It's beginning to look a lot like....it's almost over!

After the Thanksgiving holiday, my real challenges came into full swing. I had offered a full line-up of classes for December, and people were actually signing up! I had the opportunity to teach a collage pendant class to young ladies in Aurora Public Schools, so that took up several evenings and days of preparation and execution. I had Bead Society meetings, and custom orders, and my first 'real' newsletter to contend with. On top of classes, I had 2 shows to attend, and had a great time at both :) The challenges seemed never-ending, but we're winding down now.

This Monday and Tuesday were my first days off, and I spent them cleaning my bead room with my friend Shannon (after seeing the delights of my friend Dustin's collection all displayed beautifully, I was a bit shamed by my dirty and hidden treasures). On Monday, Shannon and I both made our own versions of tiny crystal and pearl crowns which I expounded upon on Tuesday to make a better looking version of mine. I have included pictures of both for your perusal. Maybe I'll make a whole line of little crowns and scepters....what do you think?





After seeing the TribalTique Denver crew in mustaches for their circus-themed event, I have had an obsession with mustaches, and want to craft with the image. I'll let you know if anything comes of this newfangled obsession.

Black Friday Weekend Deals!

Free shipping on Gypsybeads Finished Jewelry and Accessories Black Friday, November 27th- Cyber Monday, November 29th. Includes bindis, bindi boxes, etc. !
* Simply purchase the item through Paypal, and your refund will be given the same way :) Yay shopping in your pajamas!

http://www.Gypsybeads.Etsy.com

It's almost Newsletter time!

It's just about that time again, and I wanted to thank you all for your support in opening my little shop, so I decided to say 'Thank You' in a way that most persons can appreciate!

Sign up for my e-mail Newsletter between now and December 1st, and be entered to win one of several fabulous prizes, including a $25 gift certificate, Free Class,and a Fabulous Pair of Earrings! You can sign up for my Newsletter via my website www.PeacockBeadShop.com. There is a sign up box in the middle of the page, part way down.

Already signed up for my e-newsletter? Then you're already entered, so wait to hear the announcement in the Newsletter!

The Great Gift Swap!

Last January, me and a bunch of friends posted that we would exchange handmade gifts with one another with a few conditions:

1) We couldn't guarantee that the person receiving the item would like it; and
2) We would exchange the gifts this year.

Sounds like a simple task, but it turned out to be harder than I thought because I'm just now getting around to making the items for my friends (and Joanna Oborn got me started because she brought me the most wonderful Strawberry Rhubarb Jam made from scratch). I decided to start with Joanna's Ring.

I had these great square pillow-cut Swarovski Crystals in Fire Opal. Joanna has a dance costume that's orange and red,and yellow, so I thought this would be perfect for her. I started to make a ring for her last night, and realized that, when I added a beaded bezel, it almost entirely lost the square shape, but I guess it didn't matter much in the end because I ended up weaving a sort of daisy around it in 4mm Bicones.

So here's the result. I hope she likes it. Not as much burgundy as I would have liked, but it's a start!

A long few weeks :)

The last few weeks have been very full for me. I spent a lot of time cleaning in preparation for Chris's Mom to visit, so I really didn't get a day off last week. (Housework is for people who don't bead!) Mom's trip came and went. It was pleasant, and we tried our hands at glitter stained glass pictures, which didn't go as well as we would have liked. We canned the project in favor of chocolate covered Ritz crackers (not bad, but not as good as chocolate covered pretzels), and a marathon of Cake Boss and Project Runway.

Last week I taught my first private lesson since I opened, and it went great! Still some room in classes this week for Crystal Snowman Hats, and Brick Stitch Santa Earrings, so sign up if you're in the area. Work was very slow this week, and now I'm itching to get started on some projects that have been a long time coming. On the agenda for today? Collage boxes and pendants. I hopefully will finish early-ish so that I can start beading projects that have been 'waiting' around for a long time. Only problem? I didn't get to the Bead Room when I was on my cleaning spree, so I will have to work around the extreme mess in there.

Oh, and something else: I've been nominated as next year's Secretary for the Rocky Mountain Bead Society! Yay! It will be nice to be a part of a group again, if I get voted in that is. This week marks the Bead Society's annual holiday dinner. I have to make a pair of earrring to donate to Dress for Success, and have the chance of winning some great prizes if I donate 2 pairs, so I'll probably do that.

