Bead and Button 2013

Bead and Button is this weekend. It's the first one in ten years that I won't be at. But the good news is you can still get your hands on some of my beads. I'm always told they are much prettier in person. Maybe someday I can afford a staff photographer, ha ha dare to dream, right. Oh boy, I am totally digressing here. Glass Garden Beads will have a selection of my bead sets, charms, and pairs. I put together all sorts of beads sets like I do for my Etsy shop for them. Tell Shona I said Hi and welcome her to her first Bead and Button show. Here's the info....

Glass Garden Beads

Booth 730

Bead and Button Show

Milwaukee, WI

Have a great weekend,

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Tussie Mussie Is Here!

It has arrived! All 28 bolts made it to the store yesterday wahoo! If you are not local I have heard from lots of quilt shops that theirs has arrived as well.

So lot's of changes going around at the store so I thought I would snap some photos. I have had a few big design deadlines and I am finishing them up. Lots of tweaking and cleaning up to be done on my fifth fabric line but the designs are wrapping up. With all of the wrapping up I am seeing time on the horizon for making more beads and filling the gallery.

One of the big changes at the studio is the end of kids classes. I am so sad about this one, but not surprised in the least. We were scheduled to have one more session before a summer break but baseball and soccer start in the next few weeks. They are such a great group of kids I will miss seeing them and their work.

Also, remember my word for the year? Clear. Well I had a couple hours last week where I found my self at the store with nothing to do. I started cleaning out the storage room. I have two new sewing patterns in the works and I have got to make some space for all of the boxes that will be arriving in a couple of months. Here's a pile of things to find a home for, yay!

I need to start working on my Quilt Market booth for May so I have been looking around to see if there is any space to set up a booth. It's really hard for me to plan a space when I can't physically walk around in it. And if I can find a space, it's the same size of my Bead and Button booth so I am playing around with new design ideas for it as well. I need to mix it up for that show as well.

What spring projects do you have going on?

Have a great day,
Jennifer
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Bead and Button and a Winner

Hey, Hey,

I am back from the show. Whew! It was a great show as usual and I can't believe another year of Bead and Button has passed. Next year will be my ten year! I am going to have to do something special to celebrate.


I got back and unpacked from it all on Tuesday, cleaned up the studio and got slightly organized. I was in a happy state all day. Then I started my to do list. I am working on three, yes three, top secret projects. They all have deadlines soon. I also have another trip on the horizon so I am on the train to stress-ville right now. Hopefully it's a short trip. :)







I wanted to show you some pictures of the booth. I took them on the first day and my lighting wasn't great so pardon the strange lighting. I then put my camera in my husbands computer bag so it would be safe. He took it to our friends house and it never made it back to the show. So the only photos I have are from the first day. Oops!



Last but not least, I got a ton of really great comments last week from all of my pre Bead and Button posts. 130 in all! Thank you so much. So I took all the names of the folks who commented and randomly chose a winner. And that person is.... Jen! I am going to send you some of my new flower stackers. Yipee! Jen if you're reading this, I just e-mailed you, check your in box.







One more thing....the Etsy shop is being filled up as we speak, new things all week thanks to my lovely assistant Katie. She is working like crazy to get us back on track and organized. I will post more about new things coming soon.

Have a great day,

Bead and Button Sneak Peek

Hello, Hello,

I am as ready as I will ever be for Bead and Button. I took a whole bunch of pictures and wanted to share what I have been up to. It's been busy as usual around here. I am super excited about the show this year. I have been working on some new work, some of for almost two years and it's finally ready to show off. I am going to unveil these new beads and things slowly this week. I don't want to spill all of my beans at once. Here's what I am going to do....

A give a way, you can enter all week. Starting today and running until this Friday, leave me a comment on any of my sneak peek posts and you will be entered to win some of my new beads. I can't tell you which ones, because they are still a secret. :) You can one comment every day for more chances to win. I will announce the winner once I return from the show. Good luck!

On with the sneak peeks...Here are my change purses. I made a couple. I actually used them at Quilt Market but I never got a chance to photograph them. I sewed two layers of my ribbon together for a long strap. My giant flower buttons are on the front.

These beads are actually a custom order for a customer. I was shipping them out and just had to get a picture of them before they left on their way to Australia.

