~March Month Madness - New Contest~

Hey everyone!

Finally getting a chance to update my blog today, seems like forever since I've wrote anything here. It's so great to get back to doing what I love the most, beading, beading, & more beading.

I have a week off school and I'm taking full advantage of this extra time. I recently started a fanpage on Facebook, and have been doing work on it little by little. I did a somewhat silent launch for the page a few weeks ago. Today, however, I'm kickin' it into gear with a full launch ...and what's a launch without a contest!! So starting today, if you become a fan and "Like" my page your name will be entered into a draw for a pair of Spirit Earrings.

One lucky person will win these earrings on May 31. So just visit my Facebook Fanpage, become a fan by clicking the"Like" button. That's it... that's all you have to do to get your name entered into the draw. The winner will customize their earrings by choosing their favorite colours.

So hurry hurry, time's just ticking away and May 31st is just around the corner. For those of you that have already become 'fans', please pass this onto your friends and family, so they too can get their names entered for the Free Earrings!!! Thank you all again for your continued support!!

~Welalin~

~Finally Touching Base~

Hi Everyone,

It seems like forever since I've updated my blog. Well as you know I've been terribly busy with school since I enrolled full-time into the Office Administration course. I didn't realize how "busy" I would actually get ....well let me tell you it has been CRAZY!!! lol. I wrote my last final yesterday & I'm officially on Xmas vacation as of 12 noon yesterday. Can you tell how happy I am :0)

I've not had a lot of time to bead but I managed to create a few pieces that I love to share with you. The necklace to the right is a beaded Rivolis Necklace with Russian leaves and diagonal peyote chain. I also created that same necklace but with a Volcano Rivolis it's simply stunning as you can see on the picture below.

I've finally finished up the last of my beading commitments. Now that I've done that, I hope to bring you more creative beadwork over the winter months. That's if my school work doesn't take up too much of my time. I've so many ideas and sooooooo many beautiful supplies to use that I purchased last Spring.

I may be be attending another PMC workshop this winter, details are still a little sketchy on that, but I'll certainly keep you informed. Also hopefully when school is finished in my next semester, I'll kick off the Spring season with another contest for FREE stuff. So stick around to see my new work and to participate in the upcoming contests.

Thank you once again for being so supportive!! I greatly appreciate all your comments, questions and general interest in my work.

Take care, I'll be in touch.

~Happy Holidays~

!!!Beading & School & Fairs ..Oh My!!!

The days are growing shorter now that summer is coming quickly to an end. This spring/summer has been a very busy time for me. I have had many, many orders to fill & I really wasn’t sure if I could do them all but I managed to somehow keep on top. I have included new photos of a few projects that I completed in July & August; I hope you like them.

I’ve enrolled into college and my classes start on Thursday...YIKES!!! I’m pretty sure my work load will be intense, so I’m not sure how much free time I will have to update my blog & website. I will however try to keep things updated as time allows but my focus this fall will be on school.

As for my beading, I will not be taking any extra orders. My focus for this fall is to design & create new projects for the upcoming Christmas Craft Fairs in November. I will not be running my own booth this year because there just isn’t time for me to pump out enough products to fill a booth. I will however be sharing a one with Pete Barrett from the Mealy Mountain Gallery, hopefully if I have enough products to display. So look for me there at Pete’s booth this coming November.

I’m getting a Mirrix Loom, woohoo, I'm so excited!!! I think the "big sister" is the best choice for me for the project I will be weaving!!! I’ve an order for a beaded belt for one of the ladies powwow regalia I did this summer. I will create the pattern with beadtool, then I’ll weave the belt on my new Mirrix Loom. So don’t forget to check back for pics of that when I get it started. I haven’t loomed in years so this should be very challenging!!!

I also have two retail outlets that need stock desperately, so needless to say I’m very busy with a full plate again for this fall season!!! Did you expect anything else lol…….

Thank you for following along with me here on my blog and also for all your support, I truly appreciate it. I hope you had a great summer!! Take Care & I'll be in touch!!

~Welalin~

~It's Powwow Time~

Hey folks!! Just touching base now to let you know I've not forgotten about you. I've been so tremendously busy these past few months I have not had time to update my blog or website. I'm taking a well deserved break from beading. It has just consumed every minute of my days/nights and literally had me run down. As well, my husband had an unfortunate accident then surgery so needless to say my world has been turned upside down for the time being.

Through all the chaos..I still managed to pump out some great regalia accessories and a few orders for my awesome clients. I've uploaded a few pictures here and will upload more photos in the coming months. I didn't get to go to the Powwow again this summer..it's so disappointing but it could be worse I guess. Next year I hope to attend both the Miawpukek (Conne River) Powwow and the one in Flat Bay..ooh how I long to to hear the drums and see the dancers *sigh*.


A little news.....back in May I was approached about taking on a volunteer position for the Craft Council, I said Yes and as of the end of May I stepped into the position of Central Representative for the Craft Council of Newfoundland & Labrador. I hope I can do a good job representing the members out here in Central. With so much on my plate right now it's sort of hard getting organized but I'm going to try my best!!!

I hope you're all having a great summer!!! The warm weather has finally arrived here in Newfoundland...not sure for how long so I guess I should get out and enjoy it!!! Take care folks, I'll be in touch as soon as I can. Till then, thank you for your continued support, I really appreciate it!!

Oh...here are a few pics of the girls in the beautiful Powwow Regalia. I did the jewelry accessories for Susan Hill pictured (center right) in the dark rust shawl and also for Dayna Benoit who is on the far right in the white, green and pink. The picture to the right shows Dana with her beautiful barrette in her hair. The last picture is of Susan's awesome beaded barrette!!!! All of the girls are just so gorgeous!!!!

