Friday, August 26, 2011

Artisan Clay Design Team - Guest Designer


Kristie from Artisan Clay sent Bead & Glass Boutique a fabulous selection of her pieces for a trunk show this month.

In turn, she also selected me as her Guest Designer for the month!!

The piece that I worked with is a three-loop connector.
Many of our customers have already seen this piece & LOVE the versatility !!
You can attach a seed bead woven rope to it, you can string with it (as I did), and you can even wire wrap with it.

I wanted to enhance the colors that I saw within Kristie's piece, by complimenting with like colors and warm tones. The necklace is strung with Seaweed Jasper 10mm round beads, 6mm round Swarovski Crystals in Sand Opal and Verde, along with Copper Twisted Tri Rings. It is a substantial piece, with a heavy weight, so to lighten a bit, I chose to use a bit of a new copper chain that we just got in stock, for the remainder of the neckpiece. Clasp is a copper S-Hook.
At the bottom of the three-loop connector are wire wrapped dangles of the same materials.
As always, everything I make has wire guardians and crimp covers, strung on 49-strand flexible beading wire.

I'd like to personally THANK Kristie for choosing me as a guest designer. It was nice to get back to my roots and actually do some stringing and wire wrapping for a change!! I've been so caught up in seed bead patterns and designs, that its nice to see something so simplistic look so sophisticated!

Enjoy !










Friday, August 19, 2011

Bead Fest Philadelphia - Here We Come !!

Today is the start of a big bead trade show in this area.
Its called BeadFest, but many beaders from the tri-state area refer to this as Mecca.

I've been going to Bead Fest for 7 years, this being my 8th.
The excitement has been building for a couple of weeks now, and the day the trade show sales expo floor opens has finally arrived.

It has been fun watching friends on Facebook comment about their excitement and preparations.

As a bead store owner, it is a little different for me.
This is a place where I can go to see all of the people in the beading community that I haven't seen since last year. A place where I can stock up on replacement inventory for the store as well as shop for the latest trends to bring back to our customers.
The beautiful thing about it, is that it is only held 45 minutes away, within driving distance.

So - if you're a blog follower, stay tuned for updates on all of the goodies that we'll be bringing back with us next week. Our customers are in for a real treat !!

If you're going, be sure to say hello as you pass by - its always nice to pick my head up out of the beads to see a smiling face!!


Beadfest - Here We Come !!!


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Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Are you holding on? Its a wild ride this week at Bead & Glass Boutique

We have an amazing week planned at Bead & Glass Boutique.

Jill Wiseman will be visiting to teach four of her coveted designs.

Visit our webpage for the class offerings:
Jill Wiseman Classes at Bead & Glass Boutique

Here are the class offerings & schedule:


Thursday, August 11
Dew Drop Spiral (beginner), 6pm-9pm = $69 plus materials or kit




















Friday, August 12
Rosetta Suite (intermediate only) 6pm-9pm = $89 plus materials or kit















Saturday, August 13
Pitaya Necklace (intermediate) 11am-5pm = $99 plus materials or kit
















Sunday, August 14
Night at the Opera (intermediate) 12pm-6pm = $99 plus materials or kit















In addition - we will be featuring a Trunk Show from Artisan Clay.
August 13 - 31

Visit our album on Facebook to see samples of Kristie's work as well as design ideas using her components !!

From Kristie:

All of my work is made in the same methods as functional pottery. Every piece is formed, trimmed, dried, fired, glazed, and fired again before it then can be made into jewelry.

I use many different ceramic techniques in my work, from the use of a potter's wheel and an electric kiln to firing in open pits and digging my own clay.

Recycled glass, bits of clay, wire and baubles and strings..... smoke and ash, fire ... tools......

I love sharing my work and I hope you enjoy it for years to come!






And last, but certainly not least....

We have stocked up on a massive amount of 3mm & 4mm Firepolish strands.
Some of these are difficult to come by, as they are popular and sell out from our suppliers quickly. This time around, I stocked up like you wouldn't believe !!
Candice is working hard to get these new strands tagged & ready for you over at the Boutique.