Kits, Kits, Kits

Felt is bee-u-tiful colors. These are for embellishing, making flower pins like on the Lottie Dot Bag, etc.

Lots of bead sets..... I love it when I have so many made, it doesn't happen very often.

Alrighty for the rest of the week I will be showing off some finished jewelry pieces I made just for Bead and Button. Come back by please. And even better stop by booth 1103 if you'll be at the show.

Hope to see you there,

What I've Been Up To

Quilt Market wrapped up and Bead and Button preparations began. Whew, not to mention that we had the end of the school year in the middle of that too. It's been slightly crazy around here.

Orders are wrapping up from Quilt Market and I am shipping a whole bunch on Tuesday. Wahoo and thank you Quilt Shops!

Yesterday I spent all day glazing beads. What? It is a holiday weekend? Not for me....

Beads are ready for Inspiration Kits for the show. Just need to get my beads out of the kiln to go with them.

I will keep you posted as the week goes on, there is still so much to do! I am super excited about some new items I will be offering, first at the show an then online. I think a sneak peek will be in order.

Have a great day,

Beads and More

Hey, Hey,

Check out my new beads...the bead show was fun. It was a bit overwhelming for some reason this year and I didn't buy as much as I probably should have. I became paralyzed with too many choices. Now that I am home and looking at things I am saying to myself I should have gotten more. Oh well, there's always next time. Don't you hate when that happens? So these will start showing up with pendants and other beads soon on Etsy and some are going to be saved for Bead and Button and some are for kits. Speaking of kits, I will have some new ones soon. But I guess you could see that from the Studio Shots.

The shots from the studio seemed to be popular, I will definitely do them again. Especially this time of year when I am getting ready for Bead and Button, there's lots going ton. There's also lots of boxes and piles of things too. I have a smaller car this year so I am going to have to do some strategic planning. I am good at puzzles so I am confident I can make things fit. When I used to do art fairs with my tables, I could pack 100 tables in the back of my little pick up truck. It would take me four hours but I could get it in there. Beads are much easier.

Today is one of those days when I have so many different things to do I don't even know where to start. I had a dream last night I was scrambling to get to a wedding on time. I showed up in jeans and then spent the rest of my dream trying to get home, changed, and back to the wedding on time. I think the wedding was Bead and Button.

Have a good day!

Give Away Friday

Hey! Hey! It's give away Friday again. I took a few weeks off. I can't say that was my plan I think those Fridays just sneaked up on me. Leave me a comment for this post and you will be entered to win a woodland snail bead. He is a one of a kind because he has a hole. My snails are usually charms. I think he's pretty darn cute and almost hate to part with him. I am sure he will scoot on to a good home. You can post a comment until Monday morning when I will pick a random winner. I can't give you an actual ending time but it will be once the boys are on the bus and I am sitting at my computer drinking my morning mocha. I am so official. :)

Let's see there are so many things going on in the Jangles studio right now, there is just a buzz about the place. It's so exciting that my fabric is available for order now. This also means that my buttons are being ordered by quilt shops too. I am in full speed production right now. I have a humongous kiln being loaded today with all sorts of stuff. I can't believe it but I think I will have almost everything in stock on my website after today. There are just a few items left to make. Wohoo! I didn't think that was really possible. I also have some new birdies in the kiln. All different colors, I can't wait to see them all together. One more thing and then I will stop....I also just placed an order for some new stamps. I am super excited to get them. I make my texture pendants with stamps that I hand draw. I drew out some new designs and am having them made as we speak. It will still be a few weeks before I can even start making things with them, but I am sure you will here about it when I do. The ideas are churning in my head. Whew! That was exhausting just telling you about it all.

Before I go and let you start leaving your comments, I thought I should mention again, my Bead and Button classes. I can't believe it's only six weeks away(or close to that). I am teaching a bunch of ceramic bead making classes and a jewelry making class. It's always a good time. So if you were thinking about signing up now is the time. I really hope to see you there. I love when I get to spend the day with someone that I have talked to online, it's fun!

Alrighty, get to commenting, and I will be back here on Monday, mocha in hand, to let you know who the winner is.