~Welalin~

~Basic Beaded Earring Kits~

Yes folks after all this time and talk about making kits..... I have finally managed to find the time to make those beading kits. It was a tremendous amount of work, but I pulled it off. I have 15 different kits available now in a variety of colours in both size 11 & size 15 glass seed beads.

Each kit includes: printed instructions, graphs/chart, thread, needle, sterling silver or 14kt gold filled findings and enough beads to complete the project. A few of the kits include awesome embellishments for the fringe: One kits has Czech Fire Polished Glass Bead embellishments, another has metal feather dangles and 5 kits are available with Red Bay Labrador Porcupine Quills.

So far, I have only had the time to designs & create kits for basic earrings. For anyone who maybe interested in the kits, working knowledge of brick stitch would be a plus. I have included a small printout on how to do a ladder stitch and the basics on brick stitch to help you along.

I have posted a few pictures here of the kits I have available. I don't have them posted as of yet on my etsy site but they will be available there very soon. In the meantime if your interested you can get them directly from me just send me an email and I'll get back to you right away.

Take care folks, I'll be in touch soon with more news, products and maybe a new contest. So stay tuned!!!



~Welalin~

~~New Products~~ Bezel Rivolis & Bolo Ties

Two new products I decided to add to my long list of jewelry this spring are beaded rivolis earrings and beaded bolos.

The Beaded Rivolis are gorgeous; I can’t believe I have not tried them till now. The way the light bounces off the crystals is simply amazing. This pair is called ‘Bell Bottom Blues’ it has a heliotype rivolis crystal (14mm), beaded in size 15 Miyuki Glass Seed Beads. This pair is available on my etsy site.

I have been asked a number of times if I could make a beaded bolo. I decided to get in the slides and ropes and give them a try. What you see here are the first two I've made. The first one with the traditional colours & quills has been sent away to my friend and quill supplier in Red Bay Labrador, as a gift of appreciation. The other is of an Inukshuk inlay made of Red Bay Labrador Porcupine Quills. It is simply gorgeous!!! Both bolos are worked in bead embroidery, using size 11 Miyuki Glass Seed Beads. Stay tuned..more news and products to come over the next few weeks...

~Welalin~

~My Over-Stuffed Nut Shell~

It’s been nearly 3 months since my last update….so much has happened I really don’t know where to begin. First off my apologies for not updating since January. I have been so busy; then sick for nearly a month ...I just couldn't find the time. I'm going to make up for that now though with a recap of the last 3 months. So here it is in a nutshell:

I kicked off the New Year with a contest for a free pair of earrings. It was very successful; I had so many new subscribers for my blog and also on my website. Lou-Ann Geange was the lucky winner of a pair of Traditional Quill Earrings. Lou-Ann customized her own pair with colour and size. She ended up with the most petite pair of earrings I have ever made…they are fantastic!!!

In March I took part in another PMC workshop. Juan Bohorquez was our instructor; what a fantastic guy. The same crew of artists returned from last year along with three additional students, Allison Dancey and Rosalinde Elliott and Rosalind Ford. I had a great time..I think everyone enjoyed it but we DID NOT like those triangles did we folks!!!lol. (picture to the left) PMC Locket. I simply cannot wait to do another PMC class with Juan or Shannon. If we’re lucky, we’ll get them both to come to Newfoundland.

I was approached sometime back in December by my consultant Pete Barrett, she asked if I would be interested in teaching a Basic Beading Workshop. I jumped for the chance and started right away with organizing, planning my projects and preparing kits. It all came together nicely but WOW it was a tremendous amount of work. I’m so proud that I managed to pull it off especially with all the other things I had on the go. The workshop participants were a fantastic group of aboriginal women. They were very eager to learn how to do traditional beadwork. (picture above) Cavell and Sheila concentrating on their beadwork.

We kicked off the workshop with the basics; I gave them a crash course in beads, bead size, colour, brand names, suppliers, websites, needles, threads, design, software. You name it, I tried to cover it the first night; I pretty much squeezed in what I have learned over the past 15 years into 3 hours. Needless to say I could barely talk when I came home that night....lol. (Picture to the left) Some of the students showing off their gorgeous finished earrings and necklace set. ~Sheila, Cavell, Carolotta & Verlie~

The following day the students started their first project which was a pair of brick stitch traditional style beaded earrings and then then moved on to a brick stitch beaded pendant. Those that completed those 2 projects moved on to learning bead embroidery and flat even count peyote. I’m so proud of all of the ladies and really I hope they continue beading. (picture to the right) Some of the ladies very busy with their beading projects.

Lastly, I would like to say Congratulations to Peyton Barrett who will be retiring at the end of this week. Pete and I met a few years ago when she started working with me as my consultant; we quickly became the best of friends. She worked tirelessly to bring about all of the workshops I’ve taken part in as well as my beading workshop and many many more. This lady never stops, I do believe she works around the clock....I often wonder when she finds time to sleep... lol.

Pete is the best of the best when it comes to knowing the in’s and out’s of the craft industry in Newfoundland and Labrador. Her abundance of knowledge and passion for crafts is amazing. The Department of Innovation, Trades and Rural Development have some might big shoes to fill.

On behalf of all crafters you have helped steer in the right direction, I wish you a very Happy Retirement my friend!!!

Ok I think I have over stuff that Nutshell lol. That’s all for now folks!!! Take care and I’ll post again real soon :0)