Small Expressions 2015 with Handweavers Guild of America, Minneapolis Trip

Now that I have internet back in my life, at home, my new home I am playing catch-up on my blog.  Two days after I got the keys to my new place I flew off to Minneapolis for the weekend.  It was poor timing, but hey, that's been my life lately.  I was just too excited when I got the email from HGA saying that "Climbing" was accepted into Small Expressions 2015.

The opening reception was lovely and I got to meet many of the artists, the juror, Nicole LaBouff and spend some time with the President of HGA, Sueanne and Executive Director, Sandra.

“Obi,” by Noriko Kage of San Diego, CA received the First Place award in HGA’s 2015 Small Expressions exhibit. The piece is woven of wool and cotton, using tapestry and double weave techniques, and measures 14 x 8.25 x 1.75 inches

My piece "Climbing" is the the oval piece along this wall.

The gallery space at the Textiles Center was beautiful and the show was presented very well.  The way many of the pieces were grouped together made it feel as though they were pre-planned.  I was particularly drawn to the two red pieces shown two photos above.

Everyone I had planned on trying to catch up with in Minneapolis was out of town (well, Amy came back early and we did catch up on the fly).  So the next day I got to tag along with Sandra, Sueanne and Nicole at the Minneapolis Institute of Art.  Nicole is an assistant curator of textiles at the MIA, so it was really fun seeing the various exhibits from her perspective.

When we first walked in, there was construction going on.  This is how you cover a Dale Chihuly as to keep from having to dust it later.

Helena Hernmarck Tapestries

Helena Hernmarck Tapestries (Sanrda shows just how large these Tapestries are!)

Helena Hernmarck Tapestries detail

Beading and Shells on a belt.  Which I can only imagine weighs a ton.

This is a decorative casket.

Nicole had to show me this jewelry set, the faces are all very very tiny beads (much smaller than 15/0s)  I wonder how one even acquires beads that small these days.

I love huge pencil/charcoal drawings.  This piece was really inspiring to me. 

It rolls up, so as I looked at it, I wondered if the artist drew it while it was laid out on the floor, or upright against a wall.  A closer look showed that it must have been the floor, there were smudges around the edge of this piece and clearly there was a paw print in one of the areas.  I know my cat wouldn't be able to keep off of something this large!

Tapestry with a metal sculpture juxtaposed really nicely in this room.

I'm in love with this woven piece. The bugs on the inside could almost be beaded.

More Helena Hernmarck Tapestries

I found the Japanese and Asian art wing.

(Definitely makes me miss Japan)

The following day I bummed around downtown Minneapolis, checked out Hell's Kitchen, I also decided that although it was out of the way I wanted to find the bead shop that Douglas Limon told me to go to while I was there.  The place is called Northland Visions and wow, I did not expect the array of seed beads that they carried.  They didn't see me coming either. I ended up asking if I could just walk behind the counter and pole up beads.  I have the hardest time finding czech cut seed beads and they had tons of them.  Another thing I seem to always be short on is off-white seed beads. It's a color that's nearly impossible to order online, so I stocked up. I also had the excuse that I'm working on a bridal piece right now that needs off-white in it. 

Seed beads are heavy, and apparently when you have that much glass, TSA has to search through it. It was fun that the TSA agent knew exactly where I had gone to get beads and we got to chat about how cool my piles of beads were while she double checked them for sharp things.

Merry Christmas and a Bead Store: Bead Haven

Merry Christmas from Danielle! 

I hadn't been to Frankenmuth since 2006 and I keep hearing about a fabulous bead store there.  Frankenmuth is the place where us Michiganders go to see "Bronner's Christmas Wonderland". If you need something Christmas-related, it's, well, a sight to see.  When I first drove into town the place was nuts, so I decided to hit the bead store and have a traditional family style German chicken dinner first.

