In my last post, I shared that on March 6th I'd be meeting with a bead designer to co-design a dagger bead for use in one of my patterns. Well, we created 3 new beads together. Neither of us has ever seen anything like their combination in a dagger, so this is uber exciting to me. I'll give you a small hint...."Gorgeous!" (typed in a sing-songy text). Still keeping the final details secret a bit longer.
The beads will arrive from the Czech Republic about the second week of May. I plan to have some of these beads for sale outside of the kits for which they were made. At the time they debut at the Bead and Button Show, they will be the only beads of their kind for sale in the world (doesn't the thought just make you want to wipe the drool from your mouth?!?!?). The artist who co-designed the bead with me has graciously agreed to let me be the only one to sell them before and through the Bead and Button Show. Her first trunk show is in late June and then she'll begin to sell her half, trunk show by trunk show.
Hope you can make it to the Bead and Button Show this year. If you make it, I (Karen Bruns' Designs) will be in booth #408!
Thursday, March 28, 2013
Sunday, March 3, 2013
Signed up for classes and Bead and Button Show 2013
Well, I'm all signed for Bead and Button Show (B&B) 2013. This year, I'll be working more with Art Clay, with Tammy Honaman of Fire Mountain Gems, and upgrading my bead embroidery talent with Sherry Serafini in two of her classes; The Muse and Encore!
But perhaps the most exciting thing to me is that I'll also be a vendor this year on the show floor. I will be selling dichroic glass, some patterns and kits. I'll have samples of the finished work for each of the kits, as well as a few displays of how to use the dichroic glassware. I'm bringing something completely unique to the beadind world. Soooo very excited to see how it is received. Keeping it a secret a bit longer though.
Also meeting with someone on Wednesday night March 6th to create a new dagger that no one else will have at B&B. Going to use it in my Dahlia's Delight pattern! Too exciting.
But perhaps the most exciting thing to me is that I'll also be a vendor this year on the show floor. I will be selling dichroic glass, some patterns and kits. I'll have samples of the finished work for each of the kits, as well as a few displays of how to use the dichroic glassware. I'm bringing something completely unique to the beadind world. Soooo very excited to see how it is received. Keeping it a secret a bit longer though.
Also meeting with someone on Wednesday night March 6th to create a new dagger that no one else will have at B&B. Going to use it in my Dahlia's Delight pattern! Too exciting.
Saturday, February 23, 2013
Saturday Morning
Well it's a Saturday morning and my class, "Message in a Bottle" was canceled. This gives me a wonderfully free morning. So what have I done with this morning you ask? Well, I've redesigned my business cards with a completely new look. I've included pictures of my dichroic glass cabs as well as the piece I made for my daughter, Tara's wedding. Both of which I am particularly fond of. The business has morphed over the years. In the beginning, I used my nickname for the business name, "Kacie's Kreations." Over time, I've come to learn that in the jewelry making world, it's about name recognition as an artist. So I've dropped the former name and am converting the business to Karen Bruns' Designs. Feels a little strange, but I'm told I'll get used to it and so will the customers. The website is still under construction. A whole new url too! www.karenbruns.com but it's not active yet. You can bet I'll send out an update when the website is up and running for business. The focus on the website will be product and kit samples, though there will still be the class link. I'm also going to focus on a monthly newsletter to send out to clients.
Thanks for hanging out with me on the blog. I'll post more frequently as time permits. Life is just so busy. I'm still working full time in the Information Technology world as a ScrumMaster. More later. Cheers!
Thanks for hanging out with me on the blog. I'll post more frequently as time permits. Life is just so busy. I'm still working full time in the Information Technology world as a ScrumMaster. More later. Cheers!
Saturday, February 9, 2013
Here's link to a free micro-macrame beading tutorial!
http://www.beadingdaily.com/media/p/176664.aspx?a=br130209
http://www.beadingdaily.com/media/p/176664.aspx?a=br130209
Saturday, January 26, 2013
Free Beading Tutorials
About Beadwork is one of my favorite go to places to send my students because they can find all kinds of beginning beading tutorials. Here's a free tutorial on making stretchy bracelets: http://beadwork.about.com/od/beadstringing/tp/How-To-Make-Beaded-Stretch-Bracelets.htm
Currently I teach jewelry making at Delta College in Stockton. Go check out this upcoming semester's new classes:
Message in a Bottle NEW!
Tara's Wedding Earrings NEW!
Bang-a-Lang Bracelet (Metalwork) NEW!
Etched Metal Necklace NEW!
Flight of the Butterfly NEW!
My Last Nerve Bracelet NEW!
Photo Pendant (Resin) NEW!
Dancing Fringe: The Bead NEW!
Currently I teach jewelry making at Delta College in Stockton. Go check out this upcoming semester's new classes:
Message in a Bottle NEW!
Tara's Wedding Earrings NEW!
Bang-a-Lang Bracelet (Metalwork) NEW!
Etched Metal Necklace NEW!
Flight of the Butterfly NEW!
My Last Nerve Bracelet NEW!
Photo Pendant (Resin) NEW!
Dancing Fringe: The Bead NEW!
Friday, January 18, 2013
Back from Kondamangalam, India
I'm back! Kondamangalam is a small rural village outside of Chennai in southern India. While there, I stayed at a local orphanage named Little Flock. The children are wonderful and I did get to spend some time with them too, but the purpose of the trip was to teach jewelry making skills to women that needed a skill to be able to make money to care for their family.
The trip was incredible. A true success. 10 women were taught how to make jewelry. They learned the following skills: ~ how to string necklaces and bracelets ~ how to do a simple loop of wire ~ how to make wrapped loops of wire (both of the above are useful in making earrings, necklaces, bracelets and a host of other things ~ the Russian Spiral stitch ~ a Standard Spiral stitch and how to change up the beads for many different looks ~ Right Angle Weave stitch and how to embellish it ~ some Chain Maille ~ how to combine wire, beads and metal components to create beautiful jewelry ~ how to bead on fabric to create intricate designs and how to follow any design already on fabric with the appropriate beads ~ and finally, how to create beautiful chandelier earrings. All the women did very well, and as expected some women identified a favorite method for making jewelry. Chitra enjoys stringing because she can make a complete set of jewelry. Nirmala likes the fabric beading because she can see the possibilities available to her. Parimala turned out to be my star student. She likes it all, but really likes bead weaving best because she can earn more money for such designs. She is a great teacher too!
The GoFundMe site I posted this initial return report to doesn't let me show all the pictures, so I decided to move that posting here and add some more. :0)
Thanks to all who donated. Your contributions made a real difference in the lives of these women. Parimala traveled 4 hours to get to the village where I taught and she stayed for 5 days. She told me as she left (in very broken English) that her life had been changed. I later learned that she was able to earn in our 5 days together what would have taken her 6 weeks to earn working in the quarry. I can't even imagine such back breaking work. But she doesn't have to work there anymore. These women quickly became so very special to me. Please keep them in your prayers that their businesses would be successful. Their names are: Chitra, Leena, Sumati, Ramani, Nirmala, Parimala, Victoria, Manika, Nagata, and Santanalakshmi. Friends of mine helped contribute money towards the needed supplies for each of the women to be able to start a micro business.
Their jewelry is available for sale here in the US. If you would like to buy any of it, please send me an email and I will put you in touch with the right folks. The money earned from the sales here in the US will go to fund their small businesses by buying additional beads and supplies for them to continue with their craft. Additionally it will provide the money for micro loans for them to be able to purchase the tools they currently borrow.
Lastly, I want to thank the helpers I had for the classes: Shelley, Giuletta, Cindy and Lizzie - none of whom knew how to make jewelry, but graciously and eagerly offered their help. Please enjoy the pictures.
Blessings and beads,
Karen
The trip was incredible. A true success. 10 women were taught how to make jewelry. They learned the following skills: ~ how to string necklaces and bracelets ~ how to do a simple loop of wire ~ how to make wrapped loops of wire (both of the above are useful in making earrings, necklaces, bracelets and a host of other things ~ the Russian Spiral stitch ~ a Standard Spiral stitch and how to change up the beads for many different looks ~ Right Angle Weave stitch and how to embellish it ~ some Chain Maille ~ how to combine wire, beads and metal components to create beautiful jewelry ~ how to bead on fabric to create intricate designs and how to follow any design already on fabric with the appropriate beads ~ and finally, how to create beautiful chandelier earrings. All the women did very well, and as expected some women identified a favorite method for making jewelry. Chitra enjoys stringing because she can make a complete set of jewelry. Nirmala likes the fabric beading because she can see the possibilities available to her. Parimala turned out to be my star student. She likes it all, but really likes bead weaving best because she can earn more money for such designs. She is a great teacher too!
