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!

Color Piques

Sneak Peek!

Many customers ask me how I pick colors.  It is not something that comes from my head, in any conscious way.  It is just something that happens.  Something that percolates up from inside me.  Probably like music does for those so inclined (which I am not).  Yes, color theory can be learned.  But I am always  bored by those discussions.  At this point I don't think it terms of saturation, value, or other color terms.  I just know what I like.  My color choices on any day reflect my mood - excitement, rebellion, serenity.  Sometimes they are born from a memory - snorkeling in a tropical sea or hiking on a sunny autumn day.  

My "color-seeking" can come as a spark, a restless itch, a subtle stirring, or even an almost painful surge that must burst through.  Sometimes I feel overwhelming inspiration from a stone, a bead, a picture or a product that hangs on the wall in my shop.  Lately,  it has been Swarovski's Medium Vitrail.  Seen in the pendant above.  This is a sneak peek from my Hollywood Sparkle Necklace, which is nearly finished.

In the pendant I see several greens and blues and then a strong contrast, fuchsia. There is even a little orangey topaz.   I love the excitement of bold contrast and often choose to play this up and emphasize it.   In the past I have olivine and fuchsia with medium vitrail - all by Swarovski.  But the day I chose colors for this piece I was feeling rebellious and sassy.  I wanted to put together colors that many people ordinarily would not. I wanted  colors that are not supposed to go together.   I kept my fuchsia contrast. Teal and fuchsia are often put together as jewel tones.  Fuchsia and other greens such as olivine are also seen together.   But teal and olivine are not generally seen together.  Could I put them together?  I look at it this way:  Since several greens and blues are in that one piece of glass they must "go together" because they are together.  I chose a yellow green (see the upper left of the teardrop) and a teal (see the lower left of the teardrop).  I decided to forgo the topaz to avoid a rainbow.  I love the final effect.  I am sure I am not the first person to ever mix these colors.  But it is unusual and I feel sufficiently sassy.  In my rope I went a step further.  But I'll keep you in suspense and reveal that another day.

If you like these colors together then think about these crystal colors by Swarovski:  fuchsia, emerald glacier blue, olivine, green sphinx, fuchsia purple haze and of course, medium vitrail.  They are all hanging on display in the shop.  Poppyfield seed bead colors that work with this color scheme and the above crystal colors are:  459H, 468, D4217 and 638A.  They are on display at the counter. So stop in and mix up a batch of sass for yourself.  

Press Release!!!!

Today, I am interviewed on the international bead blog here...

www.beads-perles.blogspot.com

WIRE UPDATE

We've had some really fun FREE wire events around Valentine's Day.  All the classes "sold out" within a few days and we just had a blast.  Sylvia's wire meet-ups on Tuesdays have been growing.  More types of project ideas are brought to the studio, so I've decided to expand our wire products to give "twisters" more options.  We will soon be carrying German half-hard wire, as well as twisted wire.  When we've got it in stock I will let you know via this blog, Facebook, and Twitter.  Til then... come take advantage of the free wire expertise we offer.  Wire Meet-Up is every Tuesday 1-3 PM in our lovely Studio Poppy.  It is friendly and free. Bring your tools, or buy what you need with us.

NEW CLASS OPEN FOR REGISTRATION

Peyote Premiere by June Malone

Many of you have asked for a peyote beginner class. It is finally here.  June Malone, our resident peyote master, will be teaching a pendant/ earring class, Peyote Premiere. This class is for beginners and anyone who wants to get back to basics with their flat peyote skills - odd count, even count, reading a pattern, and decreasing. The class meets on Saturday, April 6th.  Click here to go to the classes page for more information.

Margo's Floral Fantasy class has only 2 places left.  If you are thinking about this one, don't delay.  See pics and details on the classes page.

Remember Monday Night is Late Night....We are open until 8 PM

Hope to see you soon!