Bead Haven is the bead store and the rumors are true!  Being someone who is specifically looking for seed beads, an entire room of tubes and baggies of seed beads covering the walls is very exciting.  I really didn't need any more beads, but I have had a color palette for spring floating around in my head so I purchased a few tubes for that and some filler of a specific purple shade that I am low on (tubes below).  You can see that I bought two tubes of a greenish turquoise seed bead.  I had originally bought this seed bead in Marquette at Bella Beads  on my way to the Porkies and I used almost the whole tube while I was living in Dan's cabin. So I was happy that Bead Haven (a mere hour away rather than 6-7 hours away) carries Toho, which I don't usually order (I lean towards Miyuki seed beads).

I also have to say that Bead Haven not only is a really put-together store (with lots of room so you're not bumping into other shoppers and knocking beads off of displays) but their website is pretty thorough, beware, it could be dangerous.

I hope everyone enjoys their holidays and hopefully there is beads or yarn or your favorite fiber involved! 

Road Trip Fiber Art Shopping

I'm still trying to sort out projects, beads, yarn and warps my loom(s), but we did go on a road trip to Florida at the end of last month/beginning of this month.  When we travel, I try to find bead and yarn shops to stop into.  Every town is different, and I never know what interesting things I'll find in a new bead or yarn shop.

Our first stop was Charleston, South Carolina and I found Beads on Cannon just before we headed out of town.  If you're into strands upon strands of beads, this is a great place. The downstairs was glass, and tons of new styles of beads that have been coming out (including spikes, which I bought a ton of).  The upstairs houses all of their precious metal findings and millions of strands of gemstones and pearls.  They were very limited on seed beads and the place was tight. With the two women working and 3 customers plus 2 husbands in there, it was a bit hard to move around, but I bet it's not usually that busy.  It's a fun little store to visit if you're in the area.

Our next destination was Savannah, Georgia.  I couldn't find a bead store via walking around or Google, but I did find The Frayed Knot, which had a little bead shop area in the back.  I loved the array of yarns they had, and instead of organized by the brand of yarn, it was organized by color.  This is how I organize all of my beads and yarns, so it made it easy for me to shop.  They also had cones of cotton for weavers too, which I was impressed.  The owner was out of town, but her husband was there building her a new cash wrap and he was very helpful and informed.

Naples, had The Bead Boutique. I think I spent two hours in there.  I am always looking for more interesting seed beads and this place was awesome.  I have been on the hunt for more 3-cut size 11 and 12 seed beads.  They're not carried as often in the bead stores I shop at here in Michigan.  I'm not sure if it's because they're costly to carry and also they don't sell quickly because of the price, but the Bead Boutique had them, and yes, they can be around $25 for a long tube (below), but they are beautiful and I re-stocked while I was there.  I also was convinced to try out a "better" beading needle.  I go through needles pretty quickly, so I figured they were worth a try.  The way I pack thread into seed beads is not conducive for these expensive needles though.  The plating on the needle started to shred off on the first project I used it on. Oh well, they were worth a try.  The woman that was talking to me was trying to sell me on using different thread too, but I've tried everything she was suggesting and I prefer to stick to my nymo.  I also purchased a few delicas that I don't already have for colors for the first bangle that I'm making for my Halloween costume.  They had quite the selection of delicas too.  Always the sign of a good bead store for me.

On this trip I also happened to be looking for fabric stores.  I find it really unfortunate that there is usually just a Joann's, even in larger towns.  I struck gold though when we were in Orlando.  The Sewing Studio is just outside of Orlando in Maitland.  It doesn't look like too much from the outside, but walking around in there was amazing.  I don't collect fabric, and if I did, my pocketbook would have been in trouble.  I stuck to my task at hand, looking for the perfect gold base color for my Halloween costume and I lucked out, I found a gorgeous sale fabric that had plenty of yardage for my project.

So now I've been spending time making jewelry to complete groupings to send to Angelwood Gallery and I've re-set at Grove Gallery with some fresh pieces.

Spike Bangle

 

Sometimes I'm searching for an exact color of seed bead which can be hard to order online.  I've had a hard time ordering what I call "cream" or "off white" from Fire Mountain Gems.  They all come in looking pink-ish to me.

