Welcome To BeadFX!

One of the many highlights of being the class coordinator is the opportunity to contact instructors from around the world and inviting them to come to BeadFX. In the past we’ve had such notable instructors as Jill Wiseman, Sara Sally LeGrande, Robyn Cornelius and Hadar Jacobson. This fall we have three more exciting instructors who are each recognized in their own field of expertise: Marti Brown, Betty Stephan, and Joy Munshower!

Marti Brown’s classes feature anodizing nobium to create beautiful and colourful jewellery components. Her classes are available for all levels of students – perfect for metalwork ‘newbies’ to learn a few new techniques all the way to advance students who want to add a new metal to their repertoire!

Beadworkers will love Betty Stephan’s classes. Her projects feature bead embroidery techniques and, again, for all levels of expertise. You do not need to be an experienced bead embroidery student to take Betty’s classes. Bring your enthusiasm and you’re all set!

Joy Munshower’s incredible sculptural lampwork beads speak volumes! Intermediate and experienced lampworkers will explore bas-relief style horse beads, hedgehog beads and various sea life beads including jellyfish, a manatee and a nautilus.

Marti Brown
Friday, September 29: Exploring Niobium
Saturday, September 30: Making an Impression
Sunday, October 1 (morning): Rainforest Leaves
Sunday, October 1 (afternoon): Cab Set Niobium Pendant

Marti Brown was always interested in the arts. As a child, some of her fondest memories included art camp, painting in her basement, art classes in summer school, and involvement in choral music. Marti became a professional artist and craftsman after completing her BFA in jewelry making at Miami University in Oxford, OH.

She has been designing jewelry for over 30 years. Marti has worked in a variety of traditional and contemporary jewelry metals and processes during college and afterwards. She currently works in niobium, a colorful, magical metal, and of course beads.

Betty Stephan
Friday, November 3: Enchanted Bracelet and Components
Saturday, November 4: Night Music Cuff
Sunday, November 5: Dreamer Necklace

Betty Stephan’s beading classes are focused on learning but at the same time are relaxed and a lot of fun! Her years of beading and teaching experience and the detailed, illustrated instructions provide the guidance needed to finish her beautiful class projects.

Betty has won numerous international awards for her bead embroidery and has been published in several books and publications. Her necklace Cathedral Windows is pictured on the cover of 500 Beaded Jewelry and she was one of 30 featured artists in the book Marcia DeCoster Presents.

Her collars, Barcelona (2016) and Carousel of Time (2015), both won 3^rd place in the Bead Dreams competition and her necklace Changes won grand prize in Bead Star competition in 2014. She teaches internationally and exhibits at Fine Craft shows throughout the year. When not teaching or designing jewelry in her western New York studio, Betty and her husband travel around the country in their RV – fully equipped to bead as she goes!

Joy Munshower
Friday, November 17 to Sunday, November 19: Surf ‘n Turf

Joy started working in glass in April 2011 but was fascinated with glass long before she took her first bead-making class. Currently Joy works predominantly in soft glass creating nature and wildlife inspired beads as those themes have always been her passion. She works in low relief (bas relief) style similar of the type of tiles she used to design and sculpt. In 2017 Joy plans to experiment more with borosilicate glass to design a line of larger-scale wildlife sculptures.

All classes with our Fall visiting instructors are on-line now and feature Early Bird Registrations. Don’t be disappointed – register quickly!

Get your creative juices flowing~~~

Jiggles and Pearls

Designed by: Anne Marie Desaulniers

Originally intended as Boho-inspired pendant, and designed to hang on a simple chain (it all started with the fabulous Inter-Change-A-Bail). However, “the best laid plans”, and all of that, made me re-think my original concept. Once the pendant was completed, I surveyed the remaining components, and decided to create a more formal design (the muse wants, what the muse wants!). The jiggly bits remained, so it turned into a fun, casual necklace, posing as something far more serious. A conundrum for sure! Readers beware! You are going to absolutely fall in love with the new Nunn Design Charm/Pendants! Fabulous texture, with botanical themes, on both the front and back.

The clever Inter-Change-A-Bail, will make it easy for you to switch out multiple pendants. Feel free to design some coordinating ones! You know that you?ll want to!!!

