Twenty five members of the Etsy Beadweavers Street Team (EBW) have joined forces to help fight breast cancer and create beaded squares to be included in Jeanette Shanigan’s 2009 Beaded Quilt.
Jeanette sews the squares together to form the quilts and then frames them in shadow boxes. Finished quilts are auctioned at the Bead & Button Show in Milwaukee, WI, and the proceeds are donated to the Medical College of Wisconsin Breast Cancer Research Foundation. 100 percent of the donations go directly to research.
This year’s theme is “Bead artists have the heart to take on breast cancer” and all squares will include a heart motif. Past year’s themes have included roses in 2008 and butterflies in 2007. Almost $10,000 has been raised for breast cancer research from the sale of the quilts.
EBW members have set an October deadline for themselves in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Check back for updates from the project and to see photos of the glorious squares being created!
Article submitted by Susan Clinkscales of Clinkscales Arts
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Friday, August 29, 2008
October Challenge Theme
Julie of GemsbyJules won our August challenge with her Search Light Art Deco Bracelet. Her prize is the privilege of choosing the theme for the next challenge. Julie has chosen a theme which I am sure will inspire you for the Etsy BeadWeavers next challenge for October:
What will the EBW team members come up with for this challenge? I sure it will be interesting and I can hardly wait to see! So let your imaginations run wild and see what you can come up with. Certainly you have lots of room for your unique creativity here!
Rules:
Any style, any technique with a majority of beadweaving is welcome.
ONE only entry allowed per person.
The piece must be created between August 31, 2008 and October 5th, 2008
Thank you, Julie, for such a interesting and inspiring theme.
OK everyone, if you've already finished your entry for the September's challenge (Complimentary Contradictions - voting begins September 9th) then get beading on an Animal Instincts piece!
See our FAQ here for all of the details on the rules of our challenges.
Animal Instincts
What will the EBW team members come up with for this challenge? I sure it will be interesting and I can hardly wait to see! So let your imaginations run wild and see what you can come up with. Certainly you have lots of room for your unique creativity here!
Rules:
Any style, any technique with a majority of beadweaving is welcome.
ONE only entry allowed per person.
The piece must be created between August 31, 2008 and October 5th, 2008
Thank you, Julie, for such a interesting and inspiring theme.
OK everyone, if you've already finished your entry for the September's challenge (Complimentary Contradictions - voting begins September 9th) then get beading on an Animal Instincts piece!
See our FAQ here for all of the details on the rules of our challenges.
Friday, August 15, 2008
And The August Challenge Winner Is....
There were 502 votes this month and 26. Search Light Art Deco Bracelet - GemsbyJules received the most votes.
The cuff bracelet is done in peyote stitch and contains over 2000 size 11 Delica seed beads in a sea foam green, salmon pink, black and silver. Inspiration for the design came from posters with a "search light" look to them.
Runners up this month are:
14. Lost Treasures - Art Deco- beadwoven set - BeadCatcher
11. Art Deco Collar - HighDesertBeadscapes
19. Latte at Hotel Mercedes - Hand Beaded Cuff - ThreeFatesDesign
2. Purple Graces - triz
17. A Salute To Art Deco - wMarlaine
1. Moss Agate Going Green Doily Bracelet - myfairladyvt4
10. Deco Lotus pin or pendant - beadmummy
24. Art Deco Cuff - Savoy Studio
16. A Trip to The Nile - Collar EBWC - SmadarsTreasure
Keep your eyes peeled for the entries for the September challenge. Lots of our beadweavers are already at work on their entries for 'Complementary Contradictions'. As you know, our winner's prize is the opportunity to choose the theme for the next challenge. So watch for the announcement of the October Challenge theme at the end of August.
Many thanks to everyone who entered the August Challenge. And many thanks as well to everyone who voted!
The cuff bracelet is done in peyote stitch and contains over 2000 size 11 Delica seed beads in a sea foam green, salmon pink, black and silver. Inspiration for the design came from posters with a "search light" look to them.
Runners up this month are:
14. Lost Treasures - Art Deco- beadwoven set - BeadCatcher
11. Art Deco Collar - HighDesertBeadscapes
19. Latte at Hotel Mercedes - Hand Beaded Cuff - ThreeFatesDesign
2. Purple Graces - triz
17. A Salute To Art Deco - wMarlaine
1. Moss Agate Going Green Doily Bracelet - myfairladyvt4
10. Deco Lotus pin or pendant - beadmummy
24. Art Deco Cuff - Savoy Studio
16. A Trip to The Nile - Collar EBWC - SmadarsTreasure
Keep your eyes peeled for the entries for the September challenge. Lots of our beadweavers are already at work on their entries for 'Complementary Contradictions'. As you know, our winner's prize is the opportunity to choose the theme for the next challenge. So watch for the announcement of the October Challenge theme at the end of August.
