Ndebele Motif Cuffs

My friend and beading mentor, Maria Rypan, is getting ready to head over to Ukraine where she is presenting about international beading and teaching her Ndebele Motif Cuff. She needed some new samples in a few new colours to take with her.

I worked on them during this long weekend. It takes me about 90 minutes to complete a cuff.

Here is the cuff inspired by Trypillian colours.

 Here is the cuff inspired by the colours on the Ukrainian flag.

This last one is two shades of blues with a cream accent.

Once she is back in Toronto she will be teaching the cuff at Beadfx in September.

Happy Beading!

Spring Sample Making

According to the calendar spring is offically here, in reality it does not feel like spring. Another sure sign of spring is the start of the bead show season.

Next weekend it is the Creativ Festival, for not just beaders but for all creative people. I will once again be there help Maria at the Rypan Designs' booth (#372).

The following weekend is the Toronto Bead Society's Bead Fair at the Toronto Reference Library.  Maria is not going to be doing this show. I hope to stop by on the Sunday.

Of course the big show is Bead & Button Show in Milwaukee at the beginning of June. Maria will be there in her usual spot, booth #933.

To help her be ready for these shows I have been making some new samples for new designs and new colour palettes.

Here is the Ndebele Motif cuff. This is a new project that Maria is offering. I did two new colour combinations

Teal, purple & cream

Grey, rose & cream

I also played with new colour for the Maria's Beaded DNA bracelet. These did not photograph well. The colours look much better in person.

Green and purple iris

Purple and purple iris

Hope that you will be able to get to one of these spring bead shows. Be inspired by the amazing offerings of the venders and designers.

Happy Beading!

ABC's of Creativity - April Review

It is May and spring is finally here to stay in southern Ontario. April was a crazy month but here is my review of the ABC's of Creativity.

I wrote both posts in April, G was Gems and H was Herringbone.

Here are some of my favourite images from G is Gems.

Turquoise Mosiac Bead with turquoise chips and copper, beaded by M. Rypan

Turquoise Necklace inspired by piece @ ROM, beadwoven by Christina Dufrene from 2010 TBS calender

Lampwork beads accented with amber, glass beads, beaded by J. Woolverton

From H is Herringbone I enjoyed show the variety of herringbone, flat, tubular and Maria's variation.

Flat Herringbone - Ribbon bracelets, designed by Kathleen Kimball-Baker, beadwoven by J. Woolverton

Tubular Herringbone - Flowers on twisted herringbone rope, designed by Kerrie Slade, beadwoven by J. Woolverton

Maria's variation - Beaded Soutache Necklace with Fluorite pendant

Only 18 more letters to go. Hop over to Rypan Designs blog to see more.

Happy Beading!

Flashback Friday - Ribbon Bracelets

Six years ago the October/November issue of Beadwork magazine included Kathleen Kimball-Baker's ribbon bracelet. It uses ndebele (herringbone) stitch. It become a favourite project as it was quick and fun. Here are a few of the many I made since then.

Bead Challenge - Blue Foxglove trio

I have finally been able to finish this stunning necklace. I started back in April and I spent this morning putting everything together. This piece is designed by Kerrie Slade and was published in the April 2008 issue of Bead and Button magazine. It is stitched using one of my favourite beadweaving stitches, ndebele or herringbone. I have used three shades of blue for the flowers.

Here are some detail images.