Bead Weaving class online, Princeton Adult School, March 2021

Diamond Lace Necklace 
in Topaz/Royal Purple

We will be offering a Bead Weaving class in March 2021 through the Princeton Adult School. 

For details about the class and registration information, go to:
PAS Bead Weaving class

For this class, Reem has designed an elegant necklace made with hundreds of Czech fire-polished crystals, Japanese seed beads, and a beautiful pear shape crystal. Janet designed the coordinating earrings. We will be demonstrating every step on Zoom so that you can bead along with us. The class is suitable for beginner and experienced beaders.

The materials kit, containing over 600 Czech fire-polished crystals as well as the other materials needed to complete the projects, is available for order from our Etsy Store. The materials kit is offered in two color options: Topaz & Royal Purple or Cobalt Blue & Fuchsia. Students who register for the class will need to order their materials kit by February 15, to allow time for delivery before the first class on March 2.

The three elements of the 
Diamond Lace Necklace
in Cobalt Blue/Fuchsia

We will be making three components for the necklace: 

1) a netted rope, filled with hundreds of Czech crystals (top of photo);

2) a shaped beaded component that gives you the opportunity to learn the Prismatic Right-Angle Weave (PRAW) stitch (middle of photo); and

3) a large pear shaped crystal pendant (bottom of photo) that will be beautifully bezeled using seed beads and crystals.

We will be combining all three of the elements into one fabulous necklace (photo at top). Students may also choose to assemble the elements in different ways, making jewelry to suit individual tastes. For example, the netted rope necklace can be worn on its own. The PRAW tube and bezeled pear shape crystal can be combined and strung on a chain, a ribbon, or other material supplied by the student. Or string the PRAW tube on a ribbon and keep the bezeled crystal as a separate pendant to wear on your favorite chain.

PRAW tube and crystal pendant
on a wire necklace

PRAW tube on a chain

Netted rope necklaces

Matching earrings are included in the class. Students will make a beaded ball that matches the netted rope. They will then have the option of finishing the earring by adding fringes to make a tassel earring, or embellishing the beaded ball with a single crystal dangle.

Please join us for this sparkling bead adventure!

Tassel Earrings in Cobalt

Optional version of earrings

Grounds for Sculpture Workshops

We are thrilled to be teaching two bead weaving workshops at the Grounds for Sculpture, in Hamilton, NJ. We taught the first one yesterday and the second one will be on February 17. We were very excited to be invited by the Grounds for Sculpture to offer these workshops during the Grounds' exhibit of the amazing beaded sculptures by Joyce C. Scott. 

The Grounds for Sculpture is an inspiring place and we wanted to do something very special for them. So we designed two projects just for them! The first is a peyote-stitch pendant featuring a stylized version of the Grounds for Sculpture logo. Since it is a sculpture garden, we embellished the logo with little flower fringes. 

Workshop participants will learn odd-count peyote. We want them to have some color choices and some design choices as well. So we offer three color combinations, as well as an alternate tribal graphic that can be made with the same beads as the logo pendant. The pendant can hang from a peyote-stitch bail or a simpler bail made of 3 loops of strung beads.

Three fringe embellishments are offered: the flower fringes shown on the purple pendant, the Swarovski crystal fringes shown on the green pendant, and the swag fringe shown on the tribal graphic version of the pendant in hematite.













For the second workshop, we designed an earring that looks like a peacock in full plumage. The Grounds for Sculpture has some resident peacocks and they use these majestic birds in their branding as well. The earrings are made using a modified St. Petersburg stitch and a lot of sparkling Czech faceted fire-polished beads.

Bead Fest Philadelphia 2016 Workshops

We are thrilled to be offering workshops again at Bead Fest Philadelphia. It is a HUGE beading event and we love being part of it. This year, we will be teaching two projects: Janet Palumbo's Heart-to-Heart Bracelet and Reem Iversen's Heliotrope Earrings. Both projects have been published in BEADWORK magazine. Since publication, we have been tweaking the patterns, improving the instructions, and adding new color combinations! We look forward to helping the class participants make these two beautiful projects.

On Saturday, August 20, from 4:30-8:30 pm, we will be teaching Reem's Heliotrope Earrings. These beautiful dome-shaped earrings combine herringbone and peyote stitches. We will be offering kits in a variety of colors, including our newest one--Orchid. The other colors available will be Pink, Blue, and Bronze.

Reem Iversen's Heliotrope Earrings in Pink, Blue, and Bronze

Reem Iversen's Heliotrope Earrings, in Orchid

Janet Palumbo's Heart-to-Heart Bracelet

On Sunday, August 21, we offer Janet's Heart-to-Heart Bracelet as a full-day workshop, from 8:30 am-4:00 pm. Right-angle-weave, made with either Czech farfalle or Japanese peanut beads, is used to create the double-heart centerpiece, embellished with Swarovski crystal pearls and Czech fire-polished beads. Three colors will be available: Magic Lilac, Bronze, and new Storm cloud Gray.

We hope you can join us!

Janet Palumbo's Heart-to-Heart Bracelet in Gray and Coral

Bead Fest Philadelphia 2015 Workshops

Bead Fest Philadelphia 2015: We will be teaching 3 workshops

We will be teaching three of our favorite earring designs at Bead Fest Philadelphia on August 20 and 21. As always, we will be offering great designs, clear instructions, and plenty of hands-on help to our students! 

We start on Aug. 20 with Reem Iversen's From Russia With Love earrings. We taught this workshop last year and everyone enjoyed it. Students new to bead weaving love these little beauties because they work up fairly quickly. Experienced bead weavers find these to be a great way to learn St. Petersburg stitch and to explore the role of color in bead work design. Join us early for this workshop!

From Russia With Love by Reem Iversen,
in topaz and in silver

From Russia With Love by Reem Iversen,
in petrol and in rosaline

At 4:30 pm on Aug. 20, we will be teaching Reem Iversen's Heliotrope earrings. These brilliantly engineered earrings feature a volcano-shaped front and an equally beautiful flat back. An earring reminiscent of sunflowers is created with a combination of seed beads and two-hole superduo beads, brought together around a central pearl or round bead using a mix of herringbone, peyote, and right-angle-weave stitches. Students with some experience will find these to be a delightful challenge to create.  

Heliotrope by Reem Iversen,
in blue and in bronze

Heliotrope by Reem Iversen, pink

On Friday evening, Aug. 21, we will be teaching Janet Palumbo's Monreale earrings. Inspired by the paired slender, twisted columns that line the medieval cloister of Monreale in Sicily, these architecturally inspired earrings feature pointed arches and elegant long bugle beads. These earrings can be completed with either crystal rondelles, for a dramatic look, or firepolished beads, if understatement is more your style.

Monreale by Janet Palumbo, amethyst

Monreale by Janet Palumbo, silver