BeadStyle

The winner of the November cover necklace kit is ...

2009-11-19T17:15:00Z

Marcia Sobel of Greenville, NC.

Congratulations Marcia!

And congratulations Linda Hartung. Nearly 3,000 entered for a chance to win a kit for her beautiful "Crystal Rhythms" necklace.

Ethical jewelry making

2009-11-18T20:33:00Z

     This morning, I received a press release, announcing that three jewelers — this brings the total to 60 — have agreed to source precious metals responsibly, by signing the No Dirty Gold campaign's Golden Rules for responsible sourcing of precious metals. These three retailers (Sears Holding which is Sears and Kmart, Ultra Stores, and Blue Nile) have agreed that the gold products they are selling were not produced at the expense of communities, workers, and the environment.
     I understand that people who buy jewelry should buy it from retailers who support No Dirty Gold, but what do we as jewelery designers do? Perhaps until higher standards and alternatives to dirty gold have been developed, we can
     • recycle old jewelry and our scrap gold
     • Make new jewelry with vintage, broken, or antique jewelry
For more on the topic of ethical jewelry making, see a previous blog post, Eco-bling, or Cathy's post, Recycle Rio style. If anyone else has an idea, I'd like to hear them.

Bartering with beads

2009-11-16T15:13:00Z

I recently enlisted my best friend/maid of honor/graphic designer to create the images that will appear on my wedding invitations. She was tickled pink to be asked, but flatly refused payment. As an artist myself, I knew that she deserved compensation for the hours this project would require and the years of experience she would bring to it. So I arranged to barter…with beads!

Steph has wanted to learn how to bead for a while now, and was particularly taken with the project Sparkle and smoke by Editor Cathy Jakicic in BeadStyle magazine. So last week, I took Steph to Eclectica, my local bead store, to pick up the necessities. Steph selected a lovely combination of golden obsidian lentil beads, onyx faceted ovals, and pyrite rounds. She wanted a color palette that would complement many outfits, and we all know you can't go wrong with black and gold.

Next, I introduced Steph to crimp beads and crimping pliers. I was a little jealous at how quickly she mastered crimping! She, like me, was amazed at how one little bit of smashed metal could hold together an entire piece of jewelry. We also discovered the hard way why it’s important to leave several inches of wire at the end of a strand to crimp with – oops!

Steph was a real trooper when it came to measuring and trying on her necklace at least half a dozen times as we added the strands to her piece. I explained that getting multiple strands to drape correctly is a tricky business.

But we succeeded at last! Here is Steph’s completed piece, and I couldn’t be prouder. I was especially impressed when she suggested adding jump rings to the ends of the small-link chain (the second strand) to prevent the end links from sliding under the other strand ends and tangling. I wish I had thought of that!

I loved bartering beads and beading knowledge for the services of another artist. Have you ever bartered with beads? What were the results?

Art vs Craft #10

2009-11-12T16:17:00Z

It's coming upon that time of year again. For me "The Holidays" stir up all kinds of feelings, and not enough of them are positive. There is hope on the horizon this season however: I'm looking forward to my honey and I celebrating ten years of togetherness, I'm celebrating my five year anniversary at BeadStyle, and I'm getting ready to take part in Round #10 of Art vs. Craft. I've written in the past about this event which is organized by many people and founder Faythe Levine. This weekend I'll be whipping up jewelry in preparation for the big gig which will be held on Saturday, November 28th in Milwaukee. Aside from selling jewelry, I enjoy meeting people who attend the show and visiting with other vendors. Probably the best part of being involved in Art vs. Craft is bartering with the other vendors.

I intend to meet up with:

Becky Tesch of my mish mosh for jewelry made with recycled parts

Chris Ward of Christina Ward Creatures to look at a plush stuffed animals

Heather at girl with a hook to see about a warm winter hat

The gals from from Sparrow Collective to get mittens for Emma

Bead and read (or watch or listen)

2009-11-11T04:44:00Z

Normal 0 0 1 122 698 5 1 857 11.1282 0 0 0

Tonight, I’m making myself a necklace and earrings to go with a new dress I bought for a wedding I’m going to this weekend. I’m also listening to “The Lost Symbol” by Dan Brown.

