Bead Soup Cafe January Challenge - Desafio de janeiro do grupo Bead Soup Cafe

Olá, queridos leitores! // Hi, dear readers!

Este ano, estou no grupo Bead Soup Cafe no Facebook (aqui) e estou a participar nos desafios. // This year I am joining some challenges from Bead Soup Cafe group in Facebook (here).

O desafio de janeiro era uma troca de contas com inclusão de um pendente grande para usar num colar e de um fecho que não fosse um fecho simples de mosquetão. // The January Challenge was a bead swap in which there had to be a pendant to be used to make a necklace and a clasp that it was not a simple clasp.

A minha parceira é a canadiana Sarah Reid do Canadá, da província de Ontário. // My partner is Canadian Sarah Reid, who lives in the province of Ontario.

Já falei dela na última publicação (aqui). / I have already written about here in my last post (here).

O que ela me enviou levou exatamente um mês para me chegar às mãos, porque agora tudo passa pela alfândega. // The 'bead soup' sent by her took exactly one month to come to my house, because now everything has to go through customs.

A Sarah enviou-me materiais lindos, como podem ver pelas fotos. // Sarah has sent beautiful beads, as you can see in the photos.

A bolsinha // The pouch

O pendente criado pela própria Sarah // Handmade pendant by Sarah

As contas de autor artesanais // Art beads

Uma fiada de contas da pedra cacoxenita // A string of cacoxenite round beads 

Contas de vidro checas, acessórios da marca TierraCast e Nunn Design e mais algumas coisas // Czech glass beads, TierraCast and Nunn Design findings and a few other things

Estou muito grata pelo bom gosto e generosidade da Sarah. // I am very grateful for Sarah's  good taste and generosity.

Irei criar um colar e uns brincos, pelo menos. // I will make a necklace and a pair of earrings, at least.

Da minha parte, enviei um pendente da norte-americana Laura Souder, um fecho TierraCast e contas da marca austríaca Swarovski // I have sent to Sarah a raku handmade pendant by Laura Souder, a TierraCast and some Swarovski beads.

Já participou nalgum evento neste tipo onde havia troca de materiais para criarmos algo novo e diferente do habitual? // Have you ever participated in a event like this in which you swapped materials so that you create something new and different from the usual makes?

Obrigada pela atenção. // Thank you for reading.

Bead Soup Cafe Challenge / Desafio do grupo Bead Soup Cafe

Dolphin Parade - Setubal

Olá, caros leitores.

Hi, dear readers.

Ano Novo Vida Nova dizem.

In Portuguese, there is a saying that a New Year is a New Life.

Por isso, vou participar no desafio de janeiro do grupo Bead Soup Cafe que só está no Facebook (AQUI).

So, I am taking the January Challenge for Bead Soup Cafe that is only on Facebook (HERE)

Este desafio é trocar contas com outro membro do grupo e fazer um colar e algo mais com estas contas e algo que já tenhamos. 

This challenge is to swap some beads with another member of the group and make a necklace and something else with these beads and other materials we may already have.

A minha parceira é Sarah Reid, do Canadá; olhem quantas coisas bonitas ela faz.

My partner is Sarah Reid from Canada; please check out the gorgeous things she makes.

Site https://sarahreiddesigns.com/

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/sarahreiddesigns/

Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/sarahreiddesigns

Aqui está a lista com os parceiros que irão trocar materiais - é apenas um 'printscreen' da imagem, não estando a funcionar os links.

Here is the list for people who are swapping materials, but do not expect it to take you there as the group is private and as such the links are not working.

Setubal downtown

Happy New Year 2023! / Feliz Ano Novo 2023!

 

This is what I have been making in 2022: mostly pentagons for the Louise Carter's challenge named International Patchwork Sculpture.

É isto que eu tenho estado a fazer em 2022: sobretudo pentágonos para o desafio de Louise Carter intitulado International Patchwork Sculpture.

Louise Carter and International Patchwork Sculpture

Hello, dear readers!

