Ambrosian Beads

After re-thinking my beadweaving class offerings, I decided to go with shorter, more beginner level classes at a very affordable price ($15--can't bead, I mean beat that !). I was originally offering 3-hour classes which used my kits, but wasn't getting any takers for those. I came up with some smaller projects which the owner approved and put them on the schedule. I offered an intro to beadweaving which had the student make a simple leaf design with size 8/0 beads and intro to brick stitch which used a simple graphed pattern I made with BeadTool. A few students signed up for those and had a good time. The next class on the schedule is bead embroidered cabochon pendant or pin and I have several people down for that. I'm also offering triangle earrings, peyote tube bracelet or earrings and brick stitch circle earrings or pendant. These are the upcoming class dates:

Feb. 28 2-4 pm Bead Embroidered Cabochon
Mar. 14 3-4:30 pm Triangle Earrings
Apr. 5 2-3 pm Peyote Bead Tube Bracelet or Earrings
May 9 2-3:30 pm Brick Stitch Cirvle Earrings

As I was winding down from an afternoon of beadweaving classes, I decided to check my YouTube channel to see how many views I've gotten on my one-and-only beadweaving tutorial. I was shocked to see that it's been viewed almost 7400 times !!! I think it might be due to it's location on a jewelry and beading blog that I didn't know about until it showed up in my Google Alerts.

I'm not that happy with the tutorial as my camera doesn't take great macro shots, nor do I have a digital video camera. However, I wanted to get something out there as an experiment until I am ready to upgrade my equipment. The one thing I love about the tutorial is the music of my friend, Nana Frimpong, and his amazing djembe playing. When I post another tutorial, I plan to use more of his music. I think it has a certain meditative yet purposeful sound, perfect for beadweaving.

JanFebMosaic, originally uploaded by wMarlaine.

...is entitled Tropical Holiday. Please visit our Etsy BeadWeavers blog where you will find links to each entry then vote for your fave !

Update: Super-fast delivery ! I received two spools of Wild Fire today, only a couple days after ordering ! They sent me one spool of 12 lb in green and 10 lb in black, 50 yds each ! It says thermally bonded beadweaving thread-cannot be pierced with a needle. I hope I like working with it. I haven't been able to find a price anywhere because they didn't include a cover letter, just a catalog, but with no prices.
I got the following message through my website:

Subject: fireline
Message: Drop me a line and I will send you samples of our new Wild Fire. We have had many FireLine users say they like it much better.

Best regards,

Drew Potter

BEADALON
440 Highlands Blvd.
Coatesville, PA 19320
866-423-2325 x116
610-466-6000
FAX: 610-384-7260
dpotter@beadalon.com

I sent my request for the samples, because I would love to have something less slippery and more supple, like Nymo thread (see my previous post where I mention my dislike for Fireline-what good timing !). I'll report back on the new thread after I receive it, or if anyone else tries it, please leave a comment.

Talk about lazy-that's been me lately. Spending way too much time on Facebook, reading blogs, watching TV and trying to referee the new kitty/old kitty battles. I haven't completed any new beading projects in months it seems. The newest project I've started which is still a WIP, is a brick stitch pin. I had some round metal pins (brooch) and have been experimenting with adapting the brick stitch earring design. I encircled the disc with wraps of Fireline and have been using a copper color palette. I intend to cover the wraps on the back with ultrasuede and stitch it down. Since I hate working with Fireline, I tend to put this project down frequently, but wanted to use it to prevent the metal edge from cutting the thread. Wish me luck on finishing this before Thanksgiving !

In other beading news, I'm enjoying using my new Beadalon sticky gel pad in my beading tin (the blue stuff in the photo). It's great for keeping beads from rolling.