February 2015 Musings

We have all heard that the world gets crazy when there is a full moon (luna-tics, right?), but there is the same affect when there is a new moon - and it's been out in force.  Less than tasteful posts on Facebook (which, sadly, has become an important way to keep in touch with friends and family around the world or just a few miles away),  I turned off notifications to social media last night, watched a less than wonderful movie called "The Corsican Brothers" with Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. and spent some time with my beads and wondering about copying, derivatives, and when it stops being a copy or a derivative and starts being my own design.

Many of my designs have been heavily influenced by my friend and mentor, Marcia Decoster.  Marcia and I worked closely for many years and I took what I learned to heart.  Did I copy from her?  Yes, there are portions of my work where you can see what I learned from her.  But an actual copy of a design.  No.  I don't believe that I did.

Above is a piece that I call "Hever Castle" - the netting around the crystals is netting, it's been done before and will be done again.  The bail (top) and the connection between the crystals is a modified Right Angle Weave (raw) that I learned from her many years ago in her Romantica necklace, you can see the same thing in neckstrap.  But because the pieces are so different, it's not a copy, but influenced by or a derivative of her necklace, but still my design.

I also bought a pattern by Shelley Pleines Nybakke - her Tennis Anyone bracelet, pictured below on the left.  These are pieces made from a pattern, a copy.  The Tiara Necklace on the right is very similar except that it's cubic right angle weave, not a three sided RAW as the bracelets are.  This is not a copy, my design, but using a technique from another instructor.

Thinking about it, I learned cubic right angle weave from Huib Peterson, so I was influenced by what he also taught me.

In your heart, a person knows if they copied another artists design.  When I was just starting to make patterns, I had a dancing moose pattern - resembling a kokopelli, but it was a moose dancing.  I walked into my local bead store at the time, and there was a woman who was wearing a necklace with MY moose on it.  At first I was tickled that she liked it enough to make it.  She told me that she took the picture from the internet, enlarge it so that she could see the peyote pattern in it, and then she beaded it.  But then, the more that I thought about it, she couldn't be bothered to spend the $5 for the pattern.  THAT's copying.

Bottom line - you know if what you are doing is right or wrong.  If doing wrong doesn't bother you, nothing that I can do or say will make you change your mind.

But enough about that!!

Beading by the Bay 2014 - Part 2

We woke again in San Francisco, and this was going to be a great day!  Major site seeing was planned.  After a nice breakfast and packing, we once again figure how to pack our mini van and off we drove.  Dot did an excellent job of maneuvering through the streets of San Francisco and over the bridge we went.  Our first stop was Marin Headlands on the north side of the Golden Gate bridge!

This was a great spot for photos of the San Fran skylines and the bridge.  Well, except that the sun was shining when we got there, but the fog rolled in.  And FAST.

Dot is looking for the top of this monster tree.  This picture really shows how large they are.

Following our quick stop at the bridge, we drove north to Muirwoods National Forest to see the Redwoods!  This has been a great visit for me and crossing off items of the bucket list (crossing Golden Gate Bridge – Check!  Redwood Forest – Check!).  We waited in the parking lot for our last member to join us! Beki Haley of Whim Beads, who doesn't live very far from Muirwoods.  

Front: Liz, Sue, Tracy
Back: Cyn, Dot, Sharon
Not seen:  Beki (taking picture)

We wandered down the meandering path in awe of these beautiful giant trees.  The further removed from the parking lot, the quieter the noises became almost as if the trees were absorbing the sound.  These trees are massive, and not even the largest redwoods in California.  If my Dawn Redwood in the garden grows to 1/5 of their size, that is going to be a large tree.

A quick drive north and west of there brings us out to the coast and Stin, where Beki prepared a wonderful picnic lunch.  It's funny - the northern girls (Dot, Sue and I) thought the weather was wonderful.  Sharon, who now lives in Tucson, was freezing.  And Cyn, Beki and Tracy (California and Seattle) thought "Oh, jeesh, rain again"!!

Beading by the Bay 2014 - Part 1

On March 3^rd, the San Francisco area was invaded by G’nomes from around the country:  Sue and Liz from SE Michigan, Dot from southern Ohio, Tracy and Cyn from Seattle, and Sharon from Tucson (joined later in the week by Beki from California and Lisa from Chicago).  Of course, I wore my tiara on a leg of the flight as I was "tempted" by friends to do it.