Today, I am going to talk about a beading international project that I have joined during International Beading Week (HERE) back in July and to which I want to invite you to join in.

Louise Carter

Beading buddy

The projet is International Patchwork Sculpture (HERE) and it is the creation of Australian beader Louise Carter (HERE), who has a passion for geometric beadwork. 

Exceptional geometric beadwork by Louise Carter

Louise has kindly accepted to participate in the following interview, which was inspired by a Spanish beading blog (HERE):

Please tell us your name. Louise Carter

How old are you? I am 32 this month (21st October)

In what country were you born? Australia 

Do you still live in that country? Yes, and in the same town Mackay

When did you start beading? I started beading when I was a teenager, when I was about 16 or 18, but I didn’t really get into beading until 2014.

How did you start? My mum took me to a workshop and I made a bracelet from seed beads and brought several beautiful lampwork glass beads.

I half hardly gave beadwork ago, like many other crafts, but one day I came across a beaded 3D ball on the internet and gave it a go and was hooked.

Beaded gold dresses by Louise Carter

Please name three beading artists who inspire you. 

Ashley Mae, also known as PinkythePink, was one of the first beaders I was inspired by. I found her on an art site called Deviant Art and she makes miniature dresses that are so amazing. 

Sharl G. Smith was also someone I was inspired by early. I came across her sculpture White 11, 2017 – it looked amazing and I love her style. 

Suzanne Golden is also another beader I am inspired by – she makes bright coloured beadwork with large Perler beads.

Amazing geometric beadwork by Louise Carter 

How many hours per week do you dedicate to beading? Is this more than a hobby? 90ish% of the time – I spend most of the day beading. I wake up, make a coffee and get to work, then I will bead all day with a few short breaks. 

On the weekdays, I have a casual job that I go to for unto 4 hours in the evening and then I come back, eat dinner and keep beading. 

I used to work out at the mining camps, but I really wanted to have more time to bead and have been working on making it more full-time. 

And sometimes I spend time with my family and go on mini adventures around the Mackay region.

Delightful geometric beadwork by Louise Carter

Do you have any other hobbies? I read a lot, and love audiobooks as I can read while I am beading. When I was a teenager I would spend a few months on a hobby and then a few months reading and then a few months doing something else. I do try out other hobbies every now and then but mostly I just focus on beading these days.

International Patchwork Sculpture project by Louise Carter

Please tell us about this international project. So the International Patchwork project is about giving people  new skills and knowledge, but mostly confidence. Working with The Beadworkers Guild I chose pentagons as the 2D shape as it is one that hasn’t been done before in international projects and because it gave everyone more room to create their own patterns on the shape. When all the pentagons will be sent in I will join them together and video the process for everyone to see how it is done.

How did you come up with the idea? I get a lot of beaders who comment on how lovely my 3D shapes are but that they wouldn’t be able to make something like that, and I thought as they are made in parts, it was something that they could learn to do. And when we were making warped squares for Sam Norgard’s project I noticed a few people were having trouble getting the colours needed for the project, so I wanted a theme that gave people the opportunity to use what they already had in their stash if they wanted to. I also chose Patchwork as the theme because I loved the idea of communities coming together to create large patchwork quilts.

From where are the participants? The project has participants from all over the world, there are several in Australia, some in Portugal, the UK, USA, Belgium, South Africa, Sweden and Switzerland to name a few places.

Where will the sculpture be shown? The finished project will be shown in my hometown at one of my local libraries next year in June and then it will be sent to the Museum of Beadwork in America – they are excited to house the project.

Will you be keeping it? No, as much as I’d love to.

Some of the pentagons made by Louise Carter for International Patchwork Sculpture project

Do you have any projects/goals for the future? Yes, I will be making a sugar cube-inspired project in CRAW, inspired by my hometown’s sugar cane industry. And when I get the beads I’ll continue to work on my current collections. I also want to make a crystal cave-inspired shape and have a lot of other ideas, just waiting to be made. 