Beadwork Challenge Deadline Soon!

Beadwork Challenge

Submit a photo of your best beaded creation. One reader will be chosen to design a project with an upcoming Challenge kit. If chosen, you will have about three weeks to complete your project. Due to international shipping costs, this Challenge is limited to residents of the United States and Canada.

Complete Rules

Sponsor: Beadwork Magazine

Deadline: November 20, 2009

Halloween Weekend

Last year, I got married on Halloween. We had virtually no ceremony, and hosted a potluck cocktail party as our 'reception'. The weather was a very perfect 81 degrees with no humidity. I wore a tanktop most of the day, only to switch to a lime green shirt that says 'Witchy' on it for the evening. My groom wore a t-shirt that had a rat on it with the words 'Black Death: European Tour' on the back. A perfect marriage I'd say. Here is a picture of us receiving our wedding cake which said Happy Birthday (scratched out) and then said Congrats complete with skulls and crossbones. Thanks to Ruth for her ingenuity on the decoration:)




Tonight we are attending a costume party thrown by our friends Brad and Ruth. I'm going as a pirate, and Chris is going as.....well, I'll let you know as soon as he lets me know ;)

On the store-front, I've added several classes for the month of November, including Brick Stitch Santa Earrings, and Crystal Santa Hats as an Earring Basics Class. For those of you who were asking, yes, the Bead Netted Ornament is on the list. I hope to see you all there.

I've added a lot to the website www.PeacockBeadShop.com, as well as to the Etsy site. Lots more PDF patterns for you to browse now :)

And, other than that, Happy Halloween everyone! Have a great weekend, and be safe ;)

What a week!

The last week and a half has just flown by me! I have been either beading, or pricing beads, or packaging beads for the new shop almost non-stop for weeks! I put up the new website, and listed classes. Check it out at http://www.peacockbeadshop.com/ and let me know what you think!

And then a surprise: I got a little picture of something I made for the Bead Unique Summer Bead Swap published! See my Medallion Bracelet on page 76 with all of the other wonderful creations by fabulous beaders! This is my first time having anything published in a national magazine, and I am so psyched! And, even better, I get home last night to a package from Bead Unique giving me 2 complimentary copies of the magazine! Thanks for publishing my work for the first time guys! I appreciate it more than you could ever know :)

The Kiosk is Open!

This is my last day at the kiosk this week. I spent Thursday setting up with my friend Shannon (yes, her beautiful glass cabs will be available at the kiosk ;), and Friday trying to settle in. Every night has been spent pumping out as many earrings as possible, tagging, pricing, and carding them. I moved the kiosk around 3 times trying to find a happy medium between jewelry shop, bead shop, and still leaving myself some space for a little workspace. I made a few sales! Yay! And I hope to make more today. I will spend the next 3 days producing as much product as possible, and am considering putting out a little beaded christmas tree to start displaying my holiday line. I would ask if it was too early, but Michael's and Walmart have had theirs out since August. Needless to say, I'm pretty tired.
In case you want to stop by to see me, the address is 7777 E. Hampden Ave, Denver,CO 80202. I'll be here till 5 today, and re-open on Thursday at 10 am. I'm right outside of the movie theater :)

Movin' on up!

As many of you know, I own two Etsy sites through which I sell my wares: Gypsybeads, which is mainly used for 'finished' work, and The Peacock Shop where I sell my surplus supplies and fun things. I have recently been given the opportunity to open a kiosk in a specialty shop mall to sell my finished work, gifty items, and beads. After much debate, I decided that Gypsybeads just didn't embody all that I wanted to sell there (including my little collage boxes and coasters and the like), so The Peacock Shop was the way to go.

I am in the middle of flipping the bulk of my inventory between the two shops. The Peacock Shop will host my finished jewelry, accessories, and boxes, gifty items and some kits; while Gypsybeads will continue to host my bindis, bindi boxes, and beads. I thank you all for your patience while I try to make this transition as smooth and painless as possible.

Where's the kiosk you ask? Why, it's in Tamarac Square located at 7777 E. Hampden Ave. Denver,CO 80012. This week I'll be open Friday 10-7, Saturday 10-6, and Sunday noon-5pm, and then will resume the normal hours Thursday and Friday 10-7, Saturday 10-6 and Sunday noon-5. I'm near the courtyard by the movie theater. I would love it if you could stop by!

