Letting Go and Beading On

 My Aloe Vera Ring

It has been a rough week for me physically and emotionally.  But it was also a spiritual adventure.  I have lived with mental illness since the age of 10.  In surviving such a thing, I've come to respect this part of myself.   It came for me this week, and out of such respect, I honorably opened the door to welcome it.   I leaned into the calling of my dis-ease and turned inward.  So, my friends,  I have been mysteriously absent from my beautiful bead shop and the online social sphere.  On the physical plane, I took good care of myself in the way I've learned.  On a strangely parallel spiritual plane, I tried something new:  I let go. I allowed myself to be carried to wherever I needed to go.  For me, all existence is like a tapestry of woven interconnection that goes beyond our wildest imaginations.  Instead of resisting and clawing my way out, I trusted the Weaver, the threads, and the mystery to bring me back to myself.  And here I am, alive, well and in the present with a new peace, and a new strength.   Ahhh, to just be who I am, to breathe in fresh air, and to be able to shift to the joy of connection with all of you.  I am exhilarated by simple well-being.  

Where does beading fit in? Beading is the touchstone for my healing. It grounds me in my own spirit when I am unable to connect to the rest of the world.  It helps me find my way back to myself as I wait patiently for time and willingness to take care of the rest.   During the past week, I have been able to learn some new techniques from Kate McKinnon's book Contemporary Geometric Beadwork Vol 1. 

 I made my Aloe Vera ring (see 1st pic, above) by following Kate's instructions for a removable belly band, wings, and horns.  It is spiky, beautiful and powerful.  Below is my latest plaything, an unnamed work in progress in which I am modifying the techniques to my own design.  

Spiky Work in Progress - Just for fun!

This book has an amazing new stitch, Modified RAW. Kate says it is not a new stitch, but I feel like it is.  It is a new and different way to create the bead pattern of RAW using a different, simpler, thread path.  The book is the work of a number of bead artists who put their heads and hearts together. Some names you will recognize, like Dustin Wedekind and Jean Power, and others you might not. But from now on you will.  This a book to make you think about beading.  It is alluring and persuasive. So much so, that I am even using Nymo again.  Something I thought I'd NEVER do.  What's more, I am enjoying Nymo - I've learned to appreciate it for what it can do and accept its limitations.  Get this book and let it take you into a parallel beady universe! We've got it, so come and make it YOURS.

Perlen Poesie is Here

 Europe's leading bead magazine, Perlen Poesie (translation: Bead Poetry) is now at Poppyfield Bead Company.  Don't be intimidated by all those big capitalized German words.  There's an English insert with a full translation.  The last 3 issues are at the shop and are now available at a special introductory price of $20.  This is actually less than the European newsstand price of 15 Euros.  I will ship to long distance customers. Just shoot me an email at beadfingers@gmail.com or talk to me on Facebook on the Poppyfield Bead Company page.  Featured artists from these 3 issues are  Sabine Lippert, Maggie Meister, and Jean Power.

Take the Plunge - Beginner Classes 

Specially Designed for the Confused and 
Never-Ever-Beaded Amongst Us

June's Peyote Premiere in an Earthy colorway  

We have some intro level classes coming up very soon.  If you worry that you can't do it... these classes are for you.  Wendy is teaching Intro to Kumihimo - the basics of braiding using satin cord.  This is the foundation for all amazing Kumihimo beading.  It really isn't difficult to do and Wendy is an excellent teacher.  There is a class tomorrow night, Monday 3/18 6-8 PM and again on Saturday, 3/30 10-noon, if that suits you better.  With these skills under your belt, you will be able to do the Kumi Bangles, Blooming Braids, and brand new Dancing Diamonds patterns.  You will even be able to invent your own patterns.

June is teaching a wonderful peyote stitch skills workshop in her Peyote Premiere Class on 4/6 10 AM-1PM.  You will learn odd and even count flat peyote, following a peyote pattern and how to decrease.  These skills will take you far.  If you've met June, you've probably met one of her peyote masterpieces. (You won't be surprised that she was a Bead Dreams finalist).  Don't miss out on this opportunity to learn from a passionate, yet humble, peyote stitch master.

Click here to see details about classes.

Open for Registration

Wendy's Dancing Diamond kumihimo beaded necklace and original 3-D star pendant has places available in the April classes.

We still have some places in my Hollywood Sparkle Class.  There's a series on Mondays in April and another on Saturdays in May.  Learn new ways to create an explosion of crystals and pearls, herringbone rope with built-in beaded beads, the peyote stitch bezel made famous by Laura McCabe, and a beautiful hidden clasp.

More Classes Coming Soon... stay tuned!

New and Amazing Beads

Rullas and Rizos have been flying off the hooks.  These beautiful 2-holed beads begged to be explored. 
We have new displays that we are loading up Super Duo's, Twins, Rullas and Rizos.  

New Products Page

Wondering what we have in the shop?  Click on the Products for Sale page in the header and see a list. 
Call or email us if you have further questions. I am happy to ship for minimum orders of $25.  

*****REMEMBER*****

Monday is late night and we are open til 8 PM

Tuesday is a free Wirework Meet-Up 1-3 PM

Hope to see you soon!