My goals for the future are to break some beading world records. It will be tough as the records are already tough to beat, but I am thinking about how to make a future international project for a world record work. And I also want to make a work to highlight the bleaching of the coral reef, but it will be complicated so I will need to think about it for a while longer.

Links:

International Patchwork Sculpture group on Facebook (join us!)

International Projects for International Beading Week 2022

Delicate By Lou – Louise's blog

Delicate by Lou (Instagram)

All photos are Louise Carter's and are protected by copyright.

Soutache Workshop

On 3rd September, I took a virtual workshop in Soutache Embroidery by The Bead Shop Nottingham.

It was my first time doing soutache embroidery and it was great fun. 

The instructor was the lovely Steph who demonstrated everything and we embroidered along with her. We were able to make a great part of this gorgeous pendant. 

We have used three colours of soutache braid and three sizes of beads. Everything is joined by Nymo thread (I had to colour mine later with a marker as I did not have the adequate colour, it was almost white) and a 12 beading needle. 

One has the option to take the workshop with or without the materials. I really had to choose the non-material option as there was not enough time for the materials to reach me in time – now it takes four weeks since there is a border and orders have to go through customs.

I have bought several times from this great bead shop (I just wish there was something like this in Portugal – sigh) but this is the first time I do a project from the shop. 

My first purchase were the small silver plated bookmarks above back in 2012 about which I blogged here.

Have you ever tried soutache embroidery? 

I have really learned a lot from the workshop, I now feel confident to try new projects. 

Links

The Bead Shop Nottingham

Soutache Embroidery Virtual Workshop

YouTube channel (more than 100 videos)

instagram 

facebook

Claire Earrings - My Version

Hello, lovely readers!

Summer is here and I am again bit by the beading bug. I think it is a good bug, what do you think?

For many months I have been wanting to make a version of the Claire Earrings from the free tutorial (HERE) provided by The Beadworkers Guild (UK) during International Beading Week (IBW). 

My Version of Claire Earrings

Claire Earrings were designed by talented British designer Chloe Menage, who is a permanent IBW Ambassador. Her website is www.pinkhot.co.uk and her page on Facebook is https://www.facebook.com/pinkhotjewellery She is also on Instagram and YouTube.

I have downloaded the pdf tutorial, but I also have watched the YouTube video (HERE). Both are very good, but I do not agree that you can make a bezel with 32 Toho seed beads for a 14 Swarovski rivoli. I had to reduce to 30 Toho seed beads so that I could "capture" the rivoli. There is a clear difference in size between Miyuki 11/0 seed beads and Toho 11/0 seed beads. From my research, these Miyuki are 2.0 mm and the Toho are 2.2 mm. You can see the difference in size in the two following images.

A 14mm Swarovski rivoli bezel made with Toho seed beads (LEFT) versus Miyuki seed beads (RIGHT)

The difference in Toho 11/0 seed bead size (LEFT) from Miyuki 11/0 seed bead size (RIGHT) can be noticed at naked eye

The problem that arises from this difference is that you can not make the four-arm star decoration, which is really is a pity because it is gorgeous and it makes a difference in the details.

I love this pair of earrings, it is an elegant yet modern design. For those wondering and curious, I have used Swarovski Aquamarine rivolis, Miyuki 11/0 Metallic Gunmetal Iris 456 (it is neither blue nor green), 3mm Cobalt AB druks and Toho 15/0 Silver Nickel plated. I also have used a very small amount of Toho 11/0 Mat Iris Teal 706 for some contrast. My tassel is shorter than the original one.

I hope you like this design and version, if you do tell me in the comments. 

Much love to you, 

Ana

Last Day of International Beading Week 2022

Hello, dear readers!

I was not able to participate in beading during the International Beading Week that ended today, but I did watch all the beauty of the beaded flowers, especially, the Flowers of the World that was the theme for this year.

If you are curious you will have to check the Facebook private group (here). 