In the meantime, you can follow me on Facebook, and Twitter , as I'll be updating both often. See you soon!

Possibilities

I'm so excited by all of the possibilities that lay before me right now. I don't want to spoil anything in case nothing comes of it, but I'm so excited that I could burst! I'll keep you up to date on any developments. Sorry about all the secrecy, but you understand ;).

What a relief!

When I came home from Charlotte,NC, my dishes were done, the laundry was folded and put away, there was food in the house, and my husband had dinner made for me, personally mixed me a margarita, and we spent a romantic evening together enjoying eachothers' company and catching up.
Okay, I'm done with the fiction version. Here's the real deal: My sink is full of dishes, the laundry is still in the dryer, there was hardly a pickle in the house, I cooked my own Ramen Noodles, had a half a glass of water, and passed out on the couch within a half hour of planting myself there. so much for my romantic evening.
In my husbands' defense, I think he did take out the garbage, which is a feat in and of itself :)

Where are you now?

Right now I'm in Charlotte, NC for my second (and last) tour of the year. I taught my Crystal Drop Necklace and Fancy Beaded Toggle at the Beadlush this past weekend. I met tons of new people, and saw old friends, and I'm exhausted. I fly home tonight and it will be nice to be back in my 'normal' surroundings with Chris. I have a ton of ideas I would like to put into play with Christmas coming up, and I'll keep you apprised of any developments in that area.

I've got some things in the works for the transfer of my website Gypsybeads.biz to Gypsybeads.com (yes, I finally acquired it after all of these years:), and I would like to add a favorite bead shop tag, or maybe do a series off of this blog. Of course, favorite bead shops are inspirational, so that might fit in better with my vision of Muse of the Magpie....what do you think? And speaking of Muse, I realized that I've been posting things there that would fit in better here; any suggestions as to how to either transfer those, or do I just post them regularly?

What happened?

What happened to you?:

Yes, I dropped off the face of the Earth, I know. I've been swamped with deadlines, and have had a death in the family, and I'm basically just re-connecting with the world in general.

I started another blog called 'Muse of the Magpie' in late June. It was an experiment conducted with my beady friend Michelle to see if we could both keep a daily blog about something, anything. I had some success for the first couple of months (my writing was more every other day), then I realized that a daily blog just wasn't for me, so I write in it about once a week or so. I may keep the blog to post things and people that inspire me.

What happened with THE Bag?:

I have worked on THE Bag a bit and am happy to be able to post a more recent picture than previously shown. I continue to work at a snails' pace to get it 'done'. Could be years honestly, but I'm trying :).

What happened with your Bead Room?:

I'm still in the process of cleaning and organizing my bead room. I know. I'm finally narrowing down how I want things to be situated. For starters, I removed my sewing machine and cloth, and promptly took over another bedroom for them. In case you're wondering if my husband minds; he's now taken over part of the garage to start his own micro-brewery with our friend Brad. I'll keep you up to date on how that goes.

What happened with the bellydance? :

Essentially, after much viewing of both studios and contracts, I chose a venue to start with. I printed out flyers, promoted, taught a couple demo classes, and promptly received a letter from the studio telling me that they were moving (again), and they were sorry to have to cancel. I can't say I've thought about it much since then, so it must have been a whim more than a pursuit. I continue to make and sell reuseable bindis for bellydancers and beyond, and still dance occasionally as the mood hits me.

$10 Casual Earring Sale!

You've been waiting for it, and it's finally here!

After the bulk of my summer shows, I like to dig through my stash, and give my customers a big 'thank you' with a sale! New earrings will be posted daily, so check back often.

Gypsybeads.Etsy.com

Update on THE Evening Bag

I just wanted to share an updated picture of THE Evening Bag since many of you have been asking for it! I have been so busy lately that I haven't gotten much of anything done except bridal jewelry for a few of my friends. I'll post pictures of that as soon as possible. Thanks for hanging in there everyone!

My unexpected visitor...

