The All-Star Instructor Cast from the Past....

Sampling of Class Handouts from The Bead Shop

I love what we're doing now with projects and design, but I also am so grateful that we can look back at what we accomplished as artists and designers when The Bead Shop was in its heyday and the early days of beadshop.com....

When The Bead Shop of Palo Alto was going full steam (and it did for close to 28 years), the classes taught by outstanding instructors were well-beyond what anyone else was doing. I mean that honestly and I can't take credit for it. The team of staff and outside teachers were perfection. I know when I start listing some, I will forget others, but there are a few that stand out for taking risks, pushing both the envelope and me to offer the best in learning. I want to thank:
Kate Ferrant Richbourg, Brittany Ketcham*, Kriss Silva, Mel McCabe, Tom McCabe, Irina Serbina, Randi Samuels, Vicky Ngyuen, Nicole Anderson*, Iris Sandkühler, Leah Fairbanks, just to name a few of this all-star roster who made The Bead Shop the place to learn beading, bead making and jewelrymaking. 

And now we are finally finally finding the time** to post online many of the handouts that were created by instructors while they were employees. It's amazing to think how many of today's top teachers and leaders in our industry passed through the doors of that little shop. So, please enjoy the learning. It's all free to download and we'll be posting more as time permits.  ~janice

* Many, many of the most amazing projects and designs on beadshop.com today were done by Brittany Ketcham and Nicole Anderson.
** And a big "thank you" to Karen Marshall, Web Master @ beadshop.com for finding the time and bandwidth to get this project completed.

Welcome to our new Learning Director, Linnea Lortsher...

Linnea Lortsher, Director of Learning, beadshop.com

Beading a new path with Linnea Lortsher... 

We are thrilled to have such a talented teacher and beader join our team. Linnea brings a POV that is so valuable in today's trends in beading leaning heavily towards glass, seed beads and beadweaving. 

Linnea is joining us as Learning Director and we asked her to tell us a little bit about her journey in beading.

We want to share some of what we've learned about Linnea, since she joined our team in February 2016.

Do you remember what your first beading project was? 

"My first beadweaving project was an amulet bag stitched in Peyote Stitch using Delica beads. I remember being enchanged with the different colors and finishes, and how delightfully they 'snapped' into place!"

What is your favorite technique?

"I love herringbone for the wonderfully supple versatile structure it makes. Projects that combine stitches are a favorite of mine and I am always excited to learn new techniques."

What jewelry artists do you admire the most and why?

My personal taste in jewelry is pretty subdued, but I love designers who go for fun and funky. Beki Haley's pendants are so lush, and I adore Laura McCabe's playful but punk-rock work with spikes, glass eyes and other unusual objects. I also love what Isabella lam is doing with SuperDuos and of course, I'm smitten with Miguel Ases and his incredible work with brick stitch... and Oh! I also love the work of Penny Dixon and Kay Bonitz."

Samples of Linnea's Superduo pattern work

In mid-March, we are rolling out Linnea's first project with us at beadshop.com. It will be a 4-wide Superduo bracelet woven with Miyuki 8/0 seed beads. Leading up to a project, Linnea works with Janice to develop the best approach. We have specific criteria when deciding on the parameters of a project:

1. Inspire our readers and be approachable to beaders of all levels.
2. Be aware of cost of ingredients and how we want to keep it affordable.
3. Be special and add value that our readers expect from us....don't just do the ordinary!

Linnea will work with our in-house photography and web team, Grace Noland and Karen Marshall, taking the photographs and creating the step-by-step instructions that go into our handouts. The process is fun but can be very technical, so it does take time. Our excitement over Linnea's POV and expertise is palpable. We hare hearing from so many of our customers how excited they are to move with us into beadweaving. So, welcome Linnea and let's get going!

DIY Prairie Leather Wrap

Wraps are so wearable and easy to make. They have become the go-to accessory for both women and men. With our new project, Prairie Leather Wrap, we just took it up a few notches...maybe that's an understatement? Before we knew it, we were going crazy with embellishment...from macramé with seed beads to sliders of all kinds. It really became a team obsession. Start with a few key ingredients and some studio tools and away you go! But, don't say we didn't warn you!

So much of Prairie Leather Wrap is about designing in real time. Build it as you go rather than trying to pre-plan. It's during the process of trying it on, working on it, trying it on again and seeing where the pattern falls around your wrist that the magic happens. Ideally, you want to create interest from all sides and this method of stringing, wrapping and stringing again will guide you in what to do next.

