Hello again

Just a quick newsletter today with some more interesting links to keep you busy and a quick update about the Beadalong which begins in just one week.

As always I truly hope that you are all well and able to stay safe (and sane!) and that this newsletter brings some distraction from the outside World (or help with coping with it).

Excitingly the Summer 2020 Secret beadalong starts in a week (but as always you can bead it at any time so don't worry about missing the 'beading-along-together' part) and I'm really looking forward to getting to see all the different colours & variations appear over the next few weeks and months (nothing too early though- we've got to keep the secret...).
If you want to see what colours etc people are using you can see them on the Secret Beadalong Facebook page (you don't need an account to view it).

I'm working away like mad behind the scenes on some brand-new projects and as teaching virtual classes means I have more flexibility (due to not being tied to venues or shop opening hours) I am looking at more which will run at different time scales. It's exciting to get out old samples which I'd previously rejected as the project being too short, or too long, for a one-day class, so keep an eye out for those appearing over the next few weeks and months...

So, until my next newsletter, when the Beadalong will be in full swing...I wish you good health, and, of course, lots of happy beading!

Virtual Classes

I have just a few more virtual classes coming up in July that you can book and they include my Quadrat Box run through StitchnCraft Beads in a couple of weeks.

The virtual classes are a lot of fun and mean I can still teach, spend time with beaders & support our beloved shops whilst staying safe.

You can see all my classes here by date or here by venue (scroll to 'virtual' and below to see the different options and venues I'm teaching them through) or you can click any of these photos shown to look at specific ones.
Also note that most of them have multiple dates & time zones so do have a look to see if a different one would suit you better.

Please note that classes are different prices through different venues and I encourage you to support your local or favourite bead shop if they are hosting one as they can give you added support in buying beads, putting together colour palettes etc and doing this also helps to ensure they are there for us to visit them again in the future.

I will hopefully be adding extra classes soon so do check back regularly or contact me if there is something in particular you would like to do

Launched Recently

At the start of the month I launched my Ochrana kit and now have less than 10% of the stock left with 2 of them completely sold-out.

This is an intermediate-advanced necklace project that combines some of my unique geometric beadwork techniques with plenty of sparkle for a versatile and adaptable piece of jewellery.

The instructions cover bezelling the central Swarovski crystal (adding extra crystals as you do so) and then turning the centrepiece into a pendant which can be strung onto the specially designed beaded chain and further accessorised with extra adornment.

This was the project I taught at the Bead Sparks 2019 retreat last November so each one is limited and I have no plans to repeat them.
You can read more about the kit and purchase one here

Links of Interest

Fun Things
There are so many things to see on the internet, or in the beading world, but here are some which have caught my eye recently:

I've decided to treat myself and be a student at a Zoom class- and I can't wait! I've booked onto the lovely looking Candlelight class with Stephanie Burnham (she has 2 different times on Sunday 13th September which you can see here and here ) and now I'm just stressing about choosing colours...
Karen Poll kindly shared this video "From Paste to Pearls: A History of Regency jewelry" with me to share with you all and I'm looking forward to settling down to watch it
The Lincoln Centre have a jam-packed YouTube channel with videos covering many different aspects of the arts with both shows to watch and also classes to do. In addition they're streaming Rodgers and Hammerstein's Carousel for the next 6 weeks or so and you can watch it here
Japan House has lots of interesting events on including an online demonstration on making Tenugui face coverings
Tula Pink is a fabulous fabric designer and her new Tula Talks are wonderful to watch. Her tours of her studio got me drooling and her talking about her design inspiration and process reignited my love for fabric (which is dangerous!)
For more fabric talk FreeSpirit Fabrics have been running lots of online talks with designers discussing their fabrics and quilts etc and you can find those here
You can watch an interesting video about conserving an Ndbele beaded blanket here
if you're interested in doing a virtual class with a beading teacher then this Facebook page is a good place to start to find some
With their yearly Summer Exhibition postponed for a few months The Royal Academy of Arts have put their Young Artist show online and you can browse all the work here. They also have some walks through hidden or less visited spots in the gallery here and here
Finborough Theatre have put the play Jane Clegg by St John Ervine online to watch
Craft In Common is a creative scheme with the artist Alinah Azahed with some instructional videos to inspire craft addressing the current situation
It drives me crazy when non-crafters suddenly discover crafting is cool and then proceed to tell us that as though we haven't all known that for years! But BBC Designed do have an interesting article on knitting you can see here and from there you can find lots of other interesting articles such as this, this and this
I got to see the Kaffe Fassett - 'A life in colour' exhibition a few years ago and you can see an article about it along with lots of photos here
I was also lucky enough to see the Al Thani Bejewelled Treasures exhibition back in 2016 and have been reminiscing watching some videos about it on YouTube which you can see here, here, here and here and you can also see more on the Victoria & Albert Museum website here
5 years ago The Wits Art Museum in South Africa had an exhibition of beadwork and you can watch a video about it here
I'm a big fan of tambour beading having learnt how to do it a few years ago and recently I thought I'd give it another go so watching tambour videos on YouTube has inspired me to go searching for my hook again...maybe.
You can see some beginner videos here and here
Following the tambour rabbit-hole led me to the beautiful embroidery work of Alexandrina Dordea

Pattern Discount Code

Simply enter 'newsletter' into the promo code box on my shopping cart (on my website and also now on Etsy) to receive 20% off all individual patterns (not valid on any other kits, books or pattern sets or on any other websites).
You will also get 50% off Summer Beadalongs and 33% off Winter Beadalongs.

Please make sure the discount is applied to your basket total BEFORE you finish checking out. Also ensure you type the code without the quote marks.

You can use more than 1 code at the same time so if you have any others which apply please do use them.

Video Discount Code

Simply enter 'newsletter' or 'videos' into the coupon code box on my Teachable site to get £5 off the Summer 2020 Secret Beadalong

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