Some years ago I beaded a gorgeous simple poppy designed by British artist Kerrie Slade. Her paid tutorial is here. It is an intermediate project. I had previously blogged about this project (here).

Other links: 

international beading week website

2022 BWG prize draw entries

free patterns

international projects

special offers for 2022

instagram - beadworkers guild

International Beading Week 2022 Has Started

Hello, dear readers! 

International Beading Week 2022 has started, and I am so excited!

There are free online events anyone can attend, there are free patterns to make, and the theme this year is flowers from all over the world.

The event is organised by Beadworkers Guild from the UK.

I will be joining the Prof.Sam Norgard's Triangle Love Global Project. She will be collecting beaded triangles from all over the world to make one piece of art.

The party is happening here:

https://internationalbeadingweek.com/

https://www.facebook.com/internationalbeadingweek/ (International Beading Week Facebook Page)

https://www.facebook.com/groups/311742002611734 (International Beading Week Facebook Group - it is a private group)

It seems the link for the Triangle Love Global Project is not available from the  IBW website, so I will link directly to Sam Norgard's website named Norgard Designs:

https://norgarddesigns.com/portfolio-item/global-project-2022-triangle-love/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1112988842759487 (Triangle Love Facebook Group)

Calling All Beaders - Chamam-se as «missangueiras»

POST EDITED TO CHANGE DEADLINE-Editei o post para alterar o prazo

Calling all beaders who want to participate in a global project / Chamam-se todas as «missangueiras» que queiram participar num projeto mundial

International Beading Week, the annual global event that celebrates the joy of beading had many projects launched, one them being the All Colors Project, by Professor Sam Norgard, from USA. / Na International Beading Week, o evento anual mundial que festeja o prazer de trabalhar com contas e missangas, iniciaram-se vários projetos, um dos quais o All Colors Project, da professora universitária Sam Norgard, dos EUA.

The goal is to collect flowers made from seed beads from all over the world and make a final work. /O objetivo é juntar flores feitas de missangas vindas de todo o mundo e criar uma obra final.

In Norgard Designs website (here) you can find the lessons to make the flowers using a method invented by Kate McKinnon. / No site Norgard Designs (aqui) podemos encontrar as aulas que ensinam a fazer as flores com um método inventado por Kate McKinnon.

There are four lessons in video that you need to watch. /Existem quatro aulas em vídeo a que é preciso assistir.

There is the Introduction, Lesson One (talks about the podcast), Lesson Two (about colour theory), Lesson Three (creating the flower form) / Há uma Aula de Introdução, a 1.ª Aula fala sobre o «podcast» - o molde onde assenta a flor, a 2.ª Aula fala sobre teoria da cor e a 3.ª Aula sobre a criação da flor.

There is a Facebook Group for this global project (here), which has currently 1028 members. Do you want to join us? / Existe um grupo no Facebook (aqui) dedicado exclusivamente a este projeto que neste momento tem 1028 membros. Quer juntar-se a nós?

The new deadline to receive the flowers made is 1st March 2022. /O novo prazo para receção das flores terminadas é 1 de fevereiro de 2022.

I am still blogging

Hello, lovely readers. 

I am still blogging because I am still beading. 

Last year, I participated in the Black and White Together Project, led by Prof. Sam Norgard (USA) who was collecting beaded warped squares to create an art project. This project was part of International Beading Week organised by the Beadworkers Guild UK.

I was able to make about 70 beautiful squares to send the US. I was really excited to be a part of this global entreprise.  

By clicking on the video below you will see a sample of my participation. 

Through this project I have found the fascinating geometric beadwork of the Contemporary Geometric Beadwork by Kate McKinnon. Click here to go to her YouTube Channel. I have her two books in digital format because they are out of print, and the used ones reach hiper high prices.

I have not been able to do much of geometric beadwork beside the warped square - the geometric shape is called hypar.

I have found two compilations of YouTube videos on geometric beadwork: Bead Patterns  and Geometric Beadwork Techniques

Tomorrow starts this year's International Beading Week. 

Stay strong and be(ad) happy!