting? You bet. But worth every ounce of energy! Fun and profit can go hand in hand.

PS: Getting a merchant account to take credit cards is a must.
Happy holidays everyone!