Many thanks to everyone who entered the August Challenge. And many thanks as well to everyone who voted!
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Etsy BeadWeavers August Challenge - Art Deco
The entries are in and once again, they are simply stunning! Click on the item in the list below the mosaic to see more details!
Voting begins on Saturday, August 9th and ends midnight August 15th. Please show your appreciation for the efforts of these amazing artists by taking on the difficult task of voting for your favorite. (The ballot will appear on the side bar at right on August 9.) The individual pieces are listed below the mosaic where you can visit each entry for more information by following the link. Thank you, enjoy and be sure to come back to vote!
1. Moss Agate Going Green Doily Bracelet - myfairladyvt4
2. Purple Graces - triz
3. WAVES OF SYMMETRY - caraway
4. Flaring Pinwheels Art Deco Beadwoven Necklace - njema
5. Geometric Brooch with Onyx and Carnelian Cabochons - enchantedbeads
6. Harlequin - beadsandblooms
7. Art Deco Earrings Clinkscales Arts
8. Bloodstone Style Moderne - euphoriamoondesigns
9. Grey Art Deco Marquee Cuff - AmethystRavenstar
10. Deco Lotus pin or pendant - beadmummy
11. Art Deco Collar - HighDesertBeadscapes
12. Black Glass and Teal Art Deco Necklace - PinkPoochDesigns
13. Embroidered Pendant on Herringbone Rope - vanishingpearl
14. Lost Treasures - Art Deco- beadwoven set - BeadCatcher
15. Art Deco Meets Goth - WickedOakDesigns
16. A Trip to The Nile - Collar EBWC - SmadarsTreasure
17. A Salute To Art Deco - wMarlaine
18. Inspired by Cartier - Chrisbeads
19. Latte at Hotel Mercedes - Hand Beaded Cuff - ThreeFatesDesign
20. Art Deco necklace - Orly's BeadsHead
21. Butterfly Garden Enamel Necklace - ThePreciousBeads
22. Beguiling Beadwoven Art Deco Miniature Oil Lamp - Salamander House
23. Windows to the Past - adinahalperndesigns's
24. Art Deco Cuff - Savoy Studio
25. Stars of the Sea Cuff Bracelet - arosebyname
26. Search Light Art Deco Bracelet - GemsbyJules
27. Art Deco Bracelet - clairecreations
28. Black and White Art Deco Necklace by Sooz - BoodlersBeads
29. Hamunaptra - thebeadedlily
Voting begins on Saturday, August 9th and ends midnight August 15th. Please show your appreciation for the efforts of these amazing artists by taking on the difficult task of voting for your favorite. (The ballot will appear on the side bar at right on August 9.) The individual pieces are listed below the mosaic where you can visit each entry for more information by following the link. Thank you, enjoy and be sure to come back to vote!
1. Moss Agate Going Green Doily Bracelet - myfairladyvt4
2. Purple Graces - triz
3. WAVES OF SYMMETRY - caraway
4. Flaring Pinwheels Art Deco Beadwoven Necklace - njema
5. Geometric Brooch with Onyx and Carnelian Cabochons - enchantedbeads
6. Harlequin - beadsandblooms
7. Art Deco Earrings Clinkscales Arts
8. Bloodstone Style Moderne - euphoriamoondesigns
9. Grey Art Deco Marquee Cuff - AmethystRavenstar
10. Deco Lotus pin or pendant - beadmummy
11. Art Deco Collar - HighDesertBeadscapes
12. Black Glass and Teal Art Deco Necklace - PinkPoochDesigns
13. Embroidered Pendant on Herringbone Rope - vanishingpearl
14. Lost Treasures - Art Deco- beadwoven set - BeadCatcher
15. Art Deco Meets Goth - WickedOakDesigns
16. A Trip to The Nile - Collar EBWC - SmadarsTreasure
17. A Salute To Art Deco - wMarlaine
18. Inspired by Cartier - Chrisbeads
19. Latte at Hotel Mercedes - Hand Beaded Cuff - ThreeFatesDesign
20. Art Deco necklace - Orly's BeadsHead
21. Butterfly Garden Enamel Necklace - ThePreciousBeads
22. Beguiling Beadwoven Art Deco Miniature Oil Lamp - Salamander House
23. Windows to the Past - adinahalperndesigns's
24. Art Deco Cuff - Savoy Studio
25. Stars of the Sea Cuff Bracelet - arosebyname
26. Search Light Art Deco Bracelet - GemsbyJules
27. Art Deco Bracelet - clairecreations
28. Black and White Art Deco Necklace by Sooz - BoodlersBeads
29. Hamunaptra - thebeadedlily
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
September Challenge Theme - Complementary Contradictions
Smadar of Smadar's Treasures won our July challenge with her Roses in the Night Sky Cuff Bracelet . Her prize is the privilege of choosing the theme for the next challenge. Smadar has chosen a really interesting theme for the Etsy BeadWeavers September challenge:
What will the EBW team members create for this challenge? I can hardly wait to see! Let your imaginations run wild and see what you come up with...there is certainly lots of room for your unique creativity here!