Three Cheers for Dorothy

APPLAUSE in American Sign Language

Tomorrow I am teaching a seed bead class at The Beaded Iris in Albuquerque. (You can see my teaching schedule with pics on my Classes page on this blog). When I advertised the class, I sent out flyers to the local Deaf Community. I know American Sign Language. In fact, my home is bilingual and I use ASL everyday. I got a video message on my iphone from a woman who called the video phone (VP) at my home. When I clicked on the video, there she was, asking about my class. I don't think Dorothy would disagree with me that she's elderly. We had a VP conversation and I held up some samples of the bead project in front of the VP camera at my house. She said "oooohhh" with her facial expression, and then she signed. "I would like to try it. Something new!"

Two weeks ago was the first session. I taught in English and ASL in tandem. Dorothy has glaucoma, but she carried on with the seed beads with persistence. It was the first time she had worked with seed beads. "So tiny, " she remarked. She seemed a little nervous. But she's a lady who had her hands tied in elementary school to prevent her from signing. She learned ASL anyway. So, I knew she had moxie. As she focused on her first three rows of peyote stitch, the room was filled with the chatter of the hearing students. It is harder to "talk" when you need your eyes and hands for both the art and the conversation. We took some breaks from the beads and got to know each other with our full attention.

From time to time I let Dorothy know what the chatter topic was amongst the other students. But, there was really no way she could be a full participant in that conversation. She finally got the peyote set up, undaunted by her vision, her age, lack of experience, and being the only deaf person in the class. By the end of the session she made a beautiful focal piece for her necklace - purple and green. Truly stunning.

Dorothy's sense of adventure and her willingness to take a risk and try something new despite the challenges inspires me. Tomorrow is the second session. I can't wait to see what she is going to do with the netting I will teach. Perhaps, one day there will ASL chatting in my classes as well.

Ammonite Fossil with Peyote Bezel "in Progress"

Temple Grandin Has Her Squeeze Machine...I've Got Peyote Stitch!

Temple Grandin

http://www.flickr.com/photos/48692800@N00/ / CC BY-NC 2.0

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I recently saw the HBO movie Temple Grandin, which tells the powerful story of this woman's life in overcoming autism. Temple Grandin is known for being the first person to explain to the world what it is like to live with autism in her book Thinking in Pictures. Although she did not speak until age 3 1/2, she has a Ph.D. in Animal Sciences, is a college professor, and has a resume depicting a life of achievement. Dr. Grandin's way of "thinking in pictures" has helped her design humane and effective animal husbandry machinery. In her own words, "Life is cruel, but we don't have to be." Dr. Grandin has dedicated her life to the humane treatment of cows within the cattle industry. Of equal importance to her, is educating the world about autism. There is so much to say about Dr. Grandin, and she has so much to offer in her own words. This 30 min NPR interview is a peek into the mind of this fascinating woman.

Temple Grandin's Squeeze Machine

produced by the Therafin Corporation

When Temple was a young adult she saw cows being squeezed in a machine to calm them. She invented her own "squeeze machine" to apply deep pressure to her own body. As with the cows, it also had a calming effect on her, like a mother's hug for for a child. Temple's autism made human physical contact intolerable and scary. She suffered from severe anxiety. Her "different" sensory experience of life with people often agitated her. In the movie, she describes the effect of the squeeze machine as "something is repaired".

Something is Repaired

Tetrahedron Earring

I know what she means. I often feel a swirling energy that can leave me restless and agitated. I don't always know from where it comes. Peyote Stitch has a calming and restorative effect on me. In this type of stitchwork, beads are joined in such a way that after the initial "set up" there is a perfectly sized space for each new bead to be added to the work. It is added between a "sandwich"of 2 other beads. When a bead is added it "clicks" into place and stands at perfect attention next to its adjacent beads that were stitched into place in the previous row. In the earring shown above, the green beads are peyote stitch. I don't know how long Dr. Grandin needs to be squeezed. But give me 30 minutes of peyote stitch, and I am in a much better place. I think I've gone as long as 12 hours doing peyote stitch without getting out of my chair. No kidding. I did need a massage after that!

More on Autism and Peyote Stitch

Peyote Stitch Tutorial

Resources on Autism

Julia's Peyote Stitch Art