Katrina the beader... and Czech Glass Beads...

Katrina Craig's beadwork is a study in esthetics focusing
on colours, textures and different patinas. Katrina will
be appearing at the Malaspina Art Society's April
exhibition. There are six others that will accompany
Katrina... all are members of the Powell River Group of
Seven - an eclectic group of artists from the Powell River
area. That is in Powell River BC.

I tried to find examples of Katrina Craig's bead work
to direct you to - and couldn't... I hope she or someone
she knows see's this story and contacts me...
here: bell.mail (at) gmail.com

I did find another Katrina though - Katrina Bass, she
teaches classes on Bead Wire Crochet... often times she'll
hold classes at the Chevron Trading Post & Bead Company in
Asheville, NC.

If you've never been to that beading store - you will want
to put that on your places to see... they got all sorts of
beading supplies... and a wonderful array of Czech glass
bead leaves...



I adore Czech glass beads....

Beaded Room - for Designing from Home... Fully Stocked... What a Dream Come True - That Would Be...

Kassandra Okvath's Beading Room

I watched along with the rest of you Sunday night
(March 13, 2005) for the popular ABC
"Extreme Makeover" home show to air the segment
presenting the NEW home to little 8 year old cancer
surviving Kassandra Okvath and her family...
I love watching that series anyway - but the show
this week especially peaked my interest when I learnt
that they also built little Kassandra a BEADING ROOM...
and it was fully stocked by a local beading store
with everything imaginable for someone that wanted
to do bead crafting. When the show learned that
Kassandra had an interest in making beaded necklaces
and bracelets and wanted to make more to sell to raise
money for cancer research - they stepped in and
contacted a local beading company that fully stocked
an entire room in the new home for Kassandra and also
agreed to sell her finished works at their stores...

I have yet to find out the name of the store...
and if her items are available there now - or
if there are pictures of her items... I think
it would be an excellent idea for her story and
her items to go into eBay ads - to get the BIDS
up for her items where a portion of the proceeds
can go towards cancer research... it would be neat
if there was a way for the auction payment to also
be considered tax deductible...

I've never checked in to selling things like that
on eBay... I wonder if it is even possible to have
the billing / payments coordinated in such a way...

if you know anything about how the eBay auctions
work in regards to tax deductions and charitable
auctions... or if you know who the beading company
was that outfitted the Beading Room for little
Kassandra... or where her jewelry and beaded items
might be available for purchase - - - I would very
much like to know... a

nd you can reach me via eMail
here:
bell.mail (at) gmail.com

If you would like to learn more about Kassandra's
story or see pictures of her family - I saw an article
about them in their local paper here:
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0314extreme14.html

It's amazing the team of workers that the builder:
Taylor Woodrow Homes of Scottsdale, Arizona was
able to put together to get the 5,300 square foot
two story home built for ground up in less than a week...
including having to also demolish the original 1,800
square foot home to start the project... the team
was in excess of 1,600 contractors, workers and
volunteers...

I love the name of that company - it sounds so
classy: Taylor Woodrow Homes
sounds good, doesn't it... ??

they have their own website -
http://www.taylorwoodrow.com/
and have mention of the Extreme Makeover
Show on thier site as well - in case you
want to check that out...
http://www.taylorwoodrowextreme.com/

and here's and expanded list of the partners
that helped make the home for the Okvath Family
a reality:
http://www.taylorwoodrowextreme.com/meetourpartners.cfm

thanks to all that made this possible for the
Okvath Family...

and Kassandra - if you or your mom ever see this
page I'd love to see sme of the designs you've
made and know where they are available for
purchase... have fun creating beaded items...
I wish you health and happiness... stay as sweet
as you are - you are an adorable person...
so kind hearted and genuine... God Bless you
and your entire family... and all those that
helped to make your dream come true...

.

Bead Renaissance Shows...

