Bead Cruise 2016 Recap

On Monday, I arrived home after a week of fun on the 2016 bead cruise, hosted by Heather Powers.

Cruise ships in port in St. Maarten

This was my third time attending and this year my husband, Colin came along with me.  He also took all three of Heather Power's  polymer classes!

Coco Cay

Day 1 was boarding the ship and the welcome party at night.  Day 2 was our stop in Coco Cay in the Bahamas.  This was a nice, restful beach day.  I explored and found conch shells, sea urchins and lots of little fish.  

Tango by Beki Haley

Day 3 was our half-day classes.  I chose Tango by Beki Haley.  I struggled with right angle weave at first but Beki is a great teacher and got me on the right track.  I haven't finished the pendant yet but I'm pretty sure I will get this one done!  We also had part 1 of Heather's Van Gogh Sunflowers workshop in the afternoon (more on that below). 

St. Thomas

Day 4 was spent in St. Thomas.  Colin and I were originally going to spend the day at Coki Beach but we caught colds on the airplane and didn't feel up to it.  We decided to take a bus tour of the island instead.  We got to experience some fabulous views, go shopping and I still got to dip my feet in the turquoise water at Coki Beach.  

St. Maarten

Day 5 we docked in St. Maarten.  We walked towards town, found a small local art gallery and then shopped some more.  We lasted a couple hours before the heat got to us and we returned to the ship. After a shower, we spent several hours enjoying the view from the lounge on the ship.  Also, food. There was lots of eating involved...it's a cruise afterall!   

Van Gogh Sunflowers Class

Day 6 was the second part of Heather's Van Gogh Sunflowers class.   This class involved the most intricate polymer canework I've ever done.  It was a bit frustrating for me but it makes me appreciate Heather's work that much more.  You can see a few of the beads Colin and I created in the lower, left hand photo.

Tropical Bon Bon class

Day 7 was the final day and Colin and I signed up for an optional class.  I had so much fun in Heather's Tropical Bon Bon class!  I can see myself making more of these, including them as cabochons!  We had some free time after class and then went to the farewell party.  

Misc. scenes from the trip

On Sunday, we headed back to the hotel in Orlando and enjoyed the pool and some dinner with other cruisers who were flying home on Monday.  It was a nice way to end the trip.  

I just love everything about the bead cruise; the people, the workshops, the ports...  I highly recommend you give the bead cruise a try!  There are still a few spaces left for Bead Cruise 2017!  Click here for all the details and to register for the best bead vacation you will ever take!  You won't regret it!

A big thanks to Heather, all the instructors, sponsors and fellow beaders who made 2016 a wonderful experience!  I look forward to Bead Cruise 2017!

Getting back into my groove

I have mentioned that the beads were not talking to me, probably too many times lately,  It has been very disturbing for me because of all the artistic outlets I have this is the one I am most passionate about.  I have all these beads I shouldn't have a problem should I?

I was trying to work on my component of the month project and it just wasn't coming to be.  I needed to get back into my groove but I wasn't sure how.  Then it hit me.  I was searching for a necklace to wear and realized that I did not have a bracelet to match it,

Those of you who know me know I love to have a matching set for every outfit or occasion,  So I just picked the same beads as the necklace and added a funky two hole tipp bead and set to playing and this is what happened.

Well that went so well I looked at my abundant UFO tray and guess what I had another necklace orphan.

So I finished this bracelet.

Then I finally began to feel adventurous so I picked some crescent beads, pearls and seeds to match this necklace.

It took quite a few tries but I like the design process so much.

I am not so thrilled with the color play on this one because the crescents are a bit too lavender but it wears so pretty and matches the color of the blouse I paired it with that I am not going to change it.

Now I feel like I can finally take on some larger challenges which excites me.  How do you get back in your groove?

2016 Art Charm Swap and Beads of Courage Benefit Sign-Ups are Open

2014 charm by Niky Sayers

For several years I have coordinated an art charm swap with people from all over the world  participating. Each year is assigned a specific theme that artists interpret into their charms any way they want. Some of the previous themes include: Play, Laugh, Love, and in 2014, it was Soar. You will see examples from some of our own AJE team members sprinkled throughout this post from that theme. 

This years theme is.... Fairy Tales. I'm actually really excited about this one. 

2014 charm by Lesley Watt

In addition to the fun and exciting charm swap, I decided early on to add a charity auction via ebay, which makes the swap that much more fun. We have raised over $3000 for Beads of Courage through our auctions. Why BOC? Because I love their mission, which is "providing innovative, arts-in-medicine supportive care programs for children coping with serious illness, their families and the health care providers who care for them." Oh, and because BEADS. What's not to love?