 

So I went down to Findings in Ann Arbor to get some exact color-matches.  That store is like crack for me.  Rows and rows of seed beads, and that is pretty much the only thing I get there.  However, the woman ringing me up asked if I was aware of two new types of beads to hit their store.  The first one was a double-hole small bead, which I'm not that interested in, and then there were these cute little glass spikes.

 

 

They reminded me of the days of the Flint Local, punk rock prom and when I used to put spikes on more formal-looking things (I have a spike dress-choker that I made).  Having no clue what i was going to do with them, I purchased some of these copper-y ones and black ones. I just wanted simple, spikes.

 

My initial thought was to make two tiny bangles and have the spikes "floating" between the two of them.  Much like this style bangle.  I didn't want the spikes to twist around though.  So I made this solid bangle and stitched them on top.  It seemed kind-of boring to me, but since it's been finished, I love to wear it!  This is a smaller bangle and is $75.00.

 

Look out for some other spike ideas too!



Trip to Seattle and the Opening Reception for Small Expressions

I got to hang out in downtown Seattle and do some shopping.  Of which I mostly bought beads and yarn.  They have a great bead store called World Beads.  It's a tiny shop on the corner, and it's packed with seed beads.  I usually use Japanese seed beads and these are Czech. I bought a few and stitched some leaves up to see how they acted and was pleased, so I stopped in one more time at the end of the week to grab some to add to my stash.

The only yarn shop downtown in called So Much Yarn.  I have  a hard time believing that in a city the size of Seattle there's only one yarn shop, but at least its a nice one!  I had done some damage last time I was in there and was hoping to pick up a few more colors of one of the yarns that I really enjoy using in Theo Mooreman inlay.  They were out of that particular yarn, however they did have some other interesting stuff by the same designer so I went that route (the sparkly ones below).

I flew out of Chicago so that on the way back home I could head over to St.. Charles, IL for the Opening Reception of Handweaver's Guild of America's Small Expressions 2013.  My piece, "Uprooted 1" was accepted into this show along with many other amazing pieces.  Below I'm standing next to "Uprooted 1".  The camera on my phone has been on the fritz, so it was hard to get a decent photo. 

I always want to get more beading done while I travel.  I'm not sure why, but I'm convinced that between sitting in the airport, on the airplane, driving around and having hotel down time, I should get a few pieces done.  I only finished one lariat necklace, but I'm please with that. It's also a note to self to travel with less beads!

Brown and Green Lariat Necklace





Bead Shopping and Bead Books.

I get asked a lot what my sources are, where I purchase my beads, etc...  I needed to make a handout anyway for upcoming classes, but it should be general knowledge of my personal favorites.  So here they are:


Where I purchase my beads:

Fire Mountain Gems (online)

www.firemountaingems.com

-This is my main source for my seed beads and supplies. If you sign up for an “account” with them then you can save your cart as long as you like. The price goes cheaper per-item that you purchase (15, 50, 200 quantities...) The cart is particularly awesome for when I notice I’m running low on a supply but don’t need it quickly.

Bead Boutique: Lansing, MI

www.beadboutiquelansing.com

-I go here in a pinch (it’s a mile down the street from me). Barbara is fantastic and very knowledgeable. She also will do really cheap one on one classes as long as you purchase the supplies from her.



Bead Gallery: Ann Arbor, MI

http://bga2.com/

-I have been going here regularly since my college days. They don’t have the seed bead collection that Findings does but if you love gemstones and accent beads, and want to see them in person, go here. They are really specializing in gemstones and have quite the offering.


Findings: Ann Arbor, MI

www.beadseekers.com

-Seed beads seed beads seed beads! Go here if you’re looking for specific colors, you’ll be able to find it. They also have a much better selection of 15/0 seed beads than Fire Mountain Gems, so I sometimes have to take a bead trip here.



Books:

There are 2 books that I use on a regular basis. I use them for patterns and problem solving my designs.
1) Indian Beadweaving Patterns by Horace Goodhue

-I have owned this book since I was in the 4th grade. It was my original go-to book. You have to read the instructions, but they are very thorough. Horace Goodhue actually studied with Native American tribes and wrote this book.

