Introduction

Hi everyone! My name is nealay and i'm addicted as well (to beads only if you were wondering! hehe) Started as a lot of weaving, but evolved to stringing (you must think it was the other way around but stringing has more to it than what meets the eye). I'm slowly progressing to wire, but i'm way insecure about it. I'm 22 years old and in the last two years of college for Graphic Design. Hope to get a cool job that will allow time to bead and stuff.

Okay, who's next??

Hi!
I'm Kelli Burns. My sister Tarlee Yeoman and my husband Michael Burns own The Hole Bead Shoppe in Bartlesville, Oklahoma.

We ALL love beading!!! I was hooked from the start (looking for beads to put on a Christmas card to send my Grandmother. My Grandmother never got that card but I got TONS O' Beads?)...

We've been lucky enough to meet Pam, LUCKY enough to be in Bead Unique. The FIRST beading magazine I ever bought. Let us all comment on what a beautiful magazine Pam and the staff produce four times a year. We're all very lucky to be considered to be within the pages...

Am I doing good...? HA

I love bead weaving. I am addicted to Bead Embroidery. IF I had a chance, it is all I would do. Since I do not wear jewelry, I tend to make pieces that are more "challenging and functional" than just a "show" piece. We always tell our clients, FUN is not always FUNCTIONAL....

We have tons of FUN here and we hope to see you ALL in Tucson in Feb 2009 at To Bead True Blue! Write me! Write US!

Always,

Kelli

I'm Deb Benson from Indio, California where I live with my sister and two mixed breed dogs (also sisters) we adopted from the shelter six years ago.

I started beading Christmas tree ornaments about 10 years ago when I was taking care of my elderly parents 24/7 and needed something to keep my hands busy. Two months and 50+ ornaments later I was hooked.

It took me a while to move on to something else. But I now teach chain maille at my LBS as well as working at the bead counter two days a week. I love bead weaving (my favorite beads are size 15 charlottes!) and also do some stringing and wireworking.

Every Wednesday five of us who have all worked at our LBS at one time or another get together to bead at a friend's house who is now taking care of her father 24/7. Life is certainly circular, isn't it?

So that takes care of about 5 days a week devoted to something beady. Since my LBS also sells quilting supplies, I'm now making forays into the dark side and bringing fabric home to make totes and purses and other fabric things. Where I'll put a second stash I don't know!

hi

i'm pat, married to jon for 31 years this july, and i have stopped introducing him as my first husband. i was a loan officer with bank of america when the pinto i was driving was hit head on by a 3/4ton old truck. truck won. from then on every time the operated to fix something, something else, broke. i told them to stop.

i then began doing hand work, i can't just sit and brought out crochet hooks and yarn and thread. doll house mini's were a blast, but i started doing all kinds of crafts, when i did a show, i had to lie and say that 5 people did the work and i was there for the day. jon took me to a rock and gem show and darn, he was sure sorry. i found wire wrap and a mentor.

from wire wrap i found some very thin wire to crochet with and i was in love with fine silver and 14k gold fill wire. i found the aol board. they had a camp in the redwoods....i was this innocent...shy... quiet person till the beaders got to me... not to name names. but BEKI suzy cooper, BEKI, valorie hixon, BEKI....i could go on, but i discovered i could introduce beads with the wire, not just use cabs and faceted stones that i was using. jon was so pleased.

(i'm almost done) apparently Lapidary Journal read the old aol boards, cause the editor wrote and asked if i would mind writing a workshop for them on wire crochet.. a bracelet i had mentioned on the boards. would i mine?? noooooo. not at all. i wrote it and sent in two more at the same time, they published them, i sent more completed works, in the 10 years i submtted, the published 13 projects. i never let on i had only been crocheting wire for about a week when i wrote the first one.

i however had been crocheting since i was 8, so that shows you if you can crochet in yarn/thread you can do wire. go to the hardware store and get 28ga and play. due to health reasons i had to stop doing shows, i have taught some classes and i am getting kits and instructions for designs ready for sales... i miss shows.

i love crochet....and beads thank you beki

pat

http://pinkandblackzebra.blogspot.com http://imageevent.com/patmcaudel

Hi Everyone,

Lynn Hughes is my name and beadingnana is my 'handle' at beadunique....used to be huffnpuffers2. I like my new name better as I am Nana to 6 grandchildren and mom to 3 adult children. My love for beading, wire wrapping and creating pretty things is shared with my love for horses. Presently, I have 3 horses, 2 mini horses and 2 ponies. Not much time left for cleaning house or doing other unpleasant chores.

I am slowly learning how to use my photo program and how to move pics from my computer to elsewhere. I am a very sloooow learner and make lots of frustrating mistakes. I hope to put some of my creations here very soon (without loosing them in cyber space).

I hold Beki totally responsible for my learning how to do free form peyote. She has a free tutorial on her web site. Now...I want to try my hand at surrounding those beautiful ravioli crystals, etc with bead and crystals. This means back to Beki's tutorial for guidance.

Come on...join in and share yourself with the rest of us!