Other recent bead/reads:

Duma Key by Stephen King

The Plague of Doves by Louise Erdrich

Getting Things Done by David Allen

The Nine by Jeffrey Toobin

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz

Next in line: Julie and Julia by Julie Powell

Of course it’s not only books that fuel my creativity, I’ve been known to watch many an episode of “Murder She Wrote” and “Law and Order.” Since I’ve seen every episode, I can listen to them more than watch them.

I’ve also been known to create my masterpieces listening to my favorite show tunes.

What gets your creativity going?

Anybody who adds a comment with some of their own favorites will be entered in a drawing for one of three audiobooks from Random House Audio:
The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer
.....and Annie Barrows
The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson

Let us know what inspires you.

Anybody who adds a comment with some of their own favorites will be entered in a drawing for one of three audiobooks from Random House Audio:

The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer
.....and Annie Barrows
The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson
The deadline for comments is midnight Nov. 24. One entry per person, please - but feel free to comment all you want! I can't wait to see your ideas.

Donations for Kathy's Garden Party benefit

2009-11-10T22:11:00Z

Every year, Cathy and I design jewelry to be auctioned at Kathy's Garden Party. This year's theme: "All Dolled Up." I stayed in my comfort zone, making a charm bracelet with pink and peach gemstones.

Cathy, however, has been trying lots of new things with resin. (You'll love the necklace she's showing in the March issue!). For her donation, she made a necklace of resin charms with photos of doll faces. The shades of green and copper looked beautiful on the runway!

To see the other Barbie- and doll-themed items, click on the "Preview artwork for Kathy's Garden Party" icon on the Grace Events page.

Chicago's SOFA expo, elusive answers of aesthetics

2009-11-09T19:08:00Z

Last Friday, I attended Chicago’s International Expositions of Sculptural Objects & Functional Art (SOFA). I saw some innovative jewelry creations, such as the woman who showed me a ring that, when not being worn, fits seamlessly into a freestanding, abstract sculpture. “Form and function,” she explained simply.

I was particularly taken by a series of bronze-cast paper sculptures. The first sculpture was of a slightly rumpled sheet of paper, followed by increasingly crumpled sheets of papers, followed by a sheet of paper completely smashed into a ball. The ball was then followed by sheets of less and less crumpled paper until the final sheet looked almost like the first – almost. As I looked closely at each of the unfolding-paper sculptures, I noticed patterned creases showing intentional folds like that of origami. It reminded me that one of the greatest joys of life (and art) is when chaos slowly resolves itself to reveal meaningful and beautiful experiences.

And I loved all the glass art I saw, like this vessel by Lino Tagliapietra of Holsten Galleries. I was fascinated by a demonstration of glassblowing presented by the Corning Museum of Glass, entranced as an artist formed a life-size trumpet out of molten glass with only the help of a sketch provided by members of the audience.

As wonderful as the whole exhibition was, it led me to ponder some tough questions. For instance, when does art cross into consumerism? The exhibit could have easily passed as a museum, but beneath that façade was a marketplace where only the upper crust of society could shop. Is that fair? Perhaps the answer is “no” to the rest of society but “yes” to the artists who spend much of their lives perfecting their craft and who use nothing but the finest-quality materials. But is there a way to make the sharing of such art fair to everyone? Any thoughts? Please post your comments below.

Come see me in Willow Grove, Pa.

2009-11-06T20:36:00Z

I’ll be doing a demo and signing copies of my book Hip Handmade Memory Jewelry at the grand opening of the new A.C. Moore store in Willow Grove, Pa., from noon. to 3 p.m. Nov. 21, 2009.

If you’re in the Philadelphia area, please come and say hi. It’s my first official book-signing trip and I’d love to see some friendly faces.

Sonia Kumar and other impressive teens

2009-11-04T20:24:00Z

Lately, I've been really impressed with teenagers. My son and daughter are so much more responsible than I was at their age. They have great friends, they spend time doing volunteer work, and they do homework each night without reminders from me. Last week, Rachel, a senior in high school, set up an appointment to come in and visit us to learn more about what's involved in being an Editor. And if you have the November issue of BeadStyle magazine, you've undoubtedly seen the jewelry of Sonia Kumar. In both of her November designs — cool zipper-heart earrings and a copper wire cuff — she teaches us new techniques. Sonia is just 17 years old and already a gifted designer. One of my favorite pieces by Sonia is a bracelet made from the top of a sardine can. She drilled holes in the can and sanded the edges to make it safe to wear. Visit Sonia's Etsy shop to see more of her amazing jewelry, like the copper earrings shown here.