Bead Renaissance Shows

Tucson Arizona -- Jan. 31st - Feb. 6th - 2005
Dallas/Fort Worth -- May 20th - 22nd, 2005
Las Vegas -- June 3rd - 5th, 2005
Portland OR -- June 10th - 12th, 2005
Salt Lake -- June 24th - 26th, 2005 NEW
Denver -- Sept. 15th - 18th, 2005
San Antonio -- Oct. 21st - 23rd, 2005 NEW
Tulsa, Oklahoma -- Oct 28th - 30th, 2005 (New Location)
Kansas City, MO -- Nov. 4th - 6th 2005 (New Location)
Albuquerque -- Nov. 18th - 20th, 2005

list provided by our friends at BeadShow

.

Beaded Art Exhibition...

for those of you in the Tempe, Arizona Area
here's something you will want to be sure to
check out ...

and if you are a bead nut like I am - perhaps
within 45 minutes driving distance - this sounds
like something worth the effort...

Item:

Beaded Art Exhibition - comes to Tempe Public Library

March 04 , 2005

An exhibition featuring beaded artwork of the Kuba and Yoruba
tribes of Africa will be on display in the Tempe Public Library,
lower level gallery from March 11 through June 19.

The artwork and sacred objects of the Kuba & Yoruba peoples of
Africa are covered in beaded, geometric designs. Analogies
drawn from these symbols express tribal beliefs and record
interpretations of the natural world that surrounds and sustains
the daily life of the people.

The exhibition is being presented in cooperation with the Bead
Museum in Glendale, and features work by students at Tempe's
Meyer Elementary School, who participated in the museum's
integrated arts and literacy program.

Gallery hours

(Closed during city holidays):
9 a.m. to 9 p.m., Monday-Thursday
9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Friday-Saturday
Noon to 5:30 p.m., Sunday

.

Beaded.org

Did you know that some people actually select the jewerly they want
to wear for the day - BEFORE they picik out their clothes...

I'm not one of those people... are you ?? I am curious to know...
drop me a line...

there's nothing wrong with either method - I find it rare and unusual
to be in the group of those that select their jewelry before
selecting theif clothing for the day...

the thought had never even occurred to me until I read a beading
article recently... and in that article the beading artist mentioned
that she selected her beaded items she wishes to wear for the
day - to determine the colors that she will wear for the day...

(for those of you curious - it was an article about Kathleen McCabe
the gal that owns Global Beads on Castro Street in Mountain View
California

Being as BEAD crazy as I am - I'd love to go see her store sometime...
She's got over 50,000 types of beads... all sizes, colors, shapes and
styles, materials and from 15 countries - anywhere from playful to
ultrapmodern beads.

I'd also like to meet Bob Levantino. He's a professional bead worker
from Arizona. He works with high end hand-crafted glass beads in
creating lampwork treasures. Even Bob says that Kathleen has the
Biggest Bead store he's ever seen and he has been to hundreds of
bead stores around the country. Perhaps big isn't quite the right
word, it's huge - it's iin a 5,000 square foot store front. He
mentioned that Kathleen's Global Beads offers shoppers a comfortable
shopping experience where they can cut their own cording and even
scoop their beads from open containers. McCabe also has a collection
of African Masks and Asian Crafts.

Of all the neat things Global Beads offers - from checking up on
them a bit - the item that most interested me was their ability to
recreate designs just from a picture brought in by someone that
saw something they loved on a Hollywood star... one of the employee
crafters can look at the picture and then recreate the item
according to the shoppers budget. Now THAT is something unique...
I love that idea... if I had known that was even possbile - there
are definite designs I have seen worn by the celebs that I would
have loved to have had... now I'll know for in the future... all
I'll have to do is find a picture of the Hollywood Celebrity wearing
the item and then get that picture to the folks at Kathleen's store.

Kathleen has been doing bead work for 15 + years and refers to her
designs as "elegant ethnic" a cross between African and Asian and
creating streamlined modern pieces.

I can hardly wait to tour the store sometime...

.