Chrysoprase - green chalcedony
Fashion Colorworks 2012 - two weeks to go!
Beading on Mississipi river - Cindy Caraway
Ask the Color Queens!
Flowers from alpine meadows - Galina Baer
Classes at the Beaders Best Art Fair 2012
Battle of the BeadSmith. First round
Lace beadweaving basics
What do you think about bead contests?
March upcoming events
Contact us with any questions at
May, 2012
From MyLovelyBeads.com TeamRead in the May's issue of MyLovelyBeads.com newsletter: info@mylovelybeads.com.Best regards, MyLovelyBeads.com Team
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Chrysoprase - green chalcedonyAll of a sudden we found out that in the Britain culture one of the May birthstones is chrysoprase. Chrysoprase, chrysophrase or chrysoprasus is a gemstone variety of chalcedony that contains small quantities of nickel. The word chrysoprase comes from the Greek CHRYSOS, meaning "gold" and PRASINON, meaning 'green'. Its color is normally apple-green, but varies to deep green. Chrysoprase is cryptocrystalline (like agate, carnelian, and onyx), which means that it is composed of crystals so fine that they cannot be seen as distinct particles under normal magnification. This sets it apart from rock crystal (clear quartz), amethyst, citrine, and the other varieties of crystalline quartz which are basically transparent. Unlike many non-transparent minerals, it is the color of chrysoprase, rather than any pattern of markings, that makes it desirable. Because of its attractive color chrysoprase has been used as a gemstone since ancient times. Possibly the most famous source of chrysoprase is the region of Silesia in Poland. This source has been used since medieval times and some of its gems were used to make jewelry for kings, most notably King Frederick II of Prussia. King Frederick even discovered a vein of chrysoprase there that was three miles long! Since the source in Poland has been just about exhausted the market has turned to other sources. Today the best known sources of chrysoprase are Queensland, Western Australia, Germany, Russia, Arizona, California, and Brazil. The chrysoprase deposit in Szklary, Lower Silesia, Poland, was probably the biggest European chrysoprase occurrence and possibly also the biggest in the world. |
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Fashion Colorworks 2012 - two weeks to go!
The contest continues, but only two weeks to go. You can submit your entries for the Fashion Colorworks 2012 Beading Contest in three categories until June 15. We are looking forward to seeing your amazing bead items in the contest!
Fashion Colorworks 2012 Rules
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Beading on Mississipi river
Fishing and beading, beading and singing - can you imagine a person who does it all? Cindy Caraway does! Our feature today is this beautiful bead artist from the state of Iowa, USA. Enjoy reading Cindy's story and her amazing jewelry in the gallery! Cindy says, "Beading came to me during a time of great change in my life. It all started when I took a teaching job in Arizona. Being a long way from home (Iowa) and not knowing too any people, I was interested in finding a new hobby. During a trip to the library, I came upon a book about making black wire jewelry. I really enjoyed it and started making necklaces, pendants and bracelets and sold several in a local record store. A friend suggested I add beads for interest and that was the beginning of the end! I got more interested in the beads and ultimately dropped the wire altogether. The beads just kept getting smaller and smaller and my love of beadweaving was born. Believe it or not, the first time I wrapped peyote stitch around a cabochon, I thought I had invented it! What a rude awakening when I realized that the Native Americans (among others) had been doing it for centuries! Once I realized there was a world of beadweaving out there, I started looking for books and such. I am not good at diagrams so it's a miracle I ever learned any of the skills I do have. I would say that Carol Wilcox Wells' book "Creative Bead Weaving" was a true epiphany about the artistic possibilities of beadwork. I used to be a bead weaver exclusively but now enjoy bead embroidery better and have started dabbling in fiber. Hopefully I will be able to meld those all into something unique! As you can tell, I enjoy making large pieces and, while I have never kept track of the hours spent on a particular piece, I know they take tens of hours to complete. I try to budget 2 hours a day for beadwork but, like I said before, I don't work well "on the clock". When I really get going on a piece, though, I can spend the whole day completely lost in it..."