Resin lessons, part 2

2009-11-03T20:21:00Z

In last week's post, I talked about how I'm a true beginner when it comes to using resin. So I've been practicing, making lots of pieces in my molds. (By the way, I love the mold-making stage — it's much more forgiving than the mixing/pouring/curing processes.)

Here are a few of my first pieces, ridden with bubbles.

There are many, many pieces like the ones above. To add insult to injury, the backs of these pieces — the sides that no one sees — are glossy and smooth.

So frustrating.

But then I had a breakthrough: I traced many of my problems back to temperature. It's critical that you pour the resin at the appropriate temperature — 70 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit. And I had been pouring cold resin. To achieve better results, I warmed the bottles in cups of warm water. (Never microwave the bottles.)

Also, my office isn't 70 to 80 degrees, so when I left for the day, I came back to bubbly pieces.

So I shut the door and put the pieces near it (where it's warmest). Now I'm making progress.

One last thing: last week, I mentioned adding a drop or two of colorant. I should have said "at a time." Of course it matters how much resin you're pouring. But a drop or two will add a tinge of color rather than a bright, even shade. I have yet to overdo it on the color, so this is another thing for me to watch for.

I'm actually pleased with the results of the gummy popcorn pieces: the sugar from the candy created a texture in the mold, and these are the results:

Don't they look good enough to eat?

A new exhibit at The Bead Museum

2009-11-02T15:08:00Z

A few months ago, Bead&Button Editor Ann Dee Allen blogged about the efforts to help The Bead Museum in Glendale, Ariz., keep its doors open despite distressing economic times. The Bead Museum is the last of its kind in the world after the bead museum in Washington D.C. was forced to close earlier this year.

Today, I’m happy to report that The Bead Museum is still here! In fact, it recently opened a new exhibit, From Caves to Castles: If Beads Could Talk, that explores beads as old as 2 million years old and as recent as the end of the Islamic Period in 1400 AD. The goal is to understand how beads tell the story of human culture, especially how they illustrate important turning points in history. To see photos from the exhibit, check out The Bead Museum’s Facebook album (you don’t need to be a member of Facebook to view the photos).

Keep supporting The Bead Museum by booking a visit this winter. Not planning on traveling in the near future? Check out 20 Ways to Love The Bead Museum. I was amazed at what we can do to help without leaving home!

More about Brea Bead Works

2009-10-29T18:39:00Z

We ran a short Q&A about Brea Bead Works — our third "Favorite Bead Store" winner — in the November issue of BeadStyle. Here is the Brea Bead Works profile with the info we had to trim for space. Congratulations again, Brea Bead Works!

From the first time I walked
into Brea Bead Works and introduced myself, they remembered my name and have always been generous with their knowledge and kindness. I can’t say enough nice things about BBW!”
– Iris Stuart, Anaheim, Calif.

Almost 100 other customers agreed with Iris. In BeadStyle’s “Favorite Bead Store” competition, Brea received 96 votes. Below is part of our conversation with owners Scott and Wendy Remmers.

When did you open Brea Bead Works?
We opened in October of 2002 with 750 square feet. Today we have 5,700 square feet including about 3,000 feet for four workshop areas. The largest workshop is
used for metal workshops, glass fusing, and five stations for flameworking.

Why did you decide to open the store?

Both of us were going through career and job changes around 2000-2001. Wendy was a freelance graphic designer for various movie studios, catalog companies and design studios, and Scott was a marketing director in the movie industry. Jewelry making was always a passion of Wendy’s and after planning a business around that idea it was determine to open a store. The goal from the beginning was to pass that love of beads along to others and educate them on the endless possibilities it brings. The backgrounds of graphic design and business that we both had from our background made the store operate in a very well rounded manner.

Wendy operated the store with a staff for the first two years and Scott left the corporate marketing world and came on board in the third year since the business was in a very fast growth period. It was always intended that both of us would work the store to be it just took place sooner than later.

What kinds of classes do you offer?
We offer about 120 workshops a quarter that range from basic techniques, called the “Foundation Series” workshops, to weaving, stitching, wire wrapping, chainmaille, soldering, fine silver fusing, flamework, glass fusing, Art Clay Silver, polymer clay, and metals.