You will be working with the back side of the leather facing up. This insures you don't damage your leather with glue or tape. Follow the steps in our free handout, which includes how to macramé, adding new C-Lon colors seamlessly, tips on gluing and design. It's 15 pages!

From very simple to wild and crazy, we hope there's a Prairie Leather Wrap in your future!

Trail Ride by Janice Parsons

Annie Oakley by Cara Scopazzi

Country by Janice Parsons

Black Heart by Karen Marshall

Fabulous Coatings on Czech Glass...Do we take them for granted?

Czech Glass in 3mm, Honeycomb, 4mm and Superduos

It's not everyday that I can drool over new beads all in my favorite colorways...sea green, mossy brown, deep teal. Nothing captures my imagination like a good Picasso Green. I've been in love with ocean colors since I first set eyes on the deep, rough waters off the coast of Big Sur. And I'm an absolute pushover for anything pebbled with brown. 

I've talked a bit about how the Czech glassmakers are on fire. They really are. There has been a resurgence in glass from the Czech Republic for about 8 years now. It's so popular that Miyuki Beads of Japan ships its seed beads over to have them coated because no one can mimic them. That's pretty crazy! But seriously, there are some very talented artists coming up with these new beads and coatings. I love beads in all colors and I do my best to always find the unusual in every hue, but sometimes it's so hard for me to look beyond green.....

Read more about Czech Glass and the Precosia Company, the leader in the renaissance in glass beadmaking. I think you might, like me, have a greater appreciation for the under-rated, taken-for-granted, affordable, Czech Glass Bead. It's really on a trajectory to stardom, if it isn't there already.

The Amazing Autumn Look Book...

             

Finding inspiration for a project can be daunting for any jewelry artist craving originality. Over the years, I have suggested to students and customers that they don't need to look any further than a favorite photograph for ideas on bead selection and even design parameters. When I had my store (closed in 2008), I used to teach "Tricks of the Trade" and students would tell me it "changed their lives." That was wonderful to hear, but I'm just glad to see the process opened many up to the fun and ease of designing authentically.

In our Autumn Challenge, we asked for entries from the beading community. The parameters were to create a wrap bracelet inspired by Autumn. Guidelines were pretty simple: 50% of the ingredients had to be available on beadshop.com and it had to be inspired by fall foliage from a photograph. 

We asked artists to submit photos of their bracelets and their source inspiration. The results were outstanding. If you're like me, you'll want them all! What an incredible group of artists...just amazing. What do you think? I'd love to hear from you and I'd love to pass your comments on to the artists themselves. 

Please email me and happy beading!

~janice

Your 2 Cents

One of my resolutions for 2016 is to spend more time talking with readers and customers. When I had The Bead Shop in Palo Alto, I would chat every day with students, shoppers and people who wandered in off the street curious to see a store that just sold beads. There was a natural flow of ideas and opinions. I would often hear, "I saw this in a catalog. Will you help me make it?" or "When will you get this back in stock?" or "I'd like to learn how to do this. Will you teach me?"

Now that we're an online bead shop, it's more challenging to communicate one-to-one, but not impossible. So, with the new year, comes my resolution to go "old school"and begin chatting again. Give me your 2 cents on how we're doing and I promise I'll listen. Whether you're intrigued by a product you saw someplace else, curious about what thread to use in a project or you'd like to share what you just made, I want to hear from you. And if I don't have an answer to a question, I'll do my best to get you one. Please email me at feedback.beadshop@gmail.com or join me on Facebook and give me your two cents!

Thank you and happy beading,

~ janice

Ode to Pearls and Gemstones

The Bead Shop in 2008 

Going through old files at year-end, I came across some charming photos of 

The Bead Shop in Palo Alto taken in 2008. I look back with great memories of everything, including the rich and varied assortment of beads; the depth and variety available just 8 years ago is amazing. I think now about how difficult it is today to source real gems and stones and I long for the days when they were still relatively easy to get. 

A look inside the old shop...

Less than ten years ago, I would tell my pearl knotting students to buy pearls as the market was drying up. Really large and luscious pearls from China back then were amazing and a great value. Not so today. Every size is getting difficult to source and amazing pearls in peacock blue and bronze are virtually not being made. 

I can see why the market is moving to glass. It just makes sense from a manufacturing standpoint; glass beads are made from renewable resources, readily available and can be duplicated again and again. Beads from the earth and the oceans and lakes are another thing altogether and it has become a serious consideration in 

what we can source and use in projects.

Our next project to publish in January

So, my first project for the new year is an ode to freshwater pearls. It will publish early in January. It uses my very favorite bead....pearls. What will the next project be? 

Probably something in glass. I hope you like this one...

Stay tuned and happy new year! ~janice