We had our first class at the Gotta Love Beads store in Owen Sound on Saturday.  It was a huge success.  Many thanks to everyone who attended and participated with so much energy and enthusiasm.  And thank you to Barbara, our wonderful teacher.  She has promised to come back with another class for October – hint – swarovskis.

Our next class, the flat spiral bracelet is fully booked.  If there is interest, we will re-run it sometime soon so let us know.  There are a couple of spaces left in the Introduction to Peyote Stitch class on the 26th.

Our second class will be held on 19 Sept 2009 at 10:am and will teach the flat spiral stitch.  You will make a very elegant bracelet that looks something like this:

The bracelet you will make will be this stitch but in a very sophisticated combination of black crystal and firepolish with a black oxide toggle clasp.

The class will be taught by Renate.  It will last about an hour and a half.   The store opens at 11:30  and you may continue working but the teacher may not be totally available to you at all times.  The class fee is $30 plus applicable taxes and includes all materials.

Our classes must be booked and paid in advance.  We have the right to cancel if necessary.  Our classes are kept small – maximum 6 students so everyone gets the attention they need.

Book in-store and pay by cash, credit card or debit, or if necessary you can call us and provide your info and we can issue you a paypal invoice.

Our very first class at Gotta Love Beads in Owen Sound will be held on Sept 12, 2009 at 1:00pm.  It will last about 2 hours.  This is a basic stringing class and will teach crimping and finishing techniques.  The teacher is Barbara.    In this class you will make an illusion necklace like this:

You can choose your colourways from these:

Our classes must be booked and paid in advance.  This gives us time to prepare your materials as selected.  We have the right to cancel if necessary.  Our classes are kept small – maximum 6 students so everyone gets the attention they need.

If you have a bead design board and tools, feel free to bring them.  Otherwise you are welcome to share our classroom tools.  The cost for this class is $30 including materials.

Book in-store and pay by cash, credit card or debit, or if necessary you can call us and provide your info and we can issue you a paypal invoice.

It’s been super-busy getting the store up and running, but in between I managed to do a little bit of beading. I decided I wanted a little pouch for my personal air cleaner so did a little pattern of my tzu Bella.  For some reason, to me, she looks more like Oz’s cowardly lion.  I added a kumihimo braid for a neckchain and we’re all set to go.

I haven’t been around for a bit because things here went from busy to crazy.  I’ve had a sense for some time now that I should open a bricks-and-mortar store and over the last month and a half, the idea has solidified and turned into a lease, displays, pos software and more.  Here is a picture of the store, in the gorgeous Chicago building

Gotta Love Beads - The Store

in Owen Sound, on 10th Street East.  The sign in the picture still has the previous shop name on it, but new signs are in the works.

Beginnings of a Tools and Wire Display

As you can imagine, prepping all the stock for retail is an enormous job. Here’s a few pics showing the state we’re in at the moment.

Seedbeads Rack

Obviously we are stilll in construction, but it is coming together.

Teaching - Playing Area

It’s not an enormous shop but I wanted to make sure there was space for a little nook where we can have small classes and where people can drop in and sit and chat and bead.

I love Peruvian ceramics and animal beads of all kinds.   And since I like to help out in dog rescue, these poodles just caught my eye immediately.  Just added a bit of sterling wire, some swarovski crystals for a  bit of sparkle and a pair of heart charms and whipped up a pair of fun earrings to wear with my dog-rescue-t-shirt and jeans.  I wish they had shih tzu beads.

Couldn’t really stop there, and I just had to laugh when I came across these silly smiling puppies, so perched them on some rhinestone rondelles for them to use as pillows/beds.  These guys look like they have been up to something definitely naughty, maybe been into the scotch?

Well it was almost time to cook dinner, but thought I’d do one more pair, and decided to switch to gold-tone.  These gold stone fishes just seem to float along under their amber czech firepolish bubbles.

Our local MNR has come to the rescue and identified my mystery toad, which is actually a frog.  Here’s the word from Jason Ritchie, Grey County Forest Stewardship Network:

Thank you, Jason!  And thank you to all of you who have also helped me out, many of you correctly, in identifying this visitor.

It was a gorgeous day today but things were just not going smoothly, so I thought I’d have a break and do a bit of clean-up in the yard.  There are still a lot of branches lying around from the winter storms.  When I was moving my furniture around, I came across this little fellow lounging on my chair.

He looks a bit greenish in that picture because of the light reflecting off the chair, but he’s white!  He has a bit of green in the markings, but I have never seen a toad like this in my life – and I’ve lived in this province for over half a century.  Here’s some more pics.

And another one:

If anyone has any idea of what kind of toad this may be, I’d love to know

I’ve been wanting to start a blog for a long time but the thought was a bit overwhelming.  Then today I was so excited I just had to say something somewhere, so here I am.  Finding a cool way to store all those great delica colours has always been a challenge and a few years ago I managed to score an incredible display case – and free – and prevented it going to the dump!  Well, this thing weighs a ton and after lugging it from my truck into my old studio/shop then into my rv for storage when the shop went up for sale, then moving it to my new place and storing it in the basement for almost a year, I finally decided to figure out how to hang this massive beast up.   Well, here it is -

A Wall of Delicas - Every Beader's Dream

Propped it up on a couple of 2×4’s (they need painting, but actually putting all the delicas in there took precedence) and securely bolted it to the wall in 8 or 10 places.

Close-up of Delicas Storage

I get all tingly every time I go in there…