2) The Art and Elegance of Beadweaving by Carol Wilcox Wells

-This author was suggested to me and you can find her books on Amazon way below suggested retail. I really like this book because of all of the options it has for beadweaving stitches.

Findings in Ann Arbor

I love to hit up bead and yarn stores.  Normally I do this when we travel so I have an assortment of fun supplies at hand.  I also try not to stress myself out about running out of a certain bead or yarn.  There's always more beads and yarn to replace that hole in my stash once it's gone.

Recently we had some down time in Ann Arbor and my friend Linda had suggested to me that I go to Findings and check out their seed bead selection.  If you love working with seed beads, then you have got to check out this store!  I thought I was in heaven, tubes and tubes of neatly organized beads by color, size, type of bead and a huge delica selection.  I'm so happy to have found a place that I can find the proper delica color in a pinch. 

Findings has been around for a while actually.  I remember it being over in the area where the Trader Joe's is now.  They had a smallish shop, and being a student I rarely made the drive out there, and there was the Bead Gallery right downtown near where I worked. Findings is now over off of Jackson Road, parking is abundant and the shop is not only huge, but well organized.

These two bead stores in Ann Arbor will give you a fantastic range of what you may be searching for to start or finish your next bead project.  I highly recommend Findings for you seed bead selection and threads.  They also teach classes in the back room so make sure to check out their website.  The Bead Gallery is great for it's location, right in downtown Ann Arbor and also has tons of fun beads.  I personally go there for their array of gemstones.  As always happy beading and happy bead shopping!

I keep seeing all of this wonderful yellow/tan/white mixes!  We'll see what comes of those colors!

Beads and Yarn in the Upper Peninsula!

We just got back from a short trip to go skiing at Marquette Mountain and then visiting friends in the village of L'Anse.  Who knew that there are great little bead and yarn shops up there?!

After a great ski day we popped into Bella Beads in downtown Marquette.  When I walk into a bead store I tend to take a good long look around and see what catches my eye. Unless I have a specific project in mind I look for beads that I haven't seen before.  I also rate a bead store on its selection of seed beads.  I mostly look for 15/0 (teeny tiny) and 11/0 (standard seed bead size).  When I walked into Bella Beads I found a whole WALL of seed beads, yay!  I was wishing I had the supply list for the Huib Petersen class I will be taking in February since I have very little bugle beads and I have no idea what size I need. I did remember that I need to teach myself herringbone stitch before this class so I picked up a fantastic book at Bella Beads by Carol Wilcox Wells "The Art and Elegance of Beadweaving."  I was told to purchase her first book, but this one seemed to have what I needed with an updated twist.  I used it all weekend!  I also purchased some beautiful seed beads to work with that weekend and add to my stash.

The second place I came upon was in downtown Houghton.  Mary has learned how to crochet and as far as she knew, the only close yarn store was Michaels.  I can spot yarn or beads from a mile away.  We popped into a little store that seems to have everything fibers for Houghton.  At first I thought it was just a sewing shop but then I saw yarn in the window and we were pleasantly surprised!  Sew Irresistible Creations had lots of yummy yarn! (They do not appear to have a website so the link has their contact information)  I don't normally spend more than $10 on a ball of yarn, but this was one of those instances where I knew I would be pining over this yarn when I headed back down state.  (I will get a picture/info for it up asap). 

The last related stop that Mary and I had in Houghton was Silver Rae Beading Studio.  It's easy to miss, the only sign we saw was right in our way on the sidewalk with BEADS UPSTAIRS on it.  This shop is kind of awkward because it has 3 little rooms.  It has yet another fabulous selection of seed beads (two walls!), but I ended up finding some really fun glass accent beads that I couldn't pass up.  Warning for down-staters: Cash is king in the U.P. and this store only takes cash or checks.  Luckily Mary and I had enough cash together to purchase everything we had picked out.

I also got started on my very first Herringbone Stitch project!  I was enjoying playing with the way it curves with the larger beads and now I am trying to figure out how i want to finish it.  I have made all of the waves face one way by stitching peyote stitch along the bottom, but now I'm stumped.  Expect a follow-up!