Are you going to BeadFest?????

Keeping up with my plan on taking classes, I'll be taking a beginning lampworking class at BeadFest in Philadelphia August 22nd.  I'm actually heading up the day before to go bead shopping and hope to see some of you bead artisans there -- and if any of you designers are going, give me a shout so I can read name tags and maybe find you!

Are you going?  If you are, are you going to take classes, or just shop?




Lori Anderson makes jewelry for Lori Anderson Designs, and also writes the blog Pretty Things, and occasionally for Art Bead Scene.  She loves funky, colorful beads.

Enameled Beads

I really should have posted this post here, but I goofed -- anyway!  If you're interested in seeing my tiny foray into enameling, click here!

Just a little something new

It's been raining, I've been under the weather, taking some REAL time off to read and knit and be a mommy, but I do have a little to show.


This one uses some new (new to me) wire techniques. I'm inspired quite a lot by Cindy Wimmer of Sweet Bead Studio and she's been very encouraging.


I learned chain maille back when I first started beading but this is a new style for me. It's very delicate, with cultured pearls. Not the best photo, but it's eluding me and the camera.



So those are a couple of new things, using my old styles and mixing it just a bit with new styles.


I've been giving a lot of thought to how my customers would take a huge departure from my current style to a totally different style, the style I see in my head when I imagine jewelry, and I've decided that too big a leap, too soon, would be too jarring. I'd certainly lose a huge portion of my customer base, alienate them, as they are used to seeing a certain thing. Adding bits and pieces, such as in these two bracelets, is more apt to garner interest, and I can add bit by bit a few "wow" pieces, because you never know who will see them and fall in love. But if I want to stay in business, I can't just jump ship and change boats and start sailing for a totally different port of call.


That doesn't mean I'm not going to continue experimenting. It means I'm going to hone my current skills, and pick and choose skills that work well with my existing style. It means I may back-burner some of the elaborate things I've been imagining. I keep thinking I have to do it ALL this year, and that thought has just been completely overwhelming me.


What do you think?

I'm here....

...plugging away at making jewelry for the next two shows....
... working like crazy on preparations for my new web site -- there is a LOT of work involved, but I'm excited about this next step up.


... sending in jewelry for magazine tutorials -- I've got a good line-up for next year.


... writing pages and pages of book outlines in my head. I can't wait to get started!

So many things are going to happen after March 29th, which is not only the day after my last show until September, but is also my 41st birthday. How apt -- newness all over!


Stay tuned for more!


Lori's web site is www.lorianderson.net, and her other blog is www.prettythingsblog.com.

Chain Maille for Dummies

Chain Maille for Dummies . In this case, the dummy would be me.


I've made basic chain maille since I started beading. Chain maille is the art of weaving silver jump rings into a repetitive pattern to create a chain, and it was developed hundreds of years ago to create chain maille armor. Lots of traditional patterns translate well into jewelry.



Believe it or not, I don't own a chain maille bracelet. I haven't made myself one even though I've made dozens and dozens for customers.


Enter Chain Maille for Dummies.


I often bite off more than I can chew. I look at something and think, "oh yeah, I can do that". Chain maille patterns are either in the public domain or there are tutorials on line for them, so there are directions for every weave you can imagine. So I set out to make a byzantine ladder weave, feeling a little smug because, after all, I've made a bunch of the most basic of bracelets -- The Byzantine.

The ladder weave, however, nearly bested me. I didn't have enough hands, or enough fingers, and most certainly not enough patience. I made all the byzantine lengths, but couldn't hold them in the right orientation to hook them together. I'd hold the pliers, open a ring, and hook the pieces together, then drop the whole mess before I could scoop up another ring and get the orientation back again.


ACK!

I sat in the local coffee shop when I started the bracelet, fully expecting to get it pretty close to done by the time my mocha was finished. Instead, I left in a foul mood with nothing done except a bunch of short Byzantine bits that mocked me the entire way home.


At some point, though, the light bulb went on.


I don't know how, but I got one ladder bit made. Angels sang, martinis were passed, all was merry. And as with most chain maille projects, everything went fast once that first piece of the pattern was started.


Here's what it ended up looking like:




Click the picture for a better peek.


The clasp is an amazing vintage Swarovski crystal:



All in all, worth it. Frustrating? Oh yes. I very nearly quit. In fact, I DID quit at one point and put the whole mess away for a while. I took it out again when I had a fresh mind and had successfully completed some other projects to bolster my confidence - something I think is important to remember when you're facing a fear of tackling a new technique.




Lori Anderson's jewelry can be seen at www.lorianderson.net. Be sure to visit her other blog, Pretty Things.

A Production Day

Even though this is my year of exploring new techniques, there's not a thing wrong with doing what I've been doing. I make pretty jewelry (at least, I think so!) and I do have two shows coming up in February and March. My inventory is practically nil, so I have to work hard to get ready. The good thing is that once the show in March is done, my next one isn't until the end of September -- lots of time to experiment and play.


So today I spent some time making my normal style of jewelry, but I've found myself looking at it all with a new eye. As I make things, I see ways that I can change them down the road, and I'm drawing designs in my sketch book for later.


Not a bad day's work.

You can visit my web site at www.lorianderson.net and read my other blog at www.prettythingsblog.com.