New Katiedids Unveiled!

Today's the day! Beadalon's catalog 32 is here. Check out the scalloped edges on my new Katiedids (tm) channel findings. They add a lot of sparkle!

I'm at the CHA show introducing the new decorative edge Katiedids, a new oval shape, a square and my new book, Live Wire Jewelry. Stay tuned...

Live Wire Jewelry is Here!

I'm getting ready to head out to the Craft & Hobby Association Winter Conference & Tradeshow and the Tucson Gems Shows. Bags are getting packed, new jewelry is being made, nails are getting painted...it's a travel-ready frenzy around here!

I hope to see you while I'm on the road. I'll be demonstrating projects from my new book, Live Wire Jewelry, which is now available (along with a new kit and some other goodies!) on my website and through your favorite bookseller or bead shop.

Craft and Hobby Association (CHA) Winter Conference and Trade Show

Anaheim, California

 

Live Wire Jewelry sneak peek and demonstration

Sunday, Jan. 29, 11-noon in the Beadalon booth

Panel Discussion: Beading Trends for 2012

Sunday, Jan. 29, 3-5pm

 

Beadalon Workshop: Artistic Wire Mesh & Katiedids

Sunday, Jan. 29, 6:30-8:30pm

Book signing and Live Wire Jewelry demonstration

Monday, Jan. 30, 10:30 in the North Light/F+W Media booth

 

To Bead True Blue

Reid Park Doubletree in Tucson, Arizona

Tuesday, Jan. 31 demo in the Beadalon booth all day

Create Your Style in Tucson

The Westin Paloma in Tucson, Arizona

Wednesday, Feb. 1 workshops and make-it-take-it

 

To Bead True Blue

Reid Park Doubletree in Tucson, Arizona

Thursday, Feb. 2, 11am demo and make-it-take-it in the TierraCast booth

Beading with Kids

 

My kiddos love to "do beads like mommy" and they've accumulated lots of treasures. Some of their favorites include coprolite (aka fossilized Dino poo), lava beads and anything sparkly.

We have a lot of fun beading together. I'm in charge of cutting the beading wire or cord and attaching a Beadstopper. Then, they're on their own. I love seeing their creations!

There are some safety concerns when beading with kids. The biggest ones are fairly obvious: you have to supervise and you need to look for kid-safe, lead-free products.

We have a lot of large-hole beads because they're easy to string. Once your kids or grandkids are bigger, you can use any beads that your budget allows.

Right now, my kids like making simple necklaces (see one of my daughter's creations here). We've done some stretchy bracelets, but they come back to necklaces every time. They love giving them for gifts!

Are You a Beading Goddess?

I'm counting down the days until the Craft and Hobby Association Conference and Tradeshow at the end of this month. I love seeing new products and catching up with friends in the industry. Speaking of new...

Here's a project for all of you beading goddesses out there! My friend and fellow Beadalon Design Team Member, Julianna Hudgins, is the proud creator of a new line of die cuts for Spellbinders Paper Arts. They're hosting a Blog Frenzy today, so hop over and check it out.

The Jewel Goddess #LF-013 shown at center in the picture above is the actual die. My friend Nikia and I ran it through a Spellbinders Grand Caliber cutting/embossing machine with some Shrinky Dinks Frosted Ruff and Ready shrinkable plastic. Then, we colored our goddesses with colored pencils and followed the manufacturer's instructions for shrinking them in the oven. This is a fun, easy way to make your own pendants and charms! I think they'd make great ornaments, too.

When our pendants came out of the oven, we let them cool and then beaded those girls right up! I turned Nikia's sunshine goddess into a fun little purse fob/keychain and my island goddess into the focal point for a necklace. I immediately thought this would be a great gift for my midwife, but these would be fun gifts for any girlfriend in need of a boost.

Julianna's new line features a bunch of other inspiring elements, including swirly graphics that would make lovely links: check it out and enter the gigantic Spellbinders Blog Frenzy giveaway on her blog. To enter, visit Julianna's blog and follow the instructions. I welcome your comments on this post, but they won't be considered as Blog Frenzy entries. Thanks to Spellbinders for providing the dies and cutting machine for this review. Now, go get your goddess on!