Here at my studio, we get visitors from time to time. I have the fattest squirrel that sits outside in the tree and tells me when I've invaded 'his' territory. I have a robin that twitters and dive-bombs the squirrels to let them know that they have invaded 'his' territory. My latest visitor is neither haughty, nor mean, he was simply there. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw something out my sliding glass doors, and I look up and nothing is there. It happens 2 or 3 more times and, just when I begin to think that I've completely lost it, I see him: a Ginger and White cat who was apparently the quickest cat ever! Our eyes met, and he bolted. He visited me several times last evening, running every time I 'caught' him. I did manage to get a picture, just to prove that he was really there. And here's a picture of the fat squirrel too...might as well be thorough ;)

Facebook Page

I've added a new Facebook Page for my business, Gypsybeads. It would seem that I have to have 1,000 fans to secure my name, so I would really appreciate any help you can give me. Add me, ask your friends to add me...we have to all know 1,000 people together right? I'm at 67 now, so I only have 933 to go! Wish me luck!

And exhaustion sets in....

Bead and Button is over, Shimmy for the Cure is done with, and Jonsey's Art Bazaar is a thing of the past. I'm finished now right? No more working up to the last minute, and then pouring yourself out of bed at ridiculous hours for Megan to put on your happy face and hope it goes well? The would be incorrect my friend!

Although I had today and yesterday off for the most part, I'm now preparing for two major things: 1) Applying to teach at Bead&Button next year, and 2) Preparing to teach my first 'real' Bellydance lessons in August! Yay! So what do I have to do? For B&B I have to write 3 or 4 sets of instructions for things I made more recently, have then edited, and ready to ship by the due date. When is the due date? No clue! They haven't posted it yet. Part of my says to wait until I know the deadline to panick, part of me says to panick now, and part of me says to put it off and watch television. (Damn procrastinating side!). For bellydance lessons, I have to create lesson plans, and promote (I know, I suck at promoting) myself in a dance world that doesn't know me. Hard you say? Why yes! At what point in time did Megan ever do it the 'easy' way?

What can you do to help? If you're in the Denver Metro Area, have always wanted to take bellydance lessons, and are ready to do so now, then sign up! If you're not in the Denver Area, please send any good energy you can muster my way to help me on my journey. Thanks in advance!

Donations for Shimmy for the Cure

As many of you know, I'm vending at Shimmy for the Cure on Saturday, June 13th, and Sunday June 14th. I have donated the fabulous items shown for the raffle. Details? Swingin' from the Chandeliers are Swarovski Crystal and Sterling Silver, and are light as a feather. The Empress Bindi is Thai Silver and Swarovski Crystal, and is guaranteed to make you look fabulous! I call it the Blindi because is shines so much! So here are the pictures to drool over, and I'll see you there!

Bead Swap,Bead&Button,Shimmy for the Cure, and more!

I've been working on projects for the Bead Unique Bead Swap lately, and I'm getting ready to send them out. I have included here a picture of the Wire Business Card Holder I'm sending.

I'll be participating in Shimmy for the Cure starting Thursday, June 11th with a Henna party, and going until Sunday, June 14th with Workshops. I'll be vending on Saturday and Sunday. For this auspicious occasion I will be unveiling new Bindi designs, including some that should be called 'BLINDIS'. So keep an eye out for tons of new fantastic products at Shimmy, and also in my shop just after http://www.msplinks.com/http://www.gypsybeads.etsy.com/. For more information on Shimmy for the Cure, visit http://www.myspace.com/ShimmyfortheCure. to work on Zils bags, but I'm running out of time before the Bead&Button Show , so we'll see. I'll be teaching a mini-lesson at Jonsey's Art Bazaar on Saturday, June 20th at of around 1:00 along with vending there. Stop by to say 'Hi', and check out my wonderful wares in case you missed me at Shimmy. You can see more information at: http://www.myspace.com/jonesysartbazaar

Keep an eye out for a contest to win a wonderful, shiny prize sometime in the near future here on my Blog!

My first Etsy Treasury!

I just made my first Etsy Treasury, and had to share. It's called Gypsy Spirit, and it features all the fun things that a Gypsy could need. I chose two good friends to showcase on this treasury, MsBelle, and Skwrrl, so check out each of their items especially :)
Gypsy Spirit Treasury

Re-organizing my Creative Space!

So, for years now, I've been trying to re-organize my creative space. I'll admit that I have a tendency to be excessively messy when creating a project, and then I won't clean it up before I start a new one, and then I start a new one and....it's a vicious cycle. This year, in honor of the upcoming Bead&Button Show, and the Bead Unique Bead Swap, I decided to at least organize my craft station that my husband built for me last year for my birthday. Here are the results, but you should see my 5x5 tall craft table in the middle of the room! It's piled with crafty goodness, and I can't find anything. So last night I started to clean it off (without piling all the stuff somewhere else). I would love to come home to a clean craft area when I get back from Bead&Button. We'll see how it goes. Does anybody have any great tips on organizing tons of teeny-tiny stuff?

