earrings + necklaces for holiday gifts – thank you, Sunset!
November 25, 2008 at 2:45 pm | Posted in beading and jewelrymaking, book news, magazines, vintage bits and pieces | Leave a commentIf you’re looking for some easy, crafty holiday gifts to make this year, some of my favorites are beaded drop Solo Earrings and the star of my book cover, the Vintagesque Necklace! Both projects are very beginner-friendly and a lot of fun to make.
You can find the video tutorials for each of them right here on my site, and I’m excited to announce that I have just added some new kits for making them to my Etsy shop, too… they come with vintage beads, wire, findings and complete instructions all in one little package. The necklace kit ($10) comes with smoky blue vintage Lucite beads, and you can choose from wine red, lavender or hot pink for the earrings ($5).
To celebrate the kits arriving in the world, I’m offering free shipping on any kit for the next week, and a free Solo Earrings kit if you order a signed copy of Bead Simple, too — both offers are good through December 2. You can also find my earrings and necklace kits in blue, brown and orange over in the Maker Shed, thanks to CRAFT: magazine. And I’ll be adding new colors of both kits to my Etsy shop for the holidays next month — I’m thinking black, silver, gold and sparkly!
A huge thank-you to Ivy Manning and Sunset magazine for featuring me and Bead Simple this month, and spotlighting some of my favorite craft classes, shops, and resources, too! I got to talk about some of my favorite local-and-everywhere resources for holiday crafting ideas, including DIY Lounge, Cool Cottons, Crafty Wonderland, and CRAFT: magazine. I’m on page 30 of the Northwest edition, and the interview is also right here on their site. Hooray!
And an extra thank-you to their fantastic photographer, John Clark, who was kind enough to include some of my favorite things in the picture with me and my Solo Earrings: our prized Justin “Scrappers” Morrison painting, my modern heirloom quilt, and my Cathy of California flower brooch and pincushion.
Bead Simple event at Crafty Wonderland – 9/14
September 11, 2008 at 3:46 pm | Posted in book events, crafty events | Leave a commentI’m excited to announce that I’m teaching a free Bead Simple solo earring-making workshop at the Crafty Wonderland DIY table this Sunday!
I’m bringing along my vintage beads and findings,
plus some chain for making longer, swingier earrings if you want to get a bit more adventurous.
Just stop by, grab some pliers and pick out your favorite beads, and make yourself something pretty to wear home. I’ll have books for sale if you happen to need one, and I’d love to sign one if you already have it!
Meanwhile, there will be fantastic handmade things from 40 crafters to browse… one of my favorite artists, Jill Bliss, will be there with her work, and you can check out the complete list of vendors here. Hope to see you!
Bead Simple earring-making @ Crafty Wonderland
Doug Fir Lounge, 830 E. Burnside St. in Portland
Sunday, September 14 from 11-4
Low and Swingy Earrings on AM Northwest tomorrow
August 14, 2008 at 1:21 pm | Posted in beading and jewelrymaking, book events, crafty events | Leave a commentHey, just wanted to mention that I’m going to be on the AM Northwest show again tomorrow (Friday, 8/15), making earrings from Bead Simple — a pair of sparkly Solo Earrings and a dangly pair of Low and Swingy Earrings, too. They made a special request for me to bring Pearl along so she might co-star again… we’ll see!
The show is on from 9 to 10 am on KATU, and my segment will probably be at either 9:20 or 9:35. I should get a DVD of it next week (along with the earlier one I did, making a Pink Floral Ribbon Choker) and I will definitely post them online if you would like to make yourself some jewelry, too!
I’ll post more about it closer to the time, but I’ll be teaching a free Solo Earrings workshop at the September Crafty Wonderland here in Portland, which I’m really excited about! Please mark your calendar for September 14 and stop by the DIY table to pick out your favorite vintage beads to make a pair of earrings, and shop for crafty delights from more than 40 vendors.
Solo earrings at Church of Craft this weekend
July 17, 2008 at 2:06 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a commentIf you’re in Portland and would like to make yourself some sparkly new jewelry this weekend, please come by the final meeting of the Church of Craft on Sunday — I’ll be teaching the Solo Earrings project from Bead Simple. I’ll have tons of vintage beads on hand to pick from…
along with pliers, findings, and anything else you might need to make these.
It will be a lot like my Powell’s event — free, all ages, and very low-key — hope to see you! And please bring a friend…
Solo Earrings at Church of Craft
Sunday, July 20 12:30-3:30
Central Library, U.S. Bank Room
801 SW 10th Ave., Portland
I’d like to send Diane a hug and a shout-out for organizing Portland’s Church of Craft for the last five years. She’s done a beautiful, enthusiastic job, and I am happy that I got to be part of it (and be married in it!).
XOXO
Beading tips and a crafty party!
May 28, 2008 at 7:16 am | Posted in beading and jewelrymaking, book events, book news, crafty events | Leave a commentHi, just wanted to check back in after a few weeks… I had my adorable baby girl, Pearl, on May 6 and have had such a great time getting to hang out with her! So I’ve been a bit distracted lately, but wanted to mention a few cool things going on in the jewelry-making realm:
I was recently interviewed about beading for Seventeen magazine and the article (with lots of tips and resources) is up on their site if you want to check it out. I started making jewelry in high school so I was really pleased to pass on some ideas for getting started beading and re-styling your own stuff. Thank you to Neha Gandhi for the great piece!
