Free Tutorials

 

I wrote up a quickie free tutorial with lots of pics showing how to make a tassel using a lampworkified bullet casing like the one above. You can find it at Artisan Whimsy, the new community created specifically for the bead and jewelry people. 

It got me thinking that perhaps you would like to find other free tutorials...

*Over at Glass Addictions, I have a page dedicated to free tutorials I've written, including various jewelry projects, but also jewelry tags, video of me making a hollow bead, and altering an altoids tin.

*Lesley wrote up a bracelet tutorial that I used for one of the pieces I made for the last Bead Soup Blog party.

*Linda has an entire Pinterest board with enough pins of jewelry tutorials that could keep you busy for weeks!

*Objects and Elements Linda Larsen writes the best tutorials on her blog. 

*An amazing tutorial using Roman Glass Beads by Keirsten Giles that I've been meaning to try, but haven't gotten to it yet.

*Art Bead Scene occasionally has tutorials. I love this wrapped bangle tutorial

.

*Artisan Whimsy has an entire learning center dedicated to videos and tutorials. 

What are some of your favorite free tutorials not included here? 

Have a creative week!

-Jen Cameron

Glass Addictions

Festival Overview - Lessons

From my last post, you may know that I was preparing for a very large show called the Delmont Apple N Arts Festival.  The attendance was supposed to be upwards of 40k each year, and it's somewhat competitive to get into this juried Festival.  Everything has to be handmade, which is very nice!  If a booth is showing non-handmade items, they are asked to leave. 

This was the second year I participated - last year, it started raining on Friday (the day of set-up) and continued raining until Sunday evening.  On Saturday the festival decided to close early.  On Sunday, they didn't open at all.  I decided I would give it one more try, as the weather is not the fault of the organizers.

I can only say that this year, the show was as disappointing as last year.  I will not return.  I did make my booth fee back and what it cost for me to sign up for Verizon cellular data to use my ipad for taking credit cards, but that was it. 

I have some lessons that I learned that I thought I would share!  I'm sure many of you can relate, but this might help some of you for the future.

The biggest lesson I learned was - ATTEND the show before you decide to VEND at the show!  Had I attended this show in the past, I would have realized that what is being sold is not the audience I am looking for.  I am not putting down the people who are vending there, just saying that the audience most likely would not be interested in my items.  Had I attended the show in the past, I would have realized this!

WEATHER is iffy - at any time - but especially in OCTOBER!  It rained the whole weekend again this year.  Doing outdoor shows in bad weather means low attendance, wet items, and cold feet!

I really admire all of you artists and designers who can do show after show, and make money at it.  I did get quite discouraged at one point, and was ready to close up.  But I realized that what I am selling is a luxury, and people just don't have spare money right now.  I think my items are great and I do have a lady who owns a store in a trendy part of town who will be taking a lot of my merchandise, so I do have hope!  Right now, this is not my gig, and I'll go back to making beads for now!

Mismatched Monday & A Challenge!

The leaves are changing colors and the temperature is cooling down here in New Jersey. It's hard not to be inspired with autumn in full swing.

Even the decaying leaves and hints of color here and there are beautiful. That's why this weeks earrings are inspired by nature...

Materials:
Brown stoneware charms: Suburban Girl Studio LLC
Ceramic dot bead: Elaine Ray
Lucite round: The Beadin' Path
Chain: Primitive Earth Beads
Link: Michael's
Brass findings/bronze wire by Vintaj: Fusion Beads
Real leaf: My backyard   ;-)

Now the title of this post mentions a challenge...  My next Mismatched Monday (10/29) will feature Halloween earrings and I'd like all of you to join in!  Make a pair of mismatched Halloween earrings (featuring art beads/components) and write a blog post about them on 10/29 and then link it up here (there will be a linky tool that day).  As an added bonus, I will randomly select one of the participants to receive a Suburban Girl brown stoneware pendant!

What are you waiting for? Get to work on those mismatched Halloween earrings!

Diana P.
Suburban Girl Studio

NW Bead Society Show

Giveaway entries are closed,
Congratulations to Kashmira Patel!!!

A couple of weeks ago I went to one of our best local Bead Shows,

the NW Bead Society Show.

I've finally gotten around to taking pictures of my new wonderful beads!

I'll be giving some of these beauties away to a lucky commenter so don't be shy!

I always have to purchase from the lovely Lara Lutrick,

Wasn't easy to pick only these 2 sets, there was a purple set that I had my eye on but resisted in the end. I might need to go back in the near future and get those purple beauties too!

By far my biggest purchase was from Oh! Sullivan Studio,

as yet they don't have an online store (I scolded them severly for this)

so this is my once a year opportunity to purchase their amazing creations!

These little Porcelain Bees made me crazy, I purchased several pair and will be giving a pair away!

If you want to contact Michael or Vicki here is their email address

michaelsf@earthlink.net

I purchased these beautiful Flourite Briolettes from

NMBeads

AND these Red Sponge Coral squares!!

Remember to leave a comment to win some of my stash!!!

I'll draw a winner from the comments tomorrow evening.

Don't forget to leave your email address so I can contact you when you win.

Kristi

KristiBowmanDesign.Etsy