We feel very fortunate that our workshop program is in high demand with the customers. Our workshop program will usually have about 120 workshops per quarter. Most of them are held in the evening during the week but recently we started holding more workshops during the morning and afternoon hours and are seeing success with those.

We rent studio time for flameworking, glass fusing, and kiln firing. Our studio rental time is pretty much open during the day and in the evening depending on other workshops taking place at the time. We keep Tuesdays wide open for what we call “Late Night Tuesdays” when we stay open until 9 pm for the flameworkers to get at least one evening session of torching in.

When a new quarter of workshops is announced the customers will line up some seven to eight hours in advance to register. We think it is just plain crazy but the customers love tailgating, hanging out together and talking each other into taking certain workshops. By the time we open our doors that morning we will usually have some 80-90 people in line.

Usually there are around 1,000 seats available between the 120 workshops and 60% of the workshop seats are sold out on the first day of registration and more than 80% of the workshops will sell out in the quarter. We will also hold about 20 additional workshops to accommodate the sold-out classes.

Besides the 15 or so local instructors on our schedule, we have brought in many national instructors in all areas of beading. Some of the national instructors are:

Jack Berry
Ken Bova
Sheilah Cleary
Melanie Doerman
Christi Friesen
Sharilyn Miller
Ann & Karen Mitchell
Cindy Pankopf
Janet Pitcher
Margaret Zinser

We are lucky!! We know that there is not one particular thing that made this workshop program successful, if there is… it was our planning and understanding what makes for a good workshop, but really…there are so many pieces of the puzzle that just came together to create this program. We feel that our program is very good because we have cultivated it over seven years of being in the business and by talking to our customers, talking to many bead store owners and instructors on a regular basis. We don’t take business for granted!!

We belong to the ISGB (International Society of Glass Beadmakers), Craft and Hobby Association, the national Art Clay Society and also are founders the local Art Clay Society of Orange County. So may being involved, attending shows and seminars it keeps us out the edge of the industry and that information can be given to our customers.

What kinds of beading/jewelry-making do you do personally?
Wendy has been beading for over 20 years. She is interested in all areas of beading. Metals have been an area of concentration for the last three or four years whether it is chainmaille, soldering, fine silver fusing or whatever. Her book “Make it in Minutes – Jewelry” came out about two years ago and shows off some 40 projects that can be completed in about one hour. This book as sold world wide and has brought attention to her and the store.

Scott enjoys flameworking and glass fusing. While these glass workshops are very popular there is an opportunity to help people start their own jewelry design businesses with the business workshops. We teach customers how to properly set-up a business and how to market themselves.

What are you most proud of?

That is a tough question to answer. We are proud of our staff! Their day to day commitment to serving the customer whether it is a new beader coming in trying to figure out what a crimp is or whether it is signing someone up for a workshop, they are there for the customer.

We are proud of our customers! Since day one they have been coming back and back. Hard times or not. Without them there would be no Brea Bead Works. They believe in us and the plan that we have set forth to do. We are open and honest with them about our plan of bringing in a good selection of product at a fair price, giving them the top-notch service they need, make them feel appreciated, and many times like family, give them education and allow them a place to escape and do what they enjoy.

We are proud of the fact we have networked with many bead store owners a crossed the United States and have shared information on about our businesses. Things like better customer service, marketing and promotional ideas, merchandising ideas, and just time to talk to someone who goes through want we do on a daily basis.

What is your customer service philosophy?

We strive everyday and we train our staff to be the better than anyone else. We spend at least three days of training with a new hire and explain our history, our philosophy and how to have an employee-customer relationship first and foremost. The main thing is we have never forgotten our mission. That is to serve the customer to the highest degree. When you walk in the door you are greeted usually by name, if you’re a regular, or with a pleasant “Hello” if your new to the store and always helped with enthusiasm. We don’t care how much money you spent that day, it is all about the relationship we have with our customers.

Our store is set up to have the sales staff out on the floor and out from behind any counter. We are never behind a counter waiting for someone to come to us. Customers are coming in to explore and see what is new! What better way to have a staff member showing you what is new since the last time you came in or helping you with color combinations.

With their purchase customers also get a genuine “Thank you”.

Do you guys sell at all online? Do you plan to in the future?
We do not sell online because our focus is the communities we serve in Southern California. There are so many resources out there for people to buy from and we would never be able to compete or give our best service to the e-commerce side of the business. Our total attention is spent to those walking in the door each day to help them with whatever needs they have that day.