Liz and Sue en flight

Caught me coming out of the ladies room

As flights from the country were coming at different times, the first wave of G’nomes had lunch in a lovely little restaurant in Burlingame by the SFO airport.  Liz introduced Bibimbap to Sharon, and a wonderful luncheon (who uses that word any more?) was had by all, with promises to have dinner here later in the week.

Once Tracy (who flew from Seattle via Las Vegas - not a very direct flight) arrived, we drove our rental G'nome-mobil (which has a wine cellar or "Stow and Go" seating)

to downtown San Francisco to the Opal Hotel, which is on the border of two neighborhoods – the Tenderloin and Japan Town.  It was a nice, older hotel; small rooms, but enough for our group of six to share two rooms.  Our room did not have a closet, but a nice wardrobe which looked like something out of “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” books.  I didn't venture into it to see if it went to another world.  The room was on the front of the hotel, which is on Van Ness street and not unnecessarily noisy.  Beds were clean and comfy, although the pillows could stand an upgrade.  The lobby was clean and spacious, and the provided breakfast was more than adequate.   Secure parking was a great find in the city!

The Wine Cellar in the rental

True, the hotel is in a less than savory part of town, but if you keep your senses about you, walk in groups and just be aware of your surroundings, you should be fine.  Polk Street looked a little less desirable than Geary, so we avoided it.  Parking lot was small, but just at the back of the hotel, but locked and secure.

Our first day, we walked from the hotel down to Union Square (and right passed the Hotel California) to Britex fabrics which was Dot’s dream fabric store.  I found a bin of leathers for clearance prices which was great.  Following that, we tried to get on the cable cars, but they weren't in service (found out later, they were down all day – what a disappointment).  

Dot and Cyn get in the spirit!

We managed to get on the correct street car and get down to Fisherman’s wharf where most of the day was spent walking around.  Lunch was at Fog Harbor and it was wonderful!  

Lunch at Fog Harbor on Fishermans Wharf
Sue, Liz, Tracy, Cyn, Dot and Sharon

Sharon had an ice cream sundae at Ghirardelli’s which was not shared (don’t get between Sharon and her ice cream).  After trying to determine to get back uptown without the cable car, we managed to get on the correct street car going back up the hills of San Francisco, and to the downtown shopping area.  Sharon, Dot and Sue did some damage in the Unicol store for themselves and family 

Walking back to the hotel was not going to be an option for us in an unsavory neighborhood (why be stupid - we could have walked, but that wasn't the smart thing to do), but I managed to figure out the correct bus, confirm it with a woman who was getting on the bus and it dropped us right at the corner of Geary and Van Ness (bus 32L if you need to know).  Brava!

Stay Tuned for part 2!

Beading by the Bay part Dieux

Beading by the Bay was and will continue to be one of the highlights of 2013.  I have wonderful memories and I am so fortunate to be part of this great groups of beaders (even though Huib Petersen's class kicked my beading butt).  In the evenings, as I sit in my studio and bead after 9 hours at the hospital, my eyes are distracted by some of the goodies that we received at the retreat.

Books!  We received books again this year from Lark Publishing - one was "Making Wire & Bead Jewelry:  Artful Wirework Techniques."  I was so excited when I saw this book that I might have squealed outloud.  Another book was Ray Hemachandra's "Showcase 500 Beaded Jewlery" which is part of the 500 series.  I especially like this book because I know so many wonderful artists who are featured in this book and a good handful were at the BBTB. Now if I would have remembered to have them sign their pieces in the book, this would become a priceless part of my book collection, however, I thought of that when I got home. It’s a wonderful book and I love it.

The door prizes donated by Swarovski Elements are wonderful. I received a set of six boxes of Swarovski collections – elements that work together by color or texture. It’s so wonderful that I am just looking at everything now – not even using them. But I will. I can’t let these crystals sit in boxes for years. They would get so lonely.  Spread on the tables at the dessert reception was an array of wonderful crystals of all sizes, shapes, colors and oh, the sparkle….