Have a great weekend,

Bead and Button Classes

Vessels, Bezels, and Additions in Ceramic Bead Making
Sun. & Mon. June 6 & 7 • 9:00am-5:30pm

Happy Monday!
Hope your weekend was a good one. I wanted to let you know what classes I will be teaching at Bead and Button this June. Tomorrow is the first day to register for classes, can you believe it? We have added several new ones this year and all of the bead making and glazing classes have their choice of glazes. In the past students have always received all bright underglazes, but this year I will be offering the choice of brights or earthtones for your beads. If you scroll down, you will also see I have a jewelry making class, called Bracelets, Bracelets, Bracelets. It's going to be fun! Students will come out of class with three finished bracelets just like the photo. How cool is that?

Hope to see you at the show!

Bead and Button Show

Milwaukee, Wisconsin
June 6th-13th, 2010
Marketplace: June 10th-13th




Classes Offered: Bracelets, Bracelets, Bracelets
Sun, June 6th 7-10pm

Bracelets, Bracelets, Bracelets
Tue. June 8 • 7:00pm-10:00pm



Decorating Ceramic Beads
Mon. June 7 • 7:00pm-10:00pm



Making Ceramic Beads, Components, and Vessels
Tue. June 8 • 9:00am-5:30pm




Kilns 101
Wed. June 9 • 4:00pm-7:00pm


Ceramic Beads and Components
Thu. June 10 • 8:00am-3:00pm



Making Ceramic Beads, Components, and Findings
Sun. June 13 • 9:00am-4:00pm

Making Ceramic Beads, Components, and Findings
Wed. June 9 • 8:00am-3:00pm

Bead and Button Finds

So you can't go to Bead and Button without doing a little shopping, right? I wanted to show you what I bought. I got some really great stuff. These are beads and findings you will see later down the road in projects. Above are some great findings I got at Fusion Beads. They have a lot of really unique beads.

These lovely links were made especially for me by Kristi Evenson at Coliebug Beads. She has a lot of really great components like pendants and toggles in metal that she hand stamps and solders. Stay tuned because I have a project in the October Simply Beads with one of her pieces.
How fun are these? Cathy at Glass Garden Beads is making these fabulous pop can beads. I love them. They need to be with Jangles beads in a piece.
Here is some Hill Tribe Silver and felt balls that I bought from The Bead Goes On. I really like there selection of beads. I think I buy beads from them every year at the show.



Chain, I had to have chain. It is so popular in jewelry design right now. I really like these because it is silver plated brass. First of all, it's not as expensive as silver but it just has a nice old look to it. Adornments always has a wide selection of unique chains.

Now I just need to find some time to play with my new beads.

Ready, Set, Go!

Here's a snapshot of my beads. They are all ready to go for Bead and Button.....

If you're going to the show stop by and say hello. I will be in booth 1140. Hope to see you there.

Jennifer

Ah.....Memories

So it was just Birkley's Birthday and I am reminded every year when it comes around of how my life changed when he was born. You know, I have an older son, so I was already a mother and not sleeping. Motherhood was a huge change in my life, but I am talking beads here. This is a blog about beads, you know. Here is my story.....

From a few posts back you know that I used to make tiles and mosaics. So fast forward five years into making tiles and glass bead making was becoming really popular. I had always felt that glass was my calling, even though I had never tried it. I just had a feeling. Cindy Jenkins had just written Making Glass Beads and was selling a kit to go with the book. I got it for my birthday and started right away. I loved it but the beads weren't that great. So one night sitting at the torch it came to me that I should be making ceramic beads. At the time, I was unaware of the "Bead World", as I like to call it. So I didn't realize there were other people out there making them like Mealnie Brooks Lukacs or Joan Miller. I came up with some beads and started making jewelry. I went to the Chicago giftmart with my jewelry and sold them there. After a year and a half of making my jewelry I was expecting and couldn't go to the giftmart. I wouldn't be able to fill orders with a new baby. I needed something to do while I was at home with the two little ones. I had heard of this show called Bead and Button and it was in my back yard, I thought I would give it a try. Bead and Button was only in it's second year so I really had no idea what I was getting into. Birk was born and six weeks later, I was at my first bead show. I did great and the beads took off from there. Every year I am reminded when Birk turns another year older that Bead and Button is right around the corner. I can't believe this is going to be my fifth year at the show. Boy time flies. It also reminds me that I need to get to work making beads for the show!