Lynn Hughes

I've been beading for about 5 years. My friend Cynthia dragged me into a bead store in Columbus and that was it. The Sparkling invaded my brain and turned me to the "Bright ide". I mainly do beaded art dolls, but occasionaly I do make bracelets. I joined a doll makers guild here in Columbus and have been blessed to have met the craziest group of women ever. They all have pushed me, challenged me & oh yes, at times threaten me. I also have several groups online that encourage me also in my wild experiments in doll making. But always there is my friend Cynthia who though she lives over 2500 miles, seems to know what I'm doing! My brags for this summer is that I've been published as a feature article in Doll Crater and Costuming (Oct. 08), published in Flatwork, won the People's Choice Award at Think Pink-It's a Girl thing in Aurora Ohio, and have been teaching at several doll making conferences throughout the U . I just started teaching bead classes at the local bead store. I actually have been teaching earrings. Finally I got the owner to let me do what I do best which is bead embroidery. I have three Scottish Terriers. I've have a wonderful husband who does everything for me so I can do more Art. I know so many fabulous Artist from my online groups, and from the conferences I've attended. I'm always looking for more inspiration from talking and communicating with other like mind women/men, and from my traveling on this Earth. dot

Hello All, My name is Jaudon (pronounced juh-dawn - the J is soft as in dijon) - it's an old family surname of my ancestors. They were French Huguenots, who escaped Europe's religious persecution to America and her promise of religious freedom. My ancestors landed in Charleston, SC about a hundred years before the American Revolution. Okay, enough of the history lesson.

I'm 42 and single - no children, but I do have the most adorable and loving Yorkshire Terrier (Yorkie) and the sweetest kit kit (what I call cats for some reason). I started beading about six years ago, after I could no longer walk. I was looking for one of those kits where you end up with a pretty decorated/beaded ornament for your Christmas tree. Instead, I found a little kit for making a couple of necklaces and/or bracelets. I began collecting beads on the spot. Before I finished my first piece, I was hooked!! Since I had recently moved in with my parents, as a result of my disability, I was living with my first (and best) client - my mom. It wasn't long before other family members as well as family friends joined my client list. I began taking requests and designing event specific pieces.

Meanwhile, my health finally started to improve - it was incredibly slow, but I didn't care, I was starting to get better!!! You see, when I was eighteen, I had a bad fall, crushed several lumbar vertebrae and became paralyzed from the waist down. After a couple of back operations as well as years of Physical Therapy (PT), I eventually relearned how to walk. From there, everything just kept getting better and better. I started working - doing all sorts of jobs: from selling makeup to designing layouts and researching permissions for college textbooks to cleaning and testing pollution testing equipment. Eventually I felt strong enough to go back to school, which I did and graduated Phi Beta Kappa. I went to work for one of the "Big Six" consulting firms. Interestingly, that company doesn't actually exist anymore, however it goes under a new name today after it split off from its Accounting counterpart.

Over the years, new opportunities came and went and I moved where the opportunities took me. My last position was as an Executive Project/Program Manager for a large computer company. I was having a ball, though by then my friends called me the "weather vane" as I could predict the rain. At the time, I didn't realize the implications (i.e. arthritis), but it wasn't too long before the reality of the situation hit home.

By mid to late 2000, I was in a wheelchair and living at a pain score of 9 (on a 1-10 scale). For me, a 10 is waking up from back surgery in the recovery room. The pain score scale is relative for each individual and dependent upon that person's experiences. Children, for example, usually feel every little pain at the extreme: a small cut would be a 10 for a little kid, but it wouldn't even make it onto my scale. Okay, enough of that lesson. ☺

After eight years and more physical therapies & modalities than ever before, I am happy and very proud to tell you that I recently relearned how to walk again!!! It just goes to show that with hard work and a positive attitude you can achieve anything - even when some doctors tell you it cannot be done.

I wish for each of you the ability to see the silver lining in every cloud you encounter - the ability be your very best even in the toughest situations you have to face - and the ability to do all of the above with a smile and a helping hand for those who need it.

Good morning, all!

I know it has been a little while since I've posted. I've missed you
all!

Just when deadlines and craziness of the work world seem to be just
an inch away from consuming you, it finally lessens its hold and
allows you to feel like yourself again. This past weekend, I was
finally able to just open up my lampwork box and touch the beautiful
little pieces of art inside. The colors and subtle little patterns
gently inspire all kinds of wonderful color and texture combinations
for future projects. It has a tranquil, calming effect on me, thus
lifting me out of the vastness of craziness that I've been dealing
with over the last few months. It's amazing how the smallest things
can have such a profound effect on how you feel!

It also got me thinking about how there are so many of us in
the "beading community" from all over the place, and how we are all
connected by our love for beads and the joy that beading brings to
us! So, all of you wonderful bead brothers and sisters, where are
you joining us from? (Don't give specifics, of course! You can tell
us your state, city, or simply "the US" if you like.) I think it
would be wonderful to find out where we all are!

Joanna Feller

Hi everyone! I just joined this website. I've been beading for 2 years now. I'm 22 years old and a pharmacy student at the University of Toronto. My favourite type of beading is beadweaving. I first learned right angle weave and am now progressing to peyote stitch, which is a lot harder!!

I have a beading website where I post free 3D beading patterns in right angle weave. Feel free to make the patterns and sell them. Please enjoy:

3Dbeading.com

Here's an example of a free pattern on my site:

This is a 3D heart pattern that is free on my site! 3Dbeading.com

Here's another free 3D heart pattern on 3Dbeading.com!

Here's a ring pattern I invented. Hope you like it! The pattern is free on 3Dbeading.com

Hi everyone.  My name is Cheryl and I live in the midwest (Missouri) with my husband of 38 years and our two cats, Rocky and Ginger.  We have two grown children and one 10 year old grandson. 

I have been doing crafts of some type all of my life and the progression to jewelry artist has seemed natural to me.  I do stringing and wirework and want to learn the basics of metal clay as the next medium I want to work with.  I have two online websites where I sell my beaded jewelry, fashion accessories and beaded home decor items.  I opened the first site in 2003 and my second shop in July 2008.  I work out of my studio in my home and have beads and more beads everywhere! 

I enjoy reading Bead Unique and have been inspired to create my own projects after receiving my copy.  It's amazing how seeing something presented in the magazine will give me an idea for something completely different because the colors remind me of some beads in my stash.

This necklace set is one of my latest designs.  The beads "jumped" out at me as I passed them last week.   I hope to meet more of you soon.