Instructions:

Pendant –

1. Open Inter-Change-A-Bail, and add Corrugated Oval Ring

2. Prepare the following charms and add each to Corrugated Oval Ring, with 8 mm jumprings:

a. 6 mm jumpring/Charm-Pendant – Amor

b. 2-8 mm jumprings/8 mm jumpring/2-8 mm jumprings/1-8 mm jumpring/Charm-Pendant-Flora Circle

i. To the final 8 mm jumpring, before the Flora Circle, add a wire wrapped component,? consisting of a 6 mm jumpring/simple loop/6 mm white opal brandy bicone/wrapped loop/6 mm jumpring/Treasure Box Key

c. 2 inches of chain/6 mm jumpring/wrapped component consisting of 2 headpin/3 mm round metal bead/CC Green Pearl/Acorn bead cap/wrapped loop. Now you will be attaching two more components to the chain.

i. Three links up from the bottom – 2″ headpin/3 mm round metal bead/SW 6 mm faceted round – Khaki/3 mm round metal bead/wrapped loop/6 mm jumpring

ii. Two links down from the top – 2″ headpin/SW 6 mm white opal brandy bicone/3 mm round metal bead/SW 6 mm faceted round – Khaki/3 mm round metal bead/SW 6 mm white opal brandy bicone/wrapped loop/6 mm jumpring/2-6 mm jumprings/6 mm jumpring/8 mm jumpring

Strung portion of necklace –

3. Leaving beading wire on spool, add the following:

a. 2 mm crimp bead/wire guardian – feed beading wire through both openings on wire guardian, then back into crimp bead, making sure that the wires are not crossed (or the crimp will not hold properly).

b. Crimp, using crimping pliers

c. Add 3 mm crimp cover, and squeeze gently to close. Add 3-3 mm round metal beads, and feed the free end of the beading wire through those beads. Cut excess wire with Flush Cutter.

d. Next – add 3-SW 6 mm rounds – Khaki, separated by 3 mm round metal beads (see photo for details)

e. You will then add 9- 12 mm SW pearls, each separated by 3 mm round metal bead/SW 6 mm bicone/3 mm round metal bead (see photos for details)

f. Add 3-SW 6 mm rounds – Khaki, separated by 3 mm round metal beads (see photo for details)

g. Add 3-3 mm round metal beads.

h. Cut beading wire, leaving a comfortable length to work with (approximately 3-4 inches).

i. Add 2 mm crimp bead/wire guardian – feed beading wire through both openings on wire guardian, then back into crimp bead, making sure that the wires are not crossed (or the crimp will not hold properly).

j. Tighten beading wire, by pulling gently (Tip: I use my round nose pliers to assist with this task. Simply insert into the Wire Guardian, and pull wire to tighten).

k. Crimp, using crimping pliers

l. Add 3 mm crimp cover (to cover the crimp), and squeeze gently to close.

m. Feed the free end of the beading wire through 3 or so beads (if you’re having difficulty with this, try using fine tweezers).

n. Cut excess wire with Flush Cutter.

Attaching Pendant to Strung portion of necklace –

4. Cut 4 inches of chain, and attach to strung portion of necklace with 6 mm jumprings. Count to the middle of the necklace, and position your jumprings beside the SW 6 mm white opal brandy bicone, on either side of the middle pearl. Position chain to allow a single link to hang down at the bottom (if it doesn’t work out, cut off a link from the end).

5. Attach a 6 mm jumpring to the top of the Inter-Change-A-Bail, and then to the bottom link of the chain.

Finishing the necklace –

6. Cut two-14 inch, lengths of chain

7. Attach both ends, of one length of chain, to a 6 mm jumpring, and then to one wire guardian.

8. Repeat the above step, for the other side.

9. Add an 8 mm jumpring to one end of the doubled chain, on the first side.

10. Add a 6 mm jumpring to the other end of the doubled chain, then attach the Lobster Claw.

Congratulations, your Pendant/Necklace is complete!

Tools Used:

Chain Nose Pliers (2)

Flush Cutter (1)

Crimping Pliers (1)

Round Nose Pliers (optional) (1)

Fine Tweezers (optional) (1)

Components

Go to our components list for this project and to buy what you need!

Need some help with some of the techniques? Check our tips page.