New or Restocked:

Firepolish 3mm: Crystal
Firepolish 3mm: Luster - Transparent Pink
Firepolish 3mm: Luster - Transparent Champagne
Firepolish 3mm: Dark Bronze
Firepolish 3mm : Tanzanite
Firepolish 3mm: Iris - Green
Firepolish 3mm : Twilight - Crystal
Firepolish 3mm: Apollo (Gold)
Firepolish 3mm: Crystal/Marea
Firepolish 3mm: Crystal/copper line
Firepolish 3mm: Montana Blue
Firepolish 3mm: Aquamarine
Firepolish 3mm : Persian Turquoise
Firepolish 3mm: Luster - Stone Green
Firepolish 3mm: Luster - Stone Blue
Firepolish 3mm: Luster - Transparent Green
Firepolish 3mm: Bronze
Firepolish 3mm : Dual Lustered Blue/Green
Firepolish 3mm : Matte- Apollo Umber
Firepolish 3mm : Luster - Metallic Amethyst
Firepolish 3mm : Matte Metallic Flax
Firepolish 3mm : Luster - Alexandrite
Firepolish 3mm : Luster Peridot
Firepolish 3mm : Luster - Lt. Green Turquoise
Firepolish 3mm : Luster - Opaque Green
Firepolish 3mm : Silver Lined - Crystal
Firepolish 3mm : Vitrail - Milky Peridot
Firepolish 3mm AB: Crystal
Firepolish 3mm AB: Mid. Amethyst
Firepolish 3mm AB: Montana Blue
Firepolish 3mm : Turquoise AB
Firepolish 4mm: Hematite
Firepolish 4mm: Luster - Transparent Champagne
Firepolish 4mm: Dark Bronze
Firepolish 4mm: Luster - Transparent Gold/Sm.Topaz
Firepolish 4mm: Amethyst
Firepolish 4mm: Iris - Brown
Firepolish 4mm: Iris - Blue
Firepolish 4mm: Iris - Green
Firepolish 4mm: Iris - Purple
Firepolish 4mm: Jet
Firepolish 4mm: Silver
Firepolish 4mm: Apollo (Gold)
Firepolish 4mm: Montana Blue
Firepolish 4mm : Dual Coated - Blueberry/Green Tea
Firepolish 4mm : Prairie Green
Firepolish 4mm: Milky Peridot
Firepolish 4mm: Luster - Stone Pink
Firepolish 4mm : Luster Rose/Gold Topaz
Firepolish 4mm : Teal Tortoise
Firepolish 4mm : Dual Lustered Blue/Green
Firepolish 4mm: Aluminium
FirePolish 4mm : Matte - Apollo jet
Fire Polish 4mm : Metallic Brown
Firepolish 4mm : Jet - Bronze Picasso
Firepolish 4mm : Luster - Topaz
Firepolish 4mm : Luster - Opaque Beige
Firepolish 4mm : Luster - Alexandrite
Firepolish 4mm : Luster Peridot
Firepolish 4mm : Luster - Opaque Rose/Gold Topaz
Firepolish 4mm : Silver Lined - Rosaline
Firepolish 4mm : Opaque Turquoise - Picasso
Firepolish 4mm : Crystal/Vitral
Firepolish 4mm : Twilight - Crystal
Firepolish 4mm : Twilight - Jet
Firepolish 4mm : Twilight - Peridot
Firepolish 4mm - AB: Crystal
Firepolish 4mm - AB : Coated Lavender
Firepolish 4mm - AB: Jonquil
Firepolish 4mm : Crystal - Celsian
Firepolish 4mm : Light Sapphire - Celsian
Firepolish 4mm : Sapphire - Celsian
Firepolish 4mm : Chrysolite - Celsian

If you want to choose from the best selection - stop by soon, we have a BIG class this week that will wipe us out of the fancy finishes.


Have a great week !!

See you at the Boutique !



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