Full article by Cindy Caraway
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Ask the Color Queens!They have teamed together, Color Queens - Margie Deeb and Beverly Ash Gilbert! Their 15-page issue is full of colorful discussions, diagrams and photos that will inspire you in your own work. You'll learn different approaches to combining color as well as special techniques that will help you work through challenging color predicaments. And they have special surprise for you this time... a color-centric interview with colorist extraordinaire, Jamie Cloud Eakin. Read how Jamie approaches harmonizing hues with gemstones to create her stunning palettes. |
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Flowers from alpine meadows
Let's move from Mississipi river to the meadows in the Alps. The second guest of ours is Galina Baer from Austria. Her signature is jewelry with beaded flowers, Galina is inspired by mountain nature. We hope you will like her gorgeous designs! Galina writes, "I grew up in a family of a Soviet military officer in an atmosphere filled with love and trust. In my memories of my life during this period is characterized by only two words - a happy childhood. Of course, as all girls I had cherished a box with a few trinkets and a couple of old beads in it. But then I had no idea that years later these tiny beads would take so important place in my life... When I were at school, the circle of my interests was very wide - from vocal to karate, I had studied ballet and dancing for ten years and stopped only a few months before the birth of my first child. Even now, after so many years, I sometimes dance in my dreams! That's when I became involved in knitting and embroidery; it was the first step of my acquaintance with the crafts that occasionally brought a small income. I was always interested in new things and I'm not afraid to start all over again... When I were 30 years old, I jumped the first time with a parachute - in order to see the sky the way my father, a military pilot saw it. In my 36 I got married the second time and went to Austria to understand that life is beautiful and everything is just beginning! Being in Austria, I returned to my favorite knitting; my children grew up and I had more spare time. For several years I was engaged in knitting, but after "one hundred and fifteenth" blouses hanging in the closet I got bored and I wanted to find something new, and I started looking for. There were fimo, decoupage, mosaic work and painting on glass. Not being able to draw from nature, I experienced some difficulties learning those new media and looked for other opportunities to express my love for color and other forms. I am deeply convinced that if you put a goal, you must get close to it! So, four years ago beads came to my life. First, there were not even glass seed beads, but crow and pony beads and gemstone chips, which I strung on a string and gradually learned to make something different and special from them. Do not you think it is familiar to you? Starting to learn new crafts, you are not noticing how you go into this process! Only if that is really interesting. It happened to me. My first rope woven according found pattern seemed so beautiful and awesome!"
Full article by Galina Baer
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Classes at the Beaders Best Art Fair 2012
The workshop price includes the kit, and the kit includes all materials and findings needed for the workshop, and tutorial (patterns with instructions). Anybody who doesn't finish his work on site will be able to finish it at home.
Workshop "Grape Leaf Necklace"
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Battle of the BeadSmith. First roundFrom BeadSmith Press Release. ( Good luck everyone, have some fun! ) The BeadSmith announces 1st round pairings for... "Battle of the BeadSmith". 80 Artists, 22 Countries. A Celebration of Bead Artistry around the World. A brief ceremony at BeadSmith headquarters in Carteret, NJ took place Monday, the 14th of May, officially launching the inaugural "Battle Of The BeadSmith". Steven Weiss, of the family Weiss, addressed the competitors in attendance with some emotional words of encouragement, (transcript seen below), before officially announcing the 40 1st round pairings. "My fellow beaders. You have been charged with the monumental task of taking your designs to places never thought possible before. Your journey will strain the very limits of your beading abilities... (Pause)... Do not entertain failure! Do not allow uncertainty, and the fear of defeat, to extinguish the fires that burn within your creative souls... (Pause)... Though some of you will fall in battle, history will speak well of the 80... The 80 who beaded steadfast and true... The 80 that beaded on, when their needles snapped, and their threads frayed... (Pause)... The 80 that beaded until they could bead no more." The 40 first round pairings for "The Battle Of The BeadSmith can be found by clicking on the link below:
Battle of the BeadSmith. First round pairs
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Lace beadweaving basicsMost likely, the origin of the netting technique comes from the fishing net weaving. With the use of a shuttle to unroll a thread, fishermen weaved diamond shaped stitches tied up one to the other. Here is the first lesson of netting beading (lace beadweaving) by Coco L'Hopital-Navarre where you will learn how "to convert" these diamond shaped fishing thread stitches into beadweaving stitches, and two more lessons are coming: part 2 - "How to decorate your netting with openwork" and part 3 - "How to decorate your netting with fancy beads".
In English:
Lace beadweaving basics. Part 1
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What do you think about bead contests?
To bead or not to bead? - the positive answer goes without saying. To enter or not to enter (bead contest)? - that is the question we would like you to tell us. We welcome and respect your opinion. Have fun! Please take the time to complete the brief survey on bead contests! The results will be displayed promptly! |
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Upcoming events
June 1 - June 10, 2012 Do you love fashion and jewelry? Do you have a passion for beautiful accessories? The Bead & Button Show is the largest jewelry and bead show in the nation. Over 370 vendors will be selling one-of-a-kind finished jewelry plus precious gems, pearls, art beads, gold and silver, beading supplies and books. The show will also feature a juried exhibit Bead Dreams 2012 of inspiring bead art and over 500 bead and jewelry classes. |
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May Issue
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