At our table, we were very organized and polite about it. To make the magic last even longer, we took turns picking out what we like and wanted. First we put what we coveted in front of each of us. It was easy as we all wanted something different. I wanted two oval crystals that will be a pair of earrings in the near future. Cyn wanted some pearls. So Cyn, Jules, Dot, Sharon, Sue, Beki and I all picked our favorites out of what was on the table – other beaders were laughing at us, but we enjoyed it and had fun.

The final picture is of the "Wild Girls" as Marcia has called us or the "G'nomes" that Cyn Bicker has named us. I used photoshop to add Dot to the picture (as she was behind the camera but belongs in it). From the left - Sue, Liz, Lisa, Cyn, Sharon (barely visible), Beki (hiding), Jules, and Dot

Not to change the subject, but  BBTB and BBTB are the same.  One is “Beading By the Bay” and the other is “Bitchen’ Biker Turkey Buzzards” which has been a beading group on the internet for more than 10 years. Is this a coincidence? Or pre-determined by the gods? Ancient Alien connection? Perhaps a little of all of the above….

Beading By The Bay 2013

I enjoyed myself at Beading by the Bay 2012 so much, I knew immediately that I was going to sign up again for 2013.  I managed to talk three good friends into going with me which made it even more special.


Dot. Sharon and Sue

 Sue and I had an adventure in even getting to San Francisco.  I was printing the boarding passes when I noticed that the date was changed.  TO THE DAY THAT I WAS PRINTING THEM!  Once I convinced Sue that I wasn't kidding and that we were flying out in 4 hours, we raced to the airport, got through security, and found our gate.  Whew, we made it!  Wait - flight is delayed.  Now we have time for dinner, but we might not make our connecting flight at Denver.  Snow storm coming so we decide to get out of Detroit and deal with Denver.  Once at Denver, we run like OJ Simpson (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7W1hnR3kLwo ) in an airport commericals to make our connecting flight.

You know when you are sitting on a plane and waiting and waiting and waiting and finally those last passengers get on the plane (and they are looking frazzled) - that was Sue and I.  We didn't even have seat assignments.  Sue was placed in row 1 while I ended up in row 176.  I don't think it was quite that bad, but it was at the back end of the plane.  Whew, we made it.... Even more amazing?

Our luggage made it.

Of course the next morning, we are up at the crack of dawn, because we are still on an east coast clock.  After double checking that we indeed were in California, with our luggage, we sighed a deep sigh and started vacation.

Later that day, Dot Lewellyn from Columbus, OH and Sharon Hessoun from Tuscon, AZ flew in and the group was complete.  We had a nice lunch and dinner in Burlingame, CA, lots of laughs and chuckles and then to sleep!

Off in the morning to wipe things off my bucket list and during our two days of touring, we saw so much:  San Francisco, Golden Gate bridge, Chinatown, Cable Cars, Sea Lions at Fisherman's Wharf, and more.  What a whirlwind of excitement

Following our days of being a tourist, we buckled down to our main objective - Beading by the Bay.  Marcia and Susan put on such a nice retreat.  We had three great instructors this year; Marcia (of course), Huib Petersen and Sabine Lippert with some beautiful classes.  It's just a chuckle-fest.  It was nice seeing faces of persons that I met last year and hopefully will again next year.

Memories of Istanbul - the traveling bracelet saga continues

...While I have heard about the traveling bracelet on Facebook, and peeked into the blog to see what was going on, I didn't believe that I would be fortunate to become part of this fun story.  Several months ago, Dot Llewelyn (Speedy Beader) and I made plans to take classes at 1 Stop Beads in Columbus, Ohio when we knew that Marcia DeCoster would be there - what fun!  Sadly, I had done both the projects that were being taught - what's the sense of me signing up again!  (not independently wealthy).  I decided to let Marcia know what we were planning and what she thought.  Ends up that I assisted Marcia for the class days and hung out with Dot at the same time.  What a winning solution.



Marcia and I perform a handoff of the bracelet

Marcia was in receipt of the Memories of Istanbul bracelet and asked me if I wanted to be part of the journey that this bracelet would take - and we could do a hand-off, instead of mailing while I was in Ohio!!

The bracelet was with me while I tried my first beer in a Greek restaurant in Columbus.