Thank you, Smadar, for such a creative and inspiring theme. OK everyone, if you've already finished your entry for the August challenge (Art Deco - voting begins August 9th) then get beading on a Complementary Contradictions piece!
See our FAQ here for all of the details on the rules of our challenges.
Complementary Contradictions
What will the EBW team members create for this challenge? I can hardly wait to see! Let your imaginations run wild and see what you come up with...there is certainly lots of room for your unique creativity here!
Rules:
Any style, any technique with a majority of beadweaving is welcome
ONE only entry per person
Must be created between July 31, 2008 and September 5th, 2008
Thank you, Smadar, for such a creative and inspiring theme. OK everyone, if you've already finished your entry for the August challenge (Art Deco - voting begins August 9th) then get beading on a Complementary Contradictions piece!
See our FAQ here for all of the details on the rules of our challenges.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Ars longa, vita brevis
I sold an astonishing 29 pieces at a show last weekend (in spite of the scary thunderstorm that ended the second day of the show an hour early), and with another show this weekend, I decided I'd take today off from my real job and produce.
I beaded my butt off. (Sigh. Don't you wish you could really do that?) I started before 8 a.m. and just quit about half an hour ago, 7:15-ish. I stopped for lunch and dinner and ran a couple of errands. I'll subtract an hour and half for all that, and that still was nearly 10 hours of beading. And in that time I produced exactly two pairs of earrings, a bracelet and a pendant. (Wow! Just another 25 pieces to go between now and Friday! And tomorrow is Thursday.)
I suspect many beaders are like I am when it comes to pricing work -- clueless. Back when I was a freelance writer, I once asked a fellow freelancer how much to charge for, say, writing a press release. The answer was, "As much as you can ask while still keeping a straight face. And if they accept your price without a quibble, you didn't ask enough." Of course, writing is not beading (thank goodness -- I don't want anyone coming back to me with requests for revisions on my earrings!), and I don't think any of us want to have our customers haggle over prices. Nonetheless, when something doesn't sell, I always wonder if I've priced it too high.
So how does one decide how much to charge? I've read in various places that one should charge 2.5 times the cost of materials. That might work for silversmiths or furniture makers, but I think beadweavers are more like painters, in that regard. Does a painter weigh each dab of pigment he or she puts on the palette? My seed beads are like that. Even if I had the discipline to track the price of every tube of beads and record how many of each bead I use in a piece, I'd spend more time counting than creating. And if I had the mindset for that, I'd be an accountant, not an artist. (Before all the accountants rush to hit the "comment" link, let me add that I'm sure there are many artists who are accountants and vise versa. But I'm not that talented!)
Another pricing philosophy is that one should price pieces according to an hourly rate. This is a bit problematic for me, too. Since I have a day job, I rarely complete a piece in one sitting. And if I kept a record of how many minutes I spend on a piece, we're back to the "counting, not creating" problem. Today, however, turned out to be a good benchmark, since I was specifically focused on beading. Ten hours, four pieces. I didn't track how much time I spent on each piece, but if I assigned four hours each to the bracelet and pendant, and an hour to each pair of earrings, the prices I charge for these pieces are very close to the hourly rate I've set for myself.
Is my hourly rate too low? Probably -- but that's a whole 'nother issue. What is our time worth?
Article by Frances of bebop beads.