Great Show!

I had a great show this past weekend at Jonsey's Art Bazaar. I met tons of wonderful artists and designers, and sold some stuff to boot. I met Vivian Vavoom and Reyna Von Vett of Black Box Burlesque, a new Burlesque venue here in Denver. They offer plenty of classic Burlesque shows, as well as some flashy Hollywood Glamour style shows. Vivian taught a mini tassel-twirling lesson to innocent bystanders ;). I have included a picture of a couple of the participants wearing their pin-on pasties! She also does bridal parties, and girl's night's out. I also met Chef Julia who makes the most delightful strawberry, lemon, and coconut flavored marshmallows. Need a lesson in cooking? Chef Julia's your girl! Love vintage jewelry, but can't afford it? Check out Retro Betty! She makes new jewelry using vintage buttons and images. Keep an eye out next month for me to teach a mini bellydance lesson at the bazaar. Saturday, June 20th, high noon!

So much going on!

These past few weeks have been exhausting. Between art shows, teaching, and trying to get ready for the Bead&Button Show at the end of the month, I hardly don't know what to do with myself! I've been sewing, beading, and organizing like mad, and I hope it all pays off in the end. I have a show tomorrow called Jonsey's Art Bazaar between noon and 3 tomorrow. Stop by to see me if you get a chance.

I still haven't made anything for the Bead Unique Bead Swap. I swear, I'm just having beader's block. Thing is that I have to get it together, like, now to make the deadline on June 5th. It sounds far away, but I leave for the Bead&Button Show on Saturday, May 30th, so I won't have time after that. I'm looking at a little bit of a lull for the next week after the show, so I hope that something comes to me and quick! Wish me luck!

Copyright issues, and Jewelry DESIGNERS

Alright, I'm going to go off on a tangent here and talk about Jewelry Design and Copyright. A few days ago I was searching around on Craigslist in the Artists section when I saw an add for a Jewelry Designer who was looking for a place to show her work. I click on it to read more, and it has some pictures of her 'work'. One of these items was a necklace that I recognized from one of the popular bead magazines a while back (I can't remember if it was Beadwork or Bead&Button Magazine), so I look at the name of the 'designer', and it's definately not the name I remember going with this particular woven necklace. I file it into the back of my mind to look at my back issues of magazines and find which one this necklace came out of. A couple of days go by, and I'm showing for the weekend at a little gallery (this particular gallery has this wonderful idea to show a different jewelry artisan every week to get their names out and offer something new to their clientelle, which I think is a grand idea), and a couple of the future artisans come in to talk to the owner and cement their own weekends...nothing out of the ordinary....until the Necklace walks in! You guessed it! The necklace from Craigslist walks in to talk to the owner. The 'designer' takes out her 'work' and I say "Did you get this out of a magazine?" to which she replies "Oh, yeah! It's nice huh?". So I point out to her that it's illegal to re-create for profit any item from any of the bead magazines I know of without permission from the original designer, to which she replies "But some of these are a little different than the one in the magazine, and they're a different color". Let me get one thing straight people: It's the pattern that's copyrighted not the color! I cannot stress this enough. And as far as those of you who think that 'If I change it 30%, then it becomes mine'...Newsflash! If you have to actually sit down and think of how much to change something to make it yours, then you're not a DESIGNER, you're a thief! You can take the Wizard of Oz, make the TinMan Copper, turn Toto white, and call it The Long Yellow Road, but the story is still the same, and this is Copyright Infringement! These people that come up with the ORIGINAL ideas work so hard to come up with the designs. They spend hours perfecting the designs, and writing the instructions, and taking the photos (which is less than an easy task with Jewelry in particular...damn Swarovski Shine!) And if you, even for one second, think that it's okay to steal their genious to make a few bucks without even giving them the courtesy of a letter to ask permission, then you're not only immoral, you're cruel. Many of them do this for a living; they feed their children with it, pay their mortgage and car payments with it, and generally LIVE on it.

