Friday 30 March 2012

Where it all began ...

For several years, I had a fascination with handmade jewelry but had no skills. I made a few stretchy bracelets and that's about as far as I went. But I really wanted to learn more. Then I heard about BeadFX, an amazing store in the east end of Toronto that is a beading mecca... everything you could ever want for making your own jewelry and amazing staff to help you along the way. And they offer fabulous classes too!

So a couple of years ago, I signed up for a class with Nadine Foskin - Basic Bead Stringing. That seemed liked a good place to start. I made a simple necklace and bracelet learning all about the types of jewelry wire, the previously mysterious thing called "crimp tubes" and how to properly open and close jump rings. What a revelation. I even convinced one of the staff to show me how to make a simple loop so I could make a pair of earrings to complete my ensemble. I was very impressed with myself! :-)

I went on to create a couple of additional simple necklaces and pairs of earrings but I needed and wanted to learn more. I was overwhelmed with all that I saw and couldn't figure out where to start.

Then one night late last summer, I signed up for "Open Bead Night" at BeadFX where I met the amazing Stephanie Dixon (a.k.a. The Dixon Chick) and some other wonderful women. Open Bead Night is sort of a "stitch & bitch" - not a class per se, but rather a place to get guidance and help and be introduced to new ideas and projects by our fearless and sparkly leader, Stephanie. WOWZA!

I had always been fascinated by wire bead crocheted necklaces and had done some research. I'd read lots of tutorials and watched lots of videos but needed a bit of hands on guidance and as Stephanie is the queen of this artform, she was the perfect person to get me started. With her guidance, I made my first wire crochet necklace.


Then I took an actual class with Stephanie Dixon and made this one with Swarovski Crystals.
So this is where it all began and I haven't looked back. I've continued to produce and sell lots of pieces and I couldn't be happier.

I will post more of my adventures soon. I have lots of other project pictures from the past few months to share with you.

Until then ...
Barb