At the border learning about Michigan and how it becme a state

 So the bracelet is now in my possession and I promise - no crack houses while in Detroit.


The Amazing Adventures of the Traveling Bracelets

Key Worthy!

I started making beaded keys earlier in the year after seeing the pattern in a Fall issue of Beadwork magazine by Cynthia Rutledge.  What a cool pattern and I would often wear them in multiples on a chain - just a necklace of fun beadwork!

When I was on my cruise in May, I had the opportunity to learn porcupine quillwork on the cruise with Ray McKeown. What a gentle and giving man he is.  Ray told us about the Lakota-Metis people and his heritage. Works of Ray's have appeared in the "Dances with Wolves" and "White Fang" movies!

Ray also taught us the art of giving items that we cherish, items we really like.  I was talking with the wild and crazy Wired Arts girls - Janice Berkebile and Tracy Stanley - during dinner in Seattle and telling them about Ray and what I learned.  I told them the story about how Ray gifted a young couple from Scotland with a bag that he made years ago and always traveled with.

During our evening together, Janice mentioned my key necklace and if she could see one - certainly, you can see one.  Right then and there, I decided that I had to gift them a key.  Key worthy friends that I only see once or twice a year.  Janice insisted that she didn't mean that when she asked to see the keys, and I know that she didn't - which is why I knew they both needed a key.

Since then, I have gifted two other keys - one to Marcia DeCoster and one to April, the fiance of our favorite Milwaukee bartender, David (and let's plug his wonderful new place, The Noble).

Fortunately, I enjoy making the keys, adapting the pattern a little to fit me, and I am feeling the need to make more.  Who knows who I will gift one to next! 

Beading by the Bay 2012

This year I had the opportunity to attend a wonderful retreat called "Beading by the Bay" - I am so happy that I went. Hopping on a plane to attend a beading retreat in California isn't my lifestyle, but through some miracles and good Christmas presents, I was able to go.

I flew out on Thursday morning (March 8th) from Detroit and landed for a quick layover in Denver...or so I thought. Rats. Two hour delay. Actually for me, it wasn't an issue. By the time that I got to the gate at the airport, I knew that the plane was en route. I didn't have a minute of "OMG, I am not going to make this..."

Funny thing was flying across the mid-west/central states - there was no snow on the ground that I could see between Detroit and Denver. None. Frozen lakes - yes. Snow? Nope. It wasn't until the plane left Denver that I started seeing snow in the higher elevations.

The instructors at this retreat were Sherry Serafini, Rachel Nelson-Smith and Marcia DeCoster - with three days of wonderful instruction, inspiration and sharing of learning and ideas. I don't know if I have learned as much as I did in this weekend in a long time.

On my first evening in Burlingame, CA - I went to dinner with Susan, Peggy and Lavinia to the Broadway Grill - what a posh place! To my surprise, Miss California came in and sat at the next booth. My attempts to take her picture were pretty horrible, until the mother of these two kids came up to see if she'd mind having her picture taken with the kids. That's when I snapped this picture.

I re-met some Facebook friends, met some new friends and generally had a really nice time. The participates were split into three groups, so you really got to bond with the women that you spent time with.

The sponsors - Swarovski and Lark, together with Susan Kazarian, owner of Bead Frenzy - and of course Marcia (and Mark) DeCoster - put a wonderful, high quality retreat. I decided today (my first day back at work) that all the $$ that I earn from being a notary will go right into my BBTB 2013 wallet! Earned $15 today!

p.s. These aren't my feet - but someone with very fancy Birkenstocks who has been saying that toe socks are just wrong....

All Sparkle teaser

It's part Marcia, it's part Liz

and it's all sparkle.....

here's a teaser of what I have been working on lately.

My wildly exciting news....

It started with an idea in really late July. I was toying with the idea of dressing up Marcia's "Under the Mast" (which really didn't need dressing up because it is wonderfully elegant, but I don't follow direction well). I was playing with little 8mm rivolis that I purchased a year ago...hmmm.

Through a series of conversations, Marcia and I decided IF we could do this fast enough, we would propose it to the Bead and Button show and let's see if it's gets accepted. With last minute design changes and ideas with a flurry of emails between San Diego and Detroit (what did we do without the internet and cheap cell phone rates??), my Over the Mast was mailed to B&B with fingers crossed.