2014 Charm by Jenny Davies-Reazor

So how does this art charm swap thing work anyway? First, there are rules to read and the sign-up process to go through. 

Next, each participant makes 10 charms to swap, plus 1 extra to be auctioned off on ebay, which is done through giving works, with 100% of the bid price going to Beads of Courage. 

Then everyone sends their charms into me, and I get to count, sort, separate, and store until all charms arrive by the deadline. 

2014 charm by Sue Kennedy

Once I have all the charms, I lay them all out on my table and swap them in a very un-scientific manner so that every participant ends up with 10 charms from 10 different artists. 

Then I get to package and ship all these charms out across the world. There are usually between 40-50 packages to send. 

But that's not the end. I get to take photos of all the charms for the auction and write up the listings. We have a blog hop about 2-3 weeks after I ship the charms, and the auctions go live close to the same time as the blog hop to help promote the auction and share the charms they made and possibly  show off all the cool charms they got from other artists. 

Once the auction is over, I ship those charms all over the world. 

2014 charm by Jen Cameron

If this sounds like something you would love to participate in, sign-ups are going on right now on my personal blog. Be sure to READ EVERY SINGLE WORD so that you know the procedure for signing up. It isn't difficult, but there can easily be misunderstandings.  Sign-ups end May 9 at 11:59pm. 

2014 charm by Caroline Dewison

FYI~ there are additional ways to raise money for Beads of Courage other than directly donating (although donating directly is definitely appreciated by the organization!). One of those ways is through Amazon Smile. Simply go to this link: http://smile.amazon.com and shop as usual. Make sure you select Beads of Courage as your charity of choice and they will get a small percentage of the money you spend at Amazon.

If you're interested in signing up, here is the link again. Sign-ups end Monday May 9 at 11:59 pm.

Book Review - Polymer Journeys

Polymer Journeys is the brainchild of Sage Bray, Editor of The Polymer Arts magazine which the book was conceived alongside over a five year period. For three of those five years a board of curators: Anke Humpert, Cara Jane Hayman, Christi Freisen, Debbie Crothers and Iris Mishly; polymer artists renowned within the polymer clay community have worked with Sage to research and communicate with other artists and to evaluate and advise on the artwork that features in the book.

Like The Polymer Clay Arts magazine the book is not pitched at those looking for tutorials or techniques but rather aims to show what can be achieved by those who really hone their skills and innovate to give polymer clay it's place as a serious art form. 

"Our primary goal was to stick with artists whose work has some focus on innovations or who are doing things that cannot be done with any other medium. We also wanted to show how polymer is being used by artists to express themselves". Sage Bray

The book showcases work from many artists and covers a broad and varied spectrum of technique and design aesthetic. 

Deborah Banyas & T.P. Speer United States

The 'Journey' theme (explained fully in the editors introduction) creates a number of threads within the book beginning with the Foreword by Cynthia Tinnapple who details the development of polymer clay art to the current day and questions the possibilities for the future.

This book is also much more than just a gallery of beautiful work because each submission includes the artists own description of their background and inspiration, sometimes with sketches and studio shots that allow us an insight into their own creative journeys. For me, getting to see something of the background and working process of an artist makes the interaction much more rewarding. I also know that some of the the most popular posts with AJE readers are those where we as authors open up and share with them so I'm particularly pleased to see it here too.

The way the book is laid out takes the reader on a journey moving from a section on globally recognised artists, to those who have given back to the community and then on to a geographical tour of current artists with sublime talents and it flows very well.

I'm doing this review from a digital copy of the book so I can't comment on the physical feel but I can say it is loaded with stunning illustrations of work which, for someone like me who is new to the medium and uses it fairly simplistically in my mixed media work is almost beyond comprehension. Organic, architectural, urban, mixed media or pure polymer clay - it's all here in forms that I would have never envisaged possible with this medium.

I could go on a lot longer about this book but since its enjoyment is largely from a visual perspective I don't know that I would add much more of value. I think think the book has an obvious appeal to anyone currently working in polymer clay and/or mixed media but more than that, it will appeal hugely to anyone with an interest in texture, colour and form and in pushing the boundaries of their own work, whatever the medium. I certainly found it very inspirational and see it becoming one of those books that will get pulled from my bookcase time after time when my own creative muse needs waking up or I just need to look at something lovely...my hard copy is on order.

"I send out this book, my own attempt to have an impact on the lives of others through a concept that I hope will be a vehicle for a wider and deeper appreciation of this young medium and the artists that bravely test its limits and their own". Sage Bray

Polymer Journey's is available to purchase here.

Eva Thissen Germany

Joseph Barbaccia United States