What kills me most is that in every one of these same bead magazines that people are stealing from there is a disclaimer a few pages in that clearly states that the items represented in the magazine are for your PERSONAL use only, and that teaching, or selling the items without express permission from the designers is against the law. Not to mention that these same magazines, from time to time, put out a whole issue dedicated to informing their general public about copyright infringement. The problem is that many people think that this rule doesn't apply to them...they're only selling a few, so what's the harm? Well, you're the people that they rule DOES apply to, so pay attention.
In closing, I would like to say that there's nothing wrong with being inspired by another Artisan. I have long followed the work of Sherry Serafini, Laura McCabe, and Met Innmon, and have been inspired by certain aspects of all of their work, but when you look at my work, you don't see them, you see me. To those of you out there who have, all along, been creating your own work, I ask you to keep doing what you're doing, and to keep an eye out for those persons blatantly stealing from your favorite designers. For those of you who have been doing what I've just written about, I ask you to please stop and think about the consequences of your actions. They say that immitation is the sincerest form of flattery , but when you're trying to pay your bills, people taking money for their immitation hurts worse than anything; especially in this economy...

Off my soap box.

The Beaded Flame!

A friend of mine from Nero asked me to bead a patch for her character based off of a drawing she made of a double 'flame' made with fire and ice.. was happy to oblige! My creative process went a little something like this:

1)Knowing full well that I can't draw worth anything, I took the picture and turned it into an iron-on transfer. I used this transfer to iron the picture onto a piece of Lacy's Stiff Stuff.

2) Normally I would start the fill-in on an item before I did the outline but, after I started to fill in the 'Ice', I realized that I was going to need to outline in order to confine the space. I used 15's on the outline, and a combination of 11's and 15's to fill in the space.

3) After filling in entirely I cut out the flame and glued it to a piece of black Microsuede. I prefer E6000 as my adhesive of choice for beadwork.

4) Once the glue was dry, I used 15's to edge the piece. There were a few 'white' spots on the edges, so I filled them in with a black Sharpie marker. I like the ones with the fine tip on one end, and the ultra-fine tip on the other end so that I can get into small places. After I finished 'painting' the white spots, I was done! I hope you like it!

I just had to share!

I am now making these killer hammered copper hoops with all kinds of fun things dangling from them! I only have the pair pictured listed so far, but plan on seeing these in other colors in the future...and maybe in Sterling Silver? I had so much fun making them!

Saucy Ladies

I just had to throw in some pics of the new collage tiles I made last night. Not perfect, but I'm getting somewhere ;)

Collage Tiles!

Okay, so you know I couldn't just leave well-enough alone and stick with the pre-printed paper coasters, so I got it into my head to do a collage tile using one of my favorite poets and a quote. So here it is!

Sorry about the glare...it wasn't quite dry yet.

Learning a new technique

So I went to North Carolina with the intention of teaching some classes and seeing some good friends, but I came back with so much more than that! Right now I'm perfecting the art of creating tile coasters which I am SO in love with. I love learning a new technique that allows you to utilize skills you already have (not to mention supplies that you bought 4 years ago for something completely different that you never kept up with;), but still lets you express a new idea. So here they are in all their glory: Retro Flower Coasters!

New Kit Available

I sold my first PDF pattern in The Peacock Shop this morning, and I was so ecstatic that I went ahead and listed a Kit! The Cabochon Goddess Kit list is just like the one pictured, but with an Onyx Cabochon and Green Crystals and Beads :) I'll be listing other patterns and kits soon, so keep an eye out.

Don't you just LOVE Copper?

Well, I came back from North Carolina with a raging flu complete with Laryngitis (I kid you not). Right now I'm trying to focus on making some jewelry with the great beads I picked up at Beadlush and beyond. I learned some great new techniques while playing with my friend Michelle, and she even gave me some of the resin cabs she made (hey, what are crafty friends for?). My Copper Magma earrings are made with the newest Swarovski Crystal Color, and you can get them in my Gypsybeads Etsy Shop. Check them out and let me know what you think!

All good things must come to an end...

My Saturday classes at Beadlush went well regardless of the fact that I caught some version of the flu on Thursday night. Sunday I spent at the Beadlush hanging out with old friends, looking at Lois Oster's Beads, and watching Dichro-Master Audra Goetz perform her craft....Me?....I was shopping most of the time in Lydia's wonderful shop. Sunday night Michelle Link fired up her kiln for the first time and made the wonderful little squares you see here. Today I spent doing practically nothing until Michelle and I decided to try to take pictures of her never-before-photographed creations. I've included one of my favorites which was made at the 2008 Bead&Button Show.

