-= Kickin' Back & Takin' It Easy=-

~Happy Holidays~

I guess your all very busy cluing up last minute gift shopping, gift wrapping and lets not forget the grocery shopping for the upcoming holiday. We all find the hustle & madness of this time of the year very trying on our nerves. I'm happy to say that I'm finally finished all of my work. Now I will do exactly what is in my blog title..."kick back and take it easy."

I just wanted to touch base to let my readers know I've not forgotten about you... just been a wee bit busy. The craft fairs just dominated all of my time this fall, both were very successful. I look forward to participating again next year. Filling orders and cluing up loose ends kept me pretty busy till nearly a week ago. I've checked that off my list and now I am concentrating on website, blog and face book updates. This too is near completion!!!

My website gallery is nearly finished. I've made new albums to organize & categorize my products which will make it easier to navigate the folders. I've also added new items to the gallery, you may want to check it out when you have time. Also, I've updated my Etsy store with new stock. Things are going great there too. I'm very pleased with my progress so far in such a short time. Last on my list will be my facebook group. I need to do a quick update there with a little information. It is just amazing how quickly this group has grown. I'm happy to have this much interest and support for my work. I think we have nearly 468 members now. I receive so much positive feedback from everyone...I just love it!

I would like to thank you all for subscribing to my blog. Your support is very much appreciated. I hope to have much more for you all in the new year, another contest, some videos and more pictures of my work. I've signed up for three workshops between January & March. Two are Metal Smith Workshops and we hope to have a Certified PMC workshop too. Also, if funding goes through, I'll be teaching a basic beading workshop sometime in the new year. I have plenty of exciting new things on my plate for 2010 and I'll certainly share them with you all so please stay in touch!!!

Take care everyone!!! Merry Christmas & Happy New Year from my family to yours. Be safe & have a good one!

All of the photos included in this blog entry are of new work. If you'd like to see more, please visit my website.

~Welalin~

-=Change of Venue=-

Just wanted to let you know that we have a change of venue for the Christmas On The Exploits Christmas Craft Fair. It will now be located at the old Dominion space at the Exploits Valley Mall in Grand Falls-Windsor, NL

Times & Dates that I posted earlier remain the same. Hope to see you there!!!

Betty

-=Christmas Fairs - Can you believe it!!=-

Where has the time gone? Why do those hot summer days disappear so quickly?

Well, I can't answer those questions lol but I can help you with your Christmas gift list. I have the details for some great shopping opportunities in the month of November.

As I mentioned in earlier posts, I will be attending two fairs this coming November. I finally have the links to the event page on facebook listed below and for you folks that don't have a facebook account the time/date/location is listed below the link.

Christmas on the Exploits

Start Time: Friday, November 6, 2009 at 4:00 p.m.
End Time: Saturday, November 7, 2009 at 5:00 p.m.
Location: Grand Falls Amoury
Host: Exploits Regional Chamber of Commerce/CNVAS/Northcliffe
Email: trinitys.designs@nf.sympatico.ca

I'll be there again this year with my products from Betty's Beaded Creations as well as Pamela Barry from Trinity's Designs. Come on out to see all the local talented crafts people and check out our booth.

Centre Christmas Craft Fair - Gordon Pinsent Center for The Arts

Start Time: Friday, November 27, 2009 at 12:00pm
End Time: Saturday, November 28, 2009 at 5:00pm
Location: Gordon Pinsent Centre for the Arts (aka Arts and Culture Centre GFW)
Street: Cromer Avenue
Phone: 709-292-4518
Email: rlodge@artsandculturecentre.com

Betty’s Beaded Creations will have a booth at this fair too. This is my first year at this venue. I'm sure it will be a fantastic two day event.

Drop by and check it out. With so many talented crafts people your sure to find that perfect Christmas gift for that special someone.

The two pieces featured in this post will be available at the Christmas Fairs. I hope you take the time to drop by and see me. Looking forward to seeing you all there. Take Care folks!!
Back to beading for me!!

Welalin!!

-=Fall is in the air & I'm Lovin' It=-

Hi there everyone. Well the didn't take long for summer to pass us by. I've been so busy it's been pretty much a blur for me. The kids are heading back to school (woohoo)which means early morning walks with my pooch in the kewl crisp Autumn air and lots of beading!!!! I've a ton of work to get finished before the first week of November. I'm not sure how often I'll get to update my blog but I'll try my very best to keep you all informed on what I'm making, time/dates for the shows and hopefully a sneak peek of the projects as I complete each one.

I've recently finished a few projects which I've delivered to Crafts Council in St. John's here is a few photos:

To the right is a African Helix Necklace. Beaded in size 11 Miyuki Glass Seed Beads in transparent Capri blue and silver lined Capri blue for the spine. These necklaces are created on a form (I use a pencil) to create a tube. The long tube chain drapes beautifully around the neck... its just a gorgeous necklace. It is finished with a glass bead and peyote loop toggle.

This pair of beaded dreamcatcher earrings are approximately 3 1/2 inches in length. Beaded in size 15 Miyuki Glass Seed Beads with 1 inch twisted bugle beads in the fringe. The webbing is sterling silver 30 gauge wire with bead embellishments within the webbing. They are really stunning. Bead colours are matte red, matte white, platinum and black.

The final pair are a Traditional Style Earