Venetian Glass Bead Trunk Show

The Venetian Glass Bead Trunk show we are having at the shop is amazing.. I am so in awe over the new styles of bead that Nicole brought. Thanks to everyone who has come out. Sunday (tomorrow is the last day) I have been working on a double layered netting tonight, while watching Michael Jackson's "this is it". ..and had to take a brake. It is pretty intense. Two layers of netting interwoved between adn around each other. Happily I finally decided on a clasp for the Golden Nepal "a New vision" And now I am also working on some new earrings.. Wish I could post the photos.. but I usually write blogs when I am home and the photos are on the computer at work.. Tomorrow I will post them.

I am getting excited to take a few days off with Erkki. I am driving up to Tallahassee and then we will spend a few days in Destin. The end of the year will be here in no time now.. Well back to my earrings, netting and Michael.

Yikees time does go by...

Looking at my office right now I keep wondering how I get further and further behind when I keep working longer and harder.. wondering if I shoud work less... and easier? I saw last time I wrote here was Bead and Button show.. Well I do believe that's when I started getting behind. Takes alot of work to get ready for shows.. Since then we've had Texas Beadfest, and a couple of local shows..

Now we are submitting for Bead fest Philly, and we got 4 classes going on in Bead and Button for next year... and we have planned a cruise and a trip to Italy and tomorrow is a great Venitian Glass bead trunk show... During this time I also got Erkki off to college.. He is having fun and enjoying his theatre program. So if you get a chance, check out the cruise, and Italy trip with Maggie Meister.

Come on down to the venetian glass bead trunk show... and check out our new classes and guest teacher classes...

Luna Lights

Just got back from Bead and button show in Milwaukee. It was first very hot... then 3 days of very cold. Strange. We had tons of fun! Taught 4 classes and I was really amazed by the students.

For shopping it took me a full 2 hours just to get down the 1st isle. "Luna Lights", Liisa's very beautiful new embroidered necklace/kit, was the talk of the show! Met lots of new friends and met up with old friends. Bead and Button really do put on a good production.

Last Day of school!

Ok here it is... Last day of High School for Erkki! No more driving back and forth every day.
Now I have more time to bead, and sadly less time to talk to him in the daily drives.. He will be going to FSU in the fall. I will probably get to have some 6 hour drives there though.:).
If you can make it to his ope house graduation and birthday party sunday mary 29th, stop on by the shop. It will be from 1:00-5:00.
Have a great night. Now I am going to finish this beautiful micro macrame sample I am making!

Graduation soon! Bead and Button Show

Bead and button show is approaching quickly and we are busy making more kits. And Erkki will be graduating from High School in about a week. I will be at project graduation... from 11:00 pm till 5:30 Am with the seniors. It is an event that goes all night long. We are locked in and have lots of fun things to do. I will be doing the jewelry making event. Should be great fun! His graduation open house will be here at the store on May 29th from 1-5:00. Please feel free to stop in and grab some food and say hi. We have been really happy with the new choora bracelet. Everyone has been making some fab... color combos. It is so beautiful. The stranded is also a fun new wrap around bracelet, and just new on the books... is Emerald city. Have a great day everyone!

Tis the Season

Well we are in full swing with the Florida season. It is so great to see our friends from the North.
Hard to believe that it is only a few days from Thanksgiving with the New year right around the cornor. I am in Chicago right now. Erkki and I made a trip here after his Elon college audition. The city is so busy and holiday decorations all over. It is fun to walk past all the shop windows. We got to see Billy Elliot. It was great. Such a talented young actor. And we ate stuffed pizza at Giordano's. It was cold for 2 days, but today it was in the 60's. Lets see what the rest of the week brings. I will be back in time for Crystal Creations after Thanksgiving day sale... Then it will be time to get ready for the cruise. That should be fun. The 22 new dura coat delica's are in.. and you may want to check out our newest kits., Northern Lights, Carnival, and Twilight.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Guest Teachers and other things

I was talking to someone the other day and we got on the subject of guest teachers.. This particular person was pretty surprised at how the whole guest teacher thing works. So I thought I would share with everyone.

We usually select guest teachers who are known to be very skilled in design and teaching, with a proven track record. However since we are always on the look out for new talent we do invite some newer teachers, if I have meet with them and/ or they have recommendations.

Most of the time the guest teacher projects are geared towards the intermediate beader. Meaning the student has a working knowledge of the basic beadweaving stitches, and has completed projects using the stitches. These classes are not intended to "learn how to Bead". They are for the learning experience of studying under a master bead artist. The project being made is a bonus.

Their projects are beads that come to life by using stitches, combining stitches, and creating new stitches.

When teachers come to teach at Crystal Creations Bead Institute, we provide their transportation, their hotel, their food, and all cost involved plus a teaching fee. Some teachers like to bring kits, others don't want to get in to the bead selling business. (It can be pretty costly investing in huge inventory of beads so that you have enough colors and kits to sell)

With or without kits teachers always have a supply list and we make every effort to get in as many color options as possible so people taking the class can get their supplies at the shop and not have to hunt them down all over the place.

Personally I like to respect the guest teacher’s artistic color choices and therefore am not keen on picking out their exact colors etc.. Especially if they sell kits.
I will not go out of my way to try and recreate their exact color wave because I feel that is their trade secret.

Almost every teacher I know, including us, have their designs copyrighted.
That means a student is not allowed to copy the instructions, to teach other people the design, to share the instructions, or the make the piece and sell it in shows, stores, or send it into competitions or magazines for publication. I know for alot of customers they feel like "whats the big deal? " I download movies, or copy my fiends cd’s... etc.. that's not right either. I know the teacher’s personally and I know how hard they work for their business. I stand up for their rights them in every way possible. We want more people to be able to share with us.

So, taking a guest teacher class can be an extremely rewarding experience if you go in to it with an attitude of learning new ways to create with these things called beads. I also love meeting up with teachers who come to us from other parts of the country with fresh new ideas. It’s like waiting for the wells fargo wagon...
Thanks to all and Hope to see you soon... Glenda