I beaded my butt off. (Sigh. Don't you wish you could really do that?) I started before 8 a.m. and just quit about half an hour ago, 7:15-ish. I stopped for lunch and dinner and ran a couple of errands. I'll subtract an hour and half for all that, and that still was nearly 10 hours of beading. And in that time I produced exactly two pairs of earrings, a bracelet and a pendant. (Wow! Just another 25 pieces to go between now and Friday! And tomorrow is Thursday.)
I suspect many beaders are like I am when it comes to pricing work -- clueless. Back when I was a freelance writer, I once asked a fellow freelancer how much to charge for, say, writing a press release. The answer was, "As much as you can ask while still keeping a straight face. And if they accept your price without a quibble, you didn't ask enough." Of course, writing is not beading (thank goodness -- I don't want anyone coming back to me with requests for revisions on my earrings!), and I don't think any of us want to have our customers haggle over prices. Nonetheless, when something doesn't sell, I always wonder if I've priced it too high.
So how does one decide how much to charge? I've read in various places that one should charge 2.5 times the cost of materials. That might work for silversmiths or furniture makers, but I think beadweavers are more like painters, in that regard. Does a painter weigh each dab of pigment he or she puts on the palette? My seed beads are like that. Even if I had the discipline to track the price of every tube of beads and record how many of each bead I use in a piece, I'd spend more time counting than creating. And if I had the mindset for that, I'd be an accountant, not an artist. (Before all the accountants rush to hit the "comment" link, let me add that I'm sure there are many artists who are accountants and vise versa. But I'm not that talented!)
Another pricing philosophy is that one should price pieces according to an hourly rate. This is a bit problematic for me, too. Since I have a day job, I rarely complete a piece in one sitting. And if I kept a record of how many minutes I spend on a piece, we're back to the "counting, not creating" problem. Today, however, turned out to be a good benchmark, since I was specifically focused on beading. Ten hours, four pieces. I didn't track how much time I spent on each piece, but if I assigned four hours each to the bracelet and pendant, and an hour to each pair of earrings, the prices I charge for these pieces are very close to the hourly rate I've set for myself.
Is my hourly rate too low? Probably -- but that's a whole 'nother issue. What is our time worth?
Article by Frances of bebop beads.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
EBW Team Midsummer Madness Sale!
Etsy Beadweavers present:
1st Ever EBW Team Midsummer Madness Sale!
Sale begins July 21st and runs thru to July 27th!
EBW Team members have gotten together to offer some special incentives for buying Handmade on Etsy.
Check out the fabulous beadwoven art jewelry specials at these participating shops:
Adina Halpern Designs 20% Off Everything
Adri 33 Select Items on Sale
Amber Leilani Free Shipping
A Rose By Name Free Shipping on Beadwoven Jewelry
Beadmatrix -10% First Item, -20% Second Item, -30% Third Item
Beadwork by Cindy Caraway 20% Off Pendants-- Excluding Archetypes
cigarboxbeads SALE Section
Cielo Design 15% Off Everything
Claire Creations Select Items on Sale
Clinkscales Arts 20% Off Select Items
Conlins Creations 20% Off Everything
Bead Diddy 15% Off Everything
Beadesigns by Dale Free Shipping + 10% Off Multiple Purchases
Beads and Blooms Free Shipping on Jewelry
Enchanted Beads 15% Off Everything
Far Frum Plain Jane 15% Off Everything
Fashions From E 15% Off All Beadwoven Jewelry
GrandmaMarilyns 15% Off Everything
High Desert Beadscapes Free pair of Cactus Bloom Earrings + Free
Shipping
JoyFullyJewels SALE Section
Littlestone Design 20% Off All Bracelets
Lolos Free Shipping on Select Items, 15% Off Select Items
Misty Ridge Beads Free Shipping + Gift
Inspired Jewelry by Ann Burke SALE Section
Lynn Davy 10% Everything + Free Shipping
njema 15% Off Selected Items + Free Shipping Storewide On Multi-Item Purchases
Orly's BeadsHead 20% Off Everything + Free Shipping
Play'n With Beads Free Shipping
Salamander House Studio Free Shipping
SandFibers Gift with Every $20+ Purchase
Silver Dragon Creations Free Shipping
Smadars Treasure 10-15% Off Select Items
Strung Out Creations 20% Off All Beadwoven Items
thebeadedlily 20% Off All Beadwoven Jewelry
time2cre8 Free Shipping + Gift on All Orders Over $25
Unique You Everything on Sale + Free Shipping
Valhalla Forge Designs Free Shipping
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