I’m doing a short segment on AM Northwest this morning (on KATU 2) showing how to make jewelry from Bead Simple! If you are in Portland or anywhere nearby and want to tune in, I’ll be on at 9:40 am making the Pink Floral Ribbon Choker and showing some other projects and techniques from the book, too. Hope to have a video segment to share soon — I’ll keep you posted!
photo by Burcu Avsar and Zach DeSart
And I’m also looking forward to the CRAFT: magazine release party Diane and I are hosting this upcoming Sunday, June 1 for my official re-entry into the crafty world! If you are in Portland, I hope you can make it by to say hello and make a jewelry project with us. It is at the marvelous Twisted again (like last time), and we’ll have some fun door prizes, a fully stocked project table, discounted magazine subscriptions, snacks, and free crafty giveaways, too.
The project we’re teaching this time will be my Cute as a Button Bracelet from Bead Simple, which CRAFT: was kind enough to excerpt in this issue! We’ll have all the supplies for you to make your own bracelet to wear home, and Diane and I will be handing out prizes every hour on the hour, too. More on those later — but we’ll be giving away books from Chronicle and Taunton (including Bead Simple) and some of my new jewelry kits plus some fun surprises.
photo by Burcu Avsar and Zach DeSart
Hope to see you!
my first two beading videos are up…
May 4, 2008 at 6:14 pm | Posted in beading and jewelrymaking, book news | 3 CommentsJust wanted to mention that my first two technique videos from Bead Simple are up if you’d like to check them out! I filmed one for making Solo Earrings (or any other simple bead embellishment like a pendant or bracelet dangle) and one for wire looping the Vintagesque Necklace (on the book cover). Thanks for posting about them, Diane and Jenny!
solo earrings:
vintagesque necklace:
They’re both posted on the on the technique videos + patterns page, and I’ll have another bunch of videos joining them there in the next little while after a short personal break — kind of a mini-maternity leave! See you in a few days…
Bead Simple in CRAFT: 07!
April 30, 2008 at 9:00 am | Posted in beading and jewelrymaking, book news, crafty events, magazines | 1 CommentI was so excited to get my copy of CRAFT: 07, which is out this week… along with tons of great crafty tutorials and features, they were kind enough to spotlight my Cute as a Button Bracelet as a Quick Craft in the new issue!
Arwen O’Reilly also wrote a super nice review of Bead Simple — I especially love the last line.
Don’t forget about Maker Faire this weekend, too! I wish I could go (teaching and running around last year was so much fun) — but at nine months and counting, I’m just going to have to look forward to 2009. But on a happier note, I am really pleased to announce that CRAFT: will be debuting my new Bead Simple kits at Maker Faire and in the Maker Store, though, so I will get to be part of it after all! More on that shortly…
You can grab the new issue at newsstands or subscribe online. Thanks so much, CRAFT:!
thank you!
April 9, 2008 at 4:09 pm | Posted in beading and jewelrymaking, book events, crafty events, guest designers | 3 CommentsI had such a great time at Powell’s on Monday — thank you so much for the good-luck wishes, and to everyone who came out to make earrings with me. It was such a fun night! I loved seeing all the sparkly things that people made and it was fantastic to meet so many new crafty people.
First, I chatted a little bit about beading and jewelry design and showed a few pieces from the book from the forty or so I had out on display.
I have such a goofy expression on my face here, but what can I say, I was showing off one of my favorite designs ever, created by my nephew Julian! He was five when he made this necklace and I absolutely love it.
Then I asked my lovely Portland guest designers to come up so I could introduce them and show their gorgeous designs too… left to right are Bethe Mack, Tanja Alger, Caitlin Troutman, Diane Gilleland, and Torie Nguyen. Thank you, ladies!
I did a quick earrings how-to, and then everyone got to choose their vintage beads and pick up their jewelry kits…
…and people jumped right into making their pieces. My friend Ryan even created a fancy sparkly necklace using pipe cleaners and 24mm pink faceted beads!
I got to chat with so many people, admire lots of new designs, and even sign some books. I think this is one of the few moments I was sitting down all night… that was nice, I have to admit.
There are a good handful of photos from the event in the Bead Simple flickr pool… thank you so much to Lee and Andrew for snapping these great ones. And for another review of the whole thing, be sure to check out the guest blogger over at paperdollygirl, who created an especially gorgeous pair of earrings himself!
A heartfelt thank you to everyone who came out to get crafty with me and to Powell’s — it was so much fun to get to celebrate the book together. I’m so looking forward to doing it again at Church of Craft, Crafty Wonderland, and Twisted! Just give me a couple of months to have this baby in the meantime, and I’ll see you later in the summer for sure.
tonight!
April 7, 2008 at 1:03 pm | Posted in beading and jewelrymaking, book events, crafty events, vintage bits and pieces | 4 Comments
Bead Simple event at Powell’s April 7!
March 31, 2008 at 11:39 am | Posted in beading and jewelrymaking, book events, crafty events, guest designers, vintage bits and pieces | 2 CommentsNow that it’s right around the corner, I wanted to post again about my upcoming Bead Simple book event at the downtown Powell’s Books here in Portland next Monday night — if you’re in town, I hope you can make it over!
I’ll do a short reading and show a bunch of the 150 jewelry projects from the book, and my Portland guest designers will be there with their work, too. Plus everyone who comes is invited to make a pair of Solo Earrings to bring home as part of a little jewelry 101 demo! I’ll bring pliers, supplies, and a big stash of vintage beads from my collection (like these sparklers) for you to choose from…
Please pass the word on to friends and I hope to see you next week!
Bead Simple event at Powell’s (upstairs in the Basil Hayward Gallery)
1005 W. Burnside St., downtown Portland
Monday, April 7 at 7:30 pm
I’m also planning some book events later in the year (with husband and baby in tow) in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Raleigh, and Chapel Hill, North Carolina, so stay tuned for updates on those…
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