The Necklace & The Creative Bead Chat Group
I received this beautiful necklace from Marla Gibson at Spice Box Designs in the mail yesterday. It was a prize I won in a random drawing held by the Creative Bead Chat group on Facebook. Marla is one of the administrators of the group, which provides a very supportive environment for beaders. You can read a little about the group on Marla's blog.
The necklace is beautifully done. It's a wonderful autumn accessory with its earthy tones and the brass chain. Marla tells me that it's the very first piece of bead embroidery she's ever done. I find that hard to believe and have only one thing to say: Marla, you're a natural!
The Original Design & An Online Class
The original design is Marcie Abney's from her Bead Embroidery Made Easy course. It looks like she's teaching it again very soon, so if you're interested in an online class on the topic, it would be worthwhile to sign up. Marcie's designs have appeared in Beadwork and Stringing, among other magazines. She also sells many popular tutorials in her Etsy shop, La Bella Joya.
Good-Bye Beadwork
I recently learned that the Dec 2012/Jan 2013 issue of Beadwork will be the last one I'll be working on as a Contributing Editor. Don't worry, the magazine will go on! It's in the very capable hands of the full-time editorial staff, who will now write the departments that I'd been handling: W.O.R.D. (What Our Readers Did), Bead Buzz, and Bead Artist. Marla's necklace makes a perfect memento to help me remember this fun freelance assignment that I started with the Feb/Mar 2011 issue. Completely by coincidence, I'd chosen one of Marla's projects for W.O.R.D. in the current Oct/Nov issue.
I do have a few editing and writing projects simmering on the back burner, so I'll let you know what's next for me as soon as I know. (Of course, if you know about something I'd be perfect for, I'd love to hear about it!)
Have a great weekend!