My favorites from the Bead&Button show

Jane Konkel — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 14:21:00 GMT

High Caliber Collar:
Rebecca Starry from Anchorage AK, entered her necklace in the Bead Dreams competition. She used a right-angle weave technique and huge bullets to make this stunning necklace.

Brenda Schweder, Cathy Jakicic, and Karin Buckingham:
Kalmbach book authors.

Robert Dancik:
Robert uses faux bone to make beautiful jewelry that reminds me of scrimshaw. He also makes crazy cool jewelry like the bracelet he is holding which is a series of plastic fingers. One of the fingernails is painted red. To view a trailer and clip for his workshop go to ccpvideos.com/r/dancik.

Celie Fago:
I am captivated by her work. And chatting with her was awesome. She has magnificent energy.

Bob Burkett:
The first time I met Bob was in Tuscon four years ago. I’ve admired his shibuichi pieces ever since. He’s got this unassuming personality and so much talent.

Spinner Rings:
These rings are Jill Erickson’s. I took her spinner ring class. I did not photograph the ring I made, because I didn’t finish it yet. Surprise, surprise.

Amazing View:
This photo was taken from the 8th floor of the parking structure attached to the Midwest Express Center. Milwaukee has some incredible views.

Charms and Found Glass:
I visited with Cathy Collison, owner of Glass Garden Beads. The tokens say things like, “Poughkeepsie & Wappingers Falls RY Co: and “This Token Awarded For Skill.” The glass pieces are cut a tumbled pieces from vases. You can see a project using Cathy’s bottle cap beads and found glass pieces in the July issue of BeadStyle.

Chain:
It was difficult to hold myself back when buying chain. Many vendors had a huge variety of really unique chain. The price was right on this chain from The Chain Gallery.

Green Girl Studios:
Each year I spend a few bucks with the Green Girls (Cynthia, Andrew and Greg). I adore them and their beautiful pewter pieces.

Ornament Thursday: Independence

Linda Augsburg — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 11:41:00 GMT

Happy Ornament Thursday!*

As I reflect back on this month's theme—independence—what came to mind was memories of the day we celebrate it (at least here in the States)—July 4th. And you'll read more on my memories of that holiday and of the project that the memories inspired in a bit. First, let me share the links of the other bloggers and their independence-inspired projects:

Alexa Westerfield a.k.a. Swelldesigner
Craft some red, white, and blue drink charms from vintage wartime posters. They'll make a big bang at your 4th of July cookout!

Art Bead Scene
Field of Poppies bracelet project from Heather.

Cindy Gimbrone aka Lampwork Diva
Celebrate the Independent Spirit

Hurray for Red, White and Blue
Lisa takes a shot at teeny tiny beads for a change

Independence Jewelry!
Beading Help Web has two easy jewelry projects that you can put together just in time for the July 4 holiday!

Michelle's take on Indpendence
Over at http design, Michelle has scuplted a piece which gives a different perspective on independence.

Strands of Beads
Melissa sees stars this month while considering the meaning of independence

What is America to Me?
Michelle's favorite words on our country...

*******************

(think of those as mini-fireworks)

June 2008. I was zipping around the Bead&Button Show marketplace earlier this month and spied these fun little baubles. They really are made from bottlecaps and they're made by Cathy Collison at Glass Garden Beads of Northfield, MN. (Isn't there a college in that town, too?) And just looking at them took me back to picnics and the celebration of Independence Day and my own childhood celebration over the great independence that choosing my very own bottle of soda afforded me.

When I was a kid, the month of July was filled with picnics. My Dad's folks would have a 4th of July picnic with their card-club friends and families (who were mostly, in some way or another, related to us—some distantly, some more directly; I'm still trying to understand some of family tree's branches!). Also in July, my maternal Grandpa's family had a big family picnic. And my Dad's folks would have all of their kids and kids' kids together for a picnic too! Seriously, we were eating fried chicken out of a bucket every weekend in July! In my Dad's family, many of us lived on farms, and it seems like there was always an old-fashioned washtub or a big tank filled with cold water, ice, and bottles of flavored soda, or pop, as it's called in the Land of Lincoln. (Back then, you could get a case of assorted flavors in bottle for just such events.) And my favorite was always strawberry. You have to understand what a luxury this was. Yes, there was always Pepsi in the house, but normally that was for my parents or for when we had company. But FLAVORED pop—orange, grape, lemon-lime, and strawberry—well, that just wasn't something we had very often. We lived in the country, so there wasn't any of this "ride your bike over to the drug store and buy yourself a bottle" stuff going on like I hear my city-friends talk about. So this was a BIG DEAL. And if you were lucky enough to have the picnic at your house that year, any left-over pop was fair game for the next few weeks. Paradise, I tell you! ("Pop" for those of you who live in other places, was how we in northern Illinois—and other place—referred to the bottles of soda, soda pop, or, as I've heard it called "cold sodie". For those in the South who may call such a thing a "Coke," this is not to be confused with something like a vanilla Coke, which is a whole other thing. But I digress.)

So here's the necklace that that one little bottlecap bead inspired (shown top right), and the step-by-step photos and instructions (right) will walk you through the easy-peasy process. And lest you think I'm not going to help you out with the basics, think again. Turns out BeadStyle magazine has a bunch of basic information on its Web site, right here! If you're new to beading or just need a refresher, you might want to check out cutting flexible beading wire instructions, making a wrapped loop video or step-by-step instructions, and making a folded crimp video or step-by-step instructions in order to complete this project. I know a lot of us learn visually and the kindest compliment I ever got was when someone said they weren't able to successfully crimp a crimp bead until they watched it on one of our videos. Pictures are great, but sometimes seeing the process in motion lets us jump that final hurdle.

So now that I have my strawberry soda necklace finished, I can wear it to the family picnic next month. Yes, we still get together once a year—whoever can make it. We don't get soda in bottles anymore (who does these days?), and I'm sure strawberry soda has a ton of dread calories (something I didn't worry about then), but it's fun to remember back anyway. Maybe my cousins will get a laugh out of the memories that the necklace inspires as well.

*[Sidenote: For those of you who aren't aware, Ornament Thursday started as a group of creative gals getting together in the virtual world to share ornament ideas last November. The group has continued, mostly because we all have such fun seeing what the others are up to. But we tapered back to once a month, and each month has a theme. To check out previous themes or for more info, go to the Ornament Thursday blog.]

BeadStyle : bottle cap beads

My favorites from the Bead&Button show

Ornament Thursday: Independence