Bead Freak

Barbara Wright is an artist who creates beauty through mosaics, utilizing glass techniques she learned while in Barcelona, Spain in 2005.  She started creating mosaics in 1999.  In 2002 she traveled to Ravenna, Italy, attended the Sculoa Arte del Mosaico, learning the old techniques of mosaics.  While there, Barbara was inspired by modern works in the old style and began her journey into creating 2 and 3 dimensional pieces using tiles, millefoiri, art glass and smalti, with other artifacts incorporated into her designs.  Her pieces express her vision, with inspiration coming from the coastal Trinidad region.

Barbara also creates dichroic glass jewelry, learning techniques from classes at Hot Glass Horizons in Portland, OR.  Her art is truly beautiful, certainly inspirational, and well worth experiencing.    She started making glass beads with Italian Moretti glass in 1996. Her fused dichroic glass jewelry is currently on display at Arcata Artisans and Many Hands Gallery in Eureka.

Arcata Artisans in Arcata, CA  and Highlight Gallery in Mendocino currently exhibit her mosaics.  For more information, visit her website at www.wrightmosaics.com.

Barbara welcomes custom work.

The Newark, Delaware Intergalactic Bead & Jewelry Show will make your skin tingle with excitement and expectation!    The Executive Banquet and Conference Center will host this event October 30th-31st.  They are located at 205 Executive Drive.  Hours of operation are 10 a.m.to 5 p.m. both days.  The show offers an impressive selection of beads from exhibitors from across the country.  In addition, attendees will learn new ideas and techniques from the many jewelry designers at the show.

Beading is a 1.3 billion dollar industry, and the second most popular craft/hobby within the General Crafts category according to the Craft & Hobby Associations 2007 report.  The fascination with beads just keeps growing.  Beads have been used as a way to adorn the human body for over thousands of years.  Beads are used in jewelry,  prayer beads and rosaries, textiles and fabrics, handmade knitted and crocheted handbags and garments, edgings, lace, lamp shades, and table runners.  Their application is only limited by your creativity and imagination!

25 Exhibitors will display their beads selections of semi-precious and precious gemstones, sterling silver, freshwater pearls, handblown glass, vintage, crystals and much more.  Come find the perfect bead combination you haven’t found anywhere else!  Check out what the designers are creating, and use their ideas in your own creations……

Fill your Halloween basket with beads instead of candy!  It is the one healthy addiction!

See you there!

Autumn is coming, I can feel the chill in the air in the mornings when I go and walk my dog, Lady.  She loves the cooler weather.  We are approaching October, and autumn has already arrived…….in most places that is.  Cool nights and warm afternoons, fall colors, leaves on the trees changing col0r, oh, I love this time of the year!

It is time to change the emphasis on your beaded jewelry to fall hues……ebony, yellow, orange, brown, gold.  You can do that by incorporating wood beads into your beaded jewelry.  The drop necklace on the left shows you how you can put these fall colors together to make something beautiful and unique!  One incorporates the darker colors of fall, the necklace on the right incorporated the yellows and golds in the autumn color pallet.

The silver drop necklace is easy to use, and both necklaces incorporate beautiful silver cubic zirconia beads to accent the wood beads.  I think this is a great way to achieve versatility in your bead jewelry…….it  just takes a minute to change the combination of beads, and  wow!  you have a totally new look!

The wood beads have a wonder lustre, and a natural feel to them.  Have fun matching your bracelets to your necklaces!

Remember, its the one healthy addiction!  Til next time, be good to yourself…..life is too short to sweat the small stuff!

Hey, all you Halloween bead freaks out there, look at this really cool bracelet composed of all sorts of Halloween beads!  You have spiders and scarecrows and witches hats, and dangle spiders with their web, and jack-o-lanterns, and black glass beads, black cubic zirconium beads, and orange glass beads!  Come up with your own combination of beads, there are plenty to choose from.

These bracelets and beads are great accessories for that Halloween costume for the party, or to go with that black business suit or dress!

The dangle beads are a great touch.  They add some wimsy to the situation, shall we say?

You can never have too much Halloween!  Available for a limited time only….explore your options.  Bracelets, necklaces, anklets and earrings………the possibilities are quite intriguing.

Happy Halloween everyone!  May the ghost and goblins that come to your door on the 31st enjoy the candy!

Fall Colors

As we work our way into October, we are looking at entering the fall season in most parts of the country.  In fact, the first day of Autumn was September 23, so we are well on our way.  One starts to think about the colors of fall, falling leaves, and pumpkins and Halloween!  Before you know it we will be sitting at the table eating turkey and pumpkin pie with whipped cream!  That is a seasonal favorite of mine.

You can change your bead jewelry to fit the season by incorporating wood beads into the design……Take a look at the bracelet below.  It incorporates all those gold, brown, yellow and dark brown/black colors of fall to make a wonderful design.

The bracelet looks good with brown, yellow, black  and grey toned clothing.  You can dress it up or down, depending on your mood!  Warm days and cool nights…….Change is in the air!

Just remember, you Bead Freak people out there, It’s the one healthy addiction!

Welcome to my blog, a blog about beads and jewelry and being creative by putting Italian modular beads of various designs from buildabeadjewelry.com together to design bracelets, necklaces, earrings and anklets to your hearts content.  This is my official first post, so bear with me as I go along in the learning process.  I think its cool to design your own jewelry with whatever theme you want to utilize.  You don’t even have to have a theme, just put together a design that makes you smile!  I like jewelry, and I like to be creative with it.  Looking at other jewelry designs gives me inspiration to create my own.  You, too, can do it, bead by bead, and take as long as you like creating that one of a kind bracelet, necklace, anklet or pair of earrings.  It is “The One Healthy Addiction!” The design possibilities are endless!  I want to share this with you.

Til next time, take time out to smell the flowers along whatever path you are on, and be good to yourself!