Bead & Button Show Class Registration Open

It's that time already! Bead & Button Show class registration opened today. It always seems so early but classes do sell out so I recommend making your plans now, while all of your top choices are still available. We always have a great time and the Marketplace is awe-inspiring.

I'm excited to show you the workshops I'll be teaching at the Bead & Button Show this year. I'll also be teaching the first one at CREATE YOUR STYLE in Tucson, Arizona in just a few short weeks. The other three classes are based on concepts from my newest book, Live Wire Jewelry. Hope to see you in class!

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B121997 SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS, Beadalon, and TierraCast Present: Crystal Prints Cascade Katie Hacker Fri. June 8 • 8:30am-11:30am - (3 hours) I love these crystal prints and you can never go wrong with a cascade necklace. We'll combine several stringing and wirework techniques in this class.

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B121967 SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS and Beadalon Present:

Dreamhouse Not Included Katie Hacker Fri. June 8 • 1:00pm-4:00pm - (3 hours) We'll be coiling, twisting and wrapping our way toward all -out pinkaliciousness!

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B121976 SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS, Beadalon, and TierraCast Present: Crystal Encrusted Jewelry Set Katie Hacker Sat. June 9 • 9:00am-noon - (3 hours) Three projects in one! Lots of wire wrapping with (almost) instant results. Take a close-up look at the earrings. Yum. These are the new Innovations colors for Spring/Summer 2012.

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B121982 SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS and Beadalon Present: Very Aqua Katie Hacker Sat. June 9 • 2:00pm-5:00pm - (3 hours) This one is an aqua version of the cover project from Live Wire Jewelry. I can't help it - Pacific opal with indicolite is one of my favorite color combinations.

T-Shirt Scarf Necklace

 

Here's my version of the t-shirt scarf necklace that has been floating around on the interwebs. It's a great upcycling project - it's fun, fast and gives new life to an old piece of clothing. My friend Tonya showed me how to make these before the holidays (thanks, T!) and I've made a bunch of them since then. I made a more elaborate, beaded version for the next series of Beads, Baubles & Jewels, but I've been wearing this gray one all the time. 

Old, soft cotton t-shirts work best. If you use a new shirt, I recommend washing it at least once before slicing and dicing. Striped and other multicolor shirts create interesting effects, just keep in mind that the printed side will roll to the inside of the t-shirt strings. Any size shirt will work: bigger shirts make longer scarves that you can wrap around multiple times. Smaller shirts might only fit once around your neck but you can stack several together. It's easy to experiment.

 

 The first thing you need to do is cut the shirt from side seam to side seam, from armpit to armpit. You also cut off the bottom seam. This is basically the body of the shirt and it creates a tube. Next, fold the shirt in half so the side seams touch, then cut 1" strips. You can use scissors or a rotary cutter.

 

Now, stretch the shirt from side-to-side and the strips will start to roll up. Cut an extra strip of t-shirt off the scraps and use it to gather and tie up the side seam. Repeat for the other side so you have a stringy circle.  You can really stretch it out a lot to make the scarf longer and the t-shirt strings tighter. One way to stretch it is to stand on one side of the circle and pull the other side upward. 

This is a fun project for craft night: pass it on!

Happy New Year!

 

This is one of my latest everyday wear necklaces. I originally made it as one of the drops for a necklace with multiple pendants, but I wanted a simpler, more casual version. I've been wearing it pretty much nonstop for the last couple of weeks!

The frame is a hematite Wrapper with matching chain and gunmetal Artistic Wire from Beadalon, along with beads and pearls from SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS. This technique is super simple but it has great results. More wire ideas are coming soon in my new book, Live Wire Jewelry, which will be released later this month!

 

I took this picture during the most recent Beads, Baubles & Jewels taping to honor the stuff that got me through the week. It seems like a fitting materials list for the coming year, too! There's some hair goo, delicious tea, throat spray, trail mix and a C47 (that's the TV-world term for a clothespin).