The GoFundMe site I posted this initial return report to doesn't let me show all the pictures, so I decided to move that posting here and add some more. :0)
Thanks to all who donated. Your contributions made a real difference in the lives of these women. Parimala traveled 4 hours to get to the village where I taught and she stayed for 5 days. She told me as she left (in very broken English) that her life had been changed. I later learned that she was able to earn in our 5 days together what would have taken her 6 weeks to earn working in the quarry. I can't even imagine such back breaking work. But she doesn't have to work there anymore. These women quickly became so very special to me. Please keep them in your prayers that their businesses would be successful. Their names are: Chitra, Leena, Sumati, Ramani, Nirmala, Parimala, Victoria, Manika, Nagata, and Santanalakshmi. Friends of mine helped contribute money towards the needed supplies for each of the women to be able to start a micro business.
Their jewelry is available for sale here in the US. If you would like to buy any of it, please send me an email and I will put you in touch with the right folks. The money earned from the sales here in the US will go to fund their small businesses by buying additional beads and supplies for them to continue with their craft. Additionally it will provide the money for micro loans for them to be able to purchase the tools they currently borrow.
Lastly, I want to thank the helpers I had for the classes: Shelley, Giuletta, Cindy and Lizzie - none of whom knew how to make jewelry, but graciously and eagerly offered their help. Please enjoy the pictures.
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| Me shopping for beads at a store in Chennai, India |
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| Working with Sumati and Ramani. |
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| Teaching Parimala and her daughter Rajeswari. |
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| Ramani masters stringing. |
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| Leena shows off her handicraft while Sumati finishes up. |
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| Stringing turned out to be Chitra's favorite. |
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| Nagata finishes wire wrapped loops for earrings. |
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| Showing Chitra and Nirmala how to make simple loops. |
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| Victoria excels in chain maille. |
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| The ladies at work on their new craft. |
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| Me and Shelley. Shelley was one of the wonderful ladies to help me during the lessons. |
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| Sumati finishes the "Chain-de-lier" earrings with Swarovski crystals. |
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| Parimala teaches Lizzie bead emboidery. Lizzie was another of my helpers. |
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| The ladies show off their bead emboidery skill. |
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| Chitra and Ramani happy with their beadwork and wire earrings. |
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| Parimala shows off the wire/beadwork earrings. |
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| Showing the ladies the spiral stitch. |
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| Spiral stitch lesson. |
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| Parimala masters spiral stitch and the possible variations. |
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| Victoria masters the Russian Spiral stitch. |
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| Manika masters a nice and tight Russian Spiral bracelet. |
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| Everything Parimala made in her 5 days with me and the money she made (1,650 rupies). |
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| Praying for Parimala. |
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| Parimala shows off her new talent. Daughter Rajeswari to the left proud of her mom. |
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| Showing the young girls at Little Flock how to make a bookmark with a half hitch knot. |
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| Showing the ladies all the crystals we brought them. |
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| The ladies working and having fun. Giuletta is in the upper left helping the ladies. |
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| Matching up beads to crystals. |
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| Chitra shows off a set of jewelry. |
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| Ramani shows off a set of jewelry. |
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| Nirmala shows off a set of jewelry. |
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| Sumati receives her kit to start her own jewelry business. |
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| The graduating class of new jewelry makers (two missing from photo - Parimala and Nagata). From left to right - back row: Nirmala, Ramani, Chitra, me, Santanalakshmi, Sumati and Victoria. Front row: Manika, Leena. |
Karen
Saturday, January 12, 2013
Finally started
Well, this is it, my first blog. I tried to set this up back in July and thought I had been successful, but alas, looking around for it showed me I was wrong, I did something where it didn't link to my Google name. I'll admit that sometimes this advanced technology feels like it's leaving me in the dust and I faintly hear my parents' voices coming from me. hahaha My kids (adults now) just shake their head at me and that's when I realize that I'm slowly becoming my parents. Not a bad thing, not at all. More later. This is really just more of a test post to see if I can find myself later. :0)
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