How are you handling challenging economic times?
We are taking it one day at a time. As we all know retail has not been the same over the last year. What these hard times have done is made us analyze our daily operations to the bone and it has widened our eyes on something’s we should stop doing or things that needed to adjust. This has lead to cost savings for the store which enables us to pass those savings along to the customers.

One thing we’ve done is started a tote bag program, which helps us and our customers. We have given out tote bags made from recycled fibers at special events (or they can be purchased at the store). When the customer brings in the tote and spends $25 or more, they receive $1 off. It cuts down on the number of paper bags used and saves the customers money. Also, the bag entitles them to other special savings each month.

We are doing more trunk shows this year so that the product selection to the customer is broader and perhaps something the store would not sell on a regular basis. A “trends” presentation is given each season. This presentation of jewelry is made by the staff and shows off the hottest trends for that upcoming season. This display is the first stop in the store!

We have held two major bead retreats in the last year and half. In 2008 we had Bead Away – Hawaii in which 30 workshops took place over a weekend in Waikiki overlooking Diamond Head. Then in 2009 it was Bead Away – Las Vegas! Within those days of workshops is also a Bead Store Tour to pre-arranged bead stores in that area. The attendees just love to see the variation of product in each store plus it supports the local bead stores.

What is the most frequently asked question from new beaders who come into your store?
“You mean I can make that?” “I did not realize that I could make something without a lot of effort.”

Brea Bead Works
1027 East Imperial Highway
Suite D5
Brea, CA 92821
714.671.9976
info@breabeadworks.com
breabeadworks.com

Resin lesson

2009-10-27T15:25:00Z

Having designed and written about jewelry for many years, I've taken for granted my ability to handle the basic steps of jewelry making.

Not so with resin.

I'm working on a resin project for the March issue. Up to this point, my experience had consisted of pouring Diamond Glaze into lockets.

With this project, though, I've been challenged by the precision required: mixing equal parts of EasyCast (between 70 and 80 degrees) for two minutes, then one minute. Then just a drop or two of colorant.

Also, resin work requires much more time than designing jewelry (at least, for me). It's a hurry-up-and-wait process. Three minutes to work the silicone putty into a mold. Three minutes of mixing the EasyCast. Then 24 to 72 hours for curing. And there isn't much fixing that I can do — I'll just have to learn from my mistakes.

I am a true beginner here. My lesson learned: Read all the instructions first.

Cool gift ideas, clean conscience

2009-10-26T14:53:00Z

I’ve just discovered Kumvana Gomani’s fabulous recycled-materials jewelry. Her fashion-forward collection is created from reclaimed PET (polyethylene terephthalate) plastic and aluminum. I particularly like her snö jewelry, including this necklace and these earrings – what cool holiday gift ideas! Plus you can rest easy knowing that your purchase was an eco-friendly one.

A note about navigating Kumvana Gomani’s site: Click on Collection, then click on any of the three women wearing her jewelry to enter the store.

Recycle Rio style

2009-10-22T18:05:00Z

While hunting for a fallen bead under my desk today, I picked up a number of bits and scraps of wire from projects past. Normally I just toss them, but I've started to save them (at least the sterling and gold-filled bits) to sent to Rio Grande for recycling and cash.

Rio accepts silver, gold, gold-filled, palladium, fired PMC and platinum items.

What's it worth? Below are the rates on the day I checked the site.

For credit:

Solid fine and sterling silver scrap is calculated at 75% of the current silver market and applied to your Rio Grande account. (Note: Because sterling silver contains less pure silver by weight, and because Rio pays both sterling and fine silver at this percentage, you will actually receive payment in the equivalent of 81% for sterling silver).

Solid karat gold is calculated at 75% of the current gold value and applied to your Rio account.

For cash:

Silver and gold payments are calculated at 65% and paid in a check.

Also:

Silver dust is paid (or credited) at 40% of current market. Gold-filled scrap is paid (or credited) at 1.89% of the current gold market (market price x .0189)
Palladium and platinum scrap are paid (or credited) at 60% of their current metal value.

I won't be retiring on the proceeds of the scraps I recycle, but it makes more sense than tossing it in the garbage. For more information, go to riogrande.com/scrap.