And what do you know? They liked it. I was still in a little shock - somewhat in a little denial. Me? Teaching at Bead and Button with Marcia. Of course, I have helped her in class for a number of years (telling her what to do, etc), helped out when I can, and shared a cocktail or two (not many, this is business...) I've taught in the metro Detroit area for a number of years - Henry Ford Community College Enrichment education classes, Bohemian Beads (now closed) in Dearborn and currently at Stony Creek Beads and Gallery in Ypsilanti, MI.

So when I received an email from Marcia yesterday telling me that I had to read the email from the B&B show today - I was floored. It was featured in the 9/24/10 upcoming classes. WHAT?? I squealed with delight (that's the only word that is appropriate - squealed). My co-workers thought that I saw a ...palmetto bug - but I quickly assured them that it was better than that - look!! My necklace and name on an email.

Thank you Marcia for an awesome opportunity! I know that we will have a blast working together as we have over the last years.

Four words: Thank you very much or Lobster Mac and Cheese!!

Indiscreet

There is a great movie (at least in my eyes) out there called "Indiscreet" starring Deborah Kerr and Cary Grant - both not young lovers, but still very much in love. She believes that he is married and he lets her believe this and both are very happy....until...

I'm not going to be a plot wrecker in case you decide to rent this movie - it's just a wonderful love story. In this movie, Deborah Kerr wears a necklace very similar to my version here. This necklace is made with 18mm vintage Swarovski aquamarine rivolis - a full dozen of them. I bezeled them (is bezeled a word?) using RAW the way that I learned from my friend, Marcia Decoster taught me.

I give to you - "Indiscreet"

Bead and Button Show Report 2010

Better late than never, here is my thoughts on the B&B Show this year (last years report is here and 2008 is here). I love coming to this show. This year, I drove with my friend Joanne, and two new friends Tricia and Rana (sp?) through Chicago (that took 2 hours!! Two hours?! Why didn't I take the train? Oh, yes, fun with the girls - that's why. But seriously - two hours? Don't you people in Chicago work? Or take the subway, etc??).

But that's negative thoughts and I don't want to be negative! Once I got to Milwaukee, and unloaded my wares into the hotel room, I started my search for my buddies: Marcia, Janice, Tracy and found them right where I knew that they wouldn't disappoint me! It was a fun evening with laughs, giggles and almost musical chairs as we were joined by Dallas Lovett and his trusty side-kick, Sam Mayo. What a wonderful welcome to Milwaukee!

My duties in Milwaukee are so easy: I do my best to make Marcia shine as she teaches for 4 full days. Her classes are full of so many nice, interesting and fun students that it's something that I really love to help with. It also helps me with my teaching skills and learning how to help students better. How can I miss with the great projects that she has to help with?

I thought that the show floor wasn't as crowded as in some years past, but it was far from empty. Just look at all these vendors! Many booths had lines around them with happy customers parting with their cash...that's a good thing.

My stash this year is different than it has been in some years. A couple of kits - Marcia's (of course) and Jill Wiseman's "Night at the Opera" bracelet, along with a few crystals. Just a few mind you. The hat was in the B&B bag (and I will never wear it), a Toho mug, some samples that I was lucky enough to get handed as I walked through the show floor. What am I going to do with all these crystals? I don't exactly know, but I know that Lafaye from Virginia was happy to see me (multiple times)...

How's this for a find? The long crystals were $7.00 a piece and I splurged on them. The rest of the crystals in this picture cost me ....$5.00! They were in a grab bag at the John Allen booth (and I bought 5 grab bags) and they are stunning. There are a few scratch and dents, but for the most part are pieces that I can use in bead embroidery or capturing with a bezel.

To close out this story, here is a picture of my good friends during out last dinner in Milwaukee (liberated the picture from Marcia's blog, thank you very much): Tracy Stanley, Marcia DeCoster, Jeannette Cook, Janice Berkebile, and me! Even better is that I will be on a bead cruise with Tracy and Marcia next March (see my previous post about this). I have even signed up for Tracy class so that I can play with hammers - does that mean that I am going to the dark side?And I am looking forward to next year's show already!!