My time here in Charlotte is coming to a close. Only one full day left until I must be whisked back to Aurora,CO where I will rest for one day and then off to the mountains I go for the weekend. I'll be listing some more kits in The Peacock Shop soon, so keep an eye out for that!

Back in Charlotte

When I had the opportunity to come back to Charlotte,NC to see friends and teach a little, I took it! My flight was reasonable, and I was greeted by Lydia of Beadlush who quickly whisked me from the airport and into her bead shop, a sumptuous array of delectable shiny things: everything a bead girl could want. There I met ladies from the Charlotte Area Jewelry Artists Meetup Group, who were making a beautiful Right Angle Weave bracelet. Seeing the group of them together made me realize how much I miss being part of a bead group, so I may just show up at the Rocky Mountain Bead Society next month. I'm staying with one of my best bead buddies, Michelle while I'm in town, and she assures me that bead ladies will show up at her house tonight for a little informal bead session to tide me over. Perhaps if any beading actually gets done, I'll post a pic!

A Little Progress...

As you can see, I've gotten at least somewhere in the last few weeks with my Bead Embroidery project. This section of the bag will be the flap. I've added a Swarovski Crystal Pearl in Copper, Natural Dyed Pearl in Teal, and some Vintage Bermuda Blue Rivolis, as well as contemporary Swarovski Bicones. I can't tell you how much I LOVE this Gold-Bronze Toho. I was before just considering it as an accent color, but am now more likely to make it the main color. So, what do you think?

Now Open- The Peacock Shop

After much debate, and hoarding of beads, I have opened a second Etsy Shop to sell extra suplies as well as patterns and kits. You'll find everything from Vintage Swarovski to Cabochons to clasps personally made by the Gypsy herself!

Check it out at http://www.thepeacockshop.etsy.com/

Bead Embroidered Evening Bag

Alright, you've talked me into it! I am now working (slowly) on a Bead Embroidered Evening Bag. I decided on a Dichroic Glass Cabochon by Audra Goetz of Pane in the Glass as the centerpiece; the rest will hopefully go from there. I will post my progress (if I make any) here. Drop me a line and let me know what you think!

Victoriana Necklace

I just wanted to drop in a picture of my new Victoriana Necklace. This necklace will be available at the Saturday Night Alive Auction for the Denver Center for Performing Arts on Saturday, March 7th. You can see more details at www.denvercenter.org.

Swarovski Crystal Bindis!

I am pleased to say that, after much prodding from some of my favorite dancers, I have finally started a line of Swarovski Crystal Bindis for Bellydancers! Check them out at http://www.gypsybeads.etsy.com/ in the Bellydance section. Drop me line and let me know what you think!

My lowest point and a plea

On Monday, I got up, drove to work, attended the manager's meeting, got another bookfair set up, had lunch, and shortly thereafter was told that my position had been all but eliminated across Colorado, and that this was my last day. I'm angry, I'm hurt, I'm upset, and I'm practically broke to be honest with you. As many of you may be aware, I've been trying to get out of retail for a while and, now that fate has showed me the door, I'm not eager to go back into retail (not that anyone's hiring for upper management right after the holidays). So I'm pleading with you, my friends, to assist by helping me to promote my business Gypsybeads in any way you can (to hear a little more about what I create, check the bottom of this message). Tell your friends and family about it, post it on your blogs, or anything else you can think of. Yes, I'll continue to try to find suitable employment, but my business (which has sustained me in the past before moving to Colorado), is really my closest and least costly bet right now. And if you've been wanting to buy something , now would be a great time to do it. Thank you all in advance for your love and support :) Megan The Gypsy http://www.gypsybeads.etsy.com/ Gypsybeads is a place to find all things bright , fun and sparkly! From earrings and necklaces, to cell-phone charms, and hair ornaments, (and Christmas ornaments) I try to carry it all. I have a line of cute cards in the making, as well as candles, and possibly crystal-embellished t-shirts and accessories. I create one-of-a-kind jewelry and accessories for everyday wear, as well as stage-wear for Bellydance and Cabaret-style dancing. I do accept commission work with a consultation and deposit. I'll be posting new things nearly daily for a while to give you new things to drool over :)