The Gift of Sharing

Christmas Delight Charm Bracelet

Many people ask me about my career shift, from physician to bead shop owner.  They wonder about why and also comment, "It must be so different".  It is different in many ways. But in some ways, the rewards are surprisingly similar.  It comes down to the gift of sharing of myself.  One of the things that compelled me towards a career in medicine was a desire to use myself to "help" others to heal.  That is how I thought of the medical field.  

Today, through the twists and turns my life has taken me, what I've learned, is that "healing" and "help" come in many forms.  During the most challenging time in my life, when I was recovering from a most debilitating illness, I discovered beads.   When I put together my first pair of earrings, I was filled with  a childlike delight of wonder and possibility. With it came a message and warm glow that infused my body.  The message was: I have created something beautiful.  The warmth was a healing energy that has followed me ever since.  It was my own healing...a path I choose daily.  

My own healing has been less straightforward than the kind they teach in medical school.  I have had to seek out and experiment with what allows that healing energy in, and what blocks it.  It turns out that you, my dear customers, are part of my medicine.  Passing on what I've learned so that YOU can create beauty, heals me.  During my free wire events I see your eyes full of that same wonder and delight as you create something new and beautiful.  I know I am passing on a skill that you can use over and over again to create something from your own being and manifest it as an object of beauty.  Many of you create gifts for others.  In some way, I am in that gift.  And not only me, but my own teachers, and everyone who has helped and supported me to allow the event to come to pass.  

We do charge for patterns and classes here at Poppyfield.  We wouldn't be here if we did not.  But I LOVE my occasional free wire classes, because it comes as a gift from my heart.  Of course the materials are not free...and they aren't free for me, just as my rent and heat, hooks, are not.  So when you are drawn to Poppyfield for any reason and patronize my shop, you keep it alive and nourish it.  That in turns allows me to be here for you... and then you come here and I am nourished.  And so it goes.  

Join me on December 15th for my last FREE WIRE EVENT of 2012...The Christmas Delight Charm Bracelet.  Click here for details about the kit.  

Healing Power of Beads

Ornamental Poppy by Margo Field

This 9/11 post has too much potential for heaviness...so I am just going to say that I was deeply affected by the attacks. Ten years later I am grateful that I am in a much better place. Life is full of struggles, but I am blessed to see the golden nuggets of beauty that seem to always be there. Many of my customers share their own personal struggles with me and I feel privileged to be part of the pleasure of their lives. Several of my customers are living with life threatening illness, others are severely debilitated. Some are grieving losses through death or broken relationships. One of my customers survived hurricane Katrina, another just lost her house to fire. Still people come to bead - we wipe our tears and go on. If you make it to your local bead shop, its a good day. I used to go to Margo's shop on bad days - just being around the beads cheered me up and gave me hope. Creating something beautiful is a healing thing. All you brave and struggling customers give me courage every day, in ways you don't even know.

Seed of Compassion (Topaz) by Julia Hecht

We have 2 new classes at Poppyfield. "Seed of Compassion" is my thread-free necklace inspired by Diane Fitzgerald's Tropical Bauble on display for her November 6th class. The day I made this, I was mad (and rightfully so!). With this necklace, I took my own anger and and while I decorated the "seed", I contemplated compassion and from it came a beautiful creation. This is how beading heals me. This 2-session class is offered on Saturdays October 22nd and 29th from 1-4 PM for $40. I used 26 gauge wire, rather than thread, and used it both to connect beads and as decorative element. It is a lot of fun to make and goes much quicker than bead stitching - yet it has all the beauty and intricacy of size 15 seed beads and 2.5 mm Swarovski bicones.

Ornamental Poppy Trilogy by Margo Field

On Mondays October 17th and 24th from 6-9 PM, Margo is teaching Ornamental Poppies - gorgeous poppy flowers with a rivoli center and size 15 seed bead sculptural petals. Check out the leaves and netted rope! You have the option of a single poppy focal flower or the trilogy version. This class is also $40.

Other Poppy News!

You will see the shop is shaping up, as today we added our new fixtures from Borders. I will finally be able to unpack the rest of Margo's fire polish and pressed glass inventory and expand the findings and crystal in ways I would like. Stay tuned to see how Poppyfield continues to blossom!

More Compassion!

Landing

Val's Custom Prayer Vessel Necklace in Jewel Tones

The Arts and Crafts Fair in Santa Fe was 2 weeks ago. It was a wonderful weekend - fabulous autumnal New Mexico weather, awesome art, and the best tent spot. The ground under my tent was uneven, and hazardous. But my artist neighbors were the best company and support I could have hoped for. Sue Orchant, a silk artist, Maggie May Beyeler a ceramicist who employs graphic art in her unique designs, and Ginny Hogan, a painter and paper maker were all veterans compared to me. They had been doing art since like forever. Sue and I were the relative newbies with fairs - but none was greener than me. I had the added treat of shmoozing with silversmith Vicki Deane, my anonymous home-girl inspiration, now revealed (see my previous post). She was two spots down from me.

The first day was a bit rough. I had overslept, so it began with me rushing around at home. Plus, the first day includes the added stress of setting up the tent and filling it with all my wares. By the time the first customers strolled on in I had been working for hours and I was exhausted. In addition to the flutter of anticipation, the early morning chill kept me going, as did the hot coffee and breakfast burrito. All day, sales were slow for me and the ladies around me. No one even signed my "guest book". How pathetic. It was disappointing. Nonetheless, I was determined to surrender to the experience, whatever it would be. If customer enthusiasm was at a low, then I'd drink in the camaraderie.

The following day the energy was inexplicably different. People of all sorts starting strolling in early, with big smiles, and lots of interest. My guest book was filling up with names and emails. Women were trying on necklaces and earrings. People started buying my work, my beaded treasures, my painstakingly slowly produced shimmering, glittering, colorful, labors of love. They gave me money, and took them home. I felt as if I were adopting out beloved kittens and puppies. Wow! One after another. I could see Sue and Ginny making sales. Maggie was selling out!

One of the most memorable sales, was to Val. She asked if I would make her a custom prayer vessel necklace in her favorite colors. I took her order, without a deposit or a promise. I told her I'd contact her when it was complete. Then she asked if she could have it by October 14th, for her mastectomy. I thought of my class coming up on October 16th, and all the prep I still needed to do for it. "Yes, I will have it ready," I told her.

All my life I've wanted to be a healer. So much so, that I went to medical school, and worked as a doctor. Now, I've moved in a different direction, allowing myself to flow with the tide that has pulled me out to a new sea. I don't see patients anymore, just people. For the past several days I've sat in my studio, with Val's jewel tones in bead puddles on my mat. With a heart full of hope for her healing and for the gifts that illness offers, I wove Val's prayer vessel necklace. Today I put in my own prayer for her and mailed it clear across the country. Tomorrow she will receive it and can replace the prayer with her own.

I expect I will always remember this fair. I went in still feeling like a doctor, wondering what artists do besides make art, how they live, how they sell. I even gave out some public health information to a mom with questions about vaccines. But when it was over, I felt changed. I saw the joy my art brought to others. I felt the pleasure of sharing a part of myself - the ideas, the hours and the choices that go into each piece. I was inspired with the honor of being invited into the healing of a woman confronting her own mortality. I came home, cleaned out my studio and revamped it. I lit a candle, and got to work. I know the artist has landed.

A Mother's Prayer from Divorceland

I recently spent 17 consecutive days with my two children. The last time this happened was when my 7 year-old daughter was 18 months. At that time, my husband and I separated, and then divorced. We were awarded joint custody and our children have been moving back and forth between the two homes ever since. My son, who is 11, set up his own blog last week to write about his life as a child of divorce. His expression of the pain and joy of his life inspires me to face my own.

My marriage was rough and so was our divorce. After the separation, my emotions came with such ferocity that even my house seemed too small to contain them. I used an old familiar friend, alcohol, to cope. It worked for a while, and then it didn’t. At that time, I was not a good mother. I was impaired and full of shame. With help, I was able to quit drinking. From the day I put down the bottle in 2005, I have used the time that my children are away from me to focus on my healing and rebuild myself and my life. I have not taken a drink since.

My son writes about the unrelenting pain of moving back and forth between 2 loving homes. He is always moving and always missing the other parent. His language is simple and clear. How he copes is the mystery. I have coped by telling myself that the time that my children were with their dad was a blessing to my recovery. I found relief in the idea that I couldn’t handle long- term consecutive parenting. My story was that despite the pain of separation from them, I needed the breaks when they would leave. Perhaps early on, this was true. But this trip together revealed the lie.

Normally, our lives are dominated by the rhythm of separation and transitions. On this recent trip, it was the rhythm of life. In those 2 ½ weeks together the weave of our family tapestry tightened. We learned about each other, grew closer and strengthened our bonds. Love flowed. There was little solitude, lots of joy, and lots of compromise. My partner, Henri, my children, and I rode the waves of life in unison. We dealt with the ripple effect of bad moods, mishaps, and illness together. Each of us found time to be alone, recover from the stress of life, and reunite. I saw that today I make good choices, my intuition is right on, and I am a really good mother.

My son’s blog is called Divorce: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. As the mother I want to see the good, accept the bad, and not contribute to the ugly. Here is my prayer:

Let me turn the pain and loss over my children into something useful for us and for others. Let me accept my feelings, live healthy, and rest, so that I can be right there with them. Let me use the knowledge that they will be leaving shortly, to make the most of our time together. Let me nourish them, cherish them and never take them for granted. Let me feel the sacred bond that their father and I share. Let me continue to put them first when it comes to their dad, and not wage war. Let my love for my children and my faith in spirit guide me to respond always with love and compassion. Let my own healing inspire their healing of the split that dominates their lives. Amen.

Today is a Gift - A Necklace of Gratitude

I created this vessel to celebrate the beauty and gift of life. It can hold a personal prayer of thanks that can be worn as a necklace.

I used to work as a physician. This year I am beading full time to continue my own personal healing. I find that creating beauty is a very healing experience.

I am grateful for the love and joy in my life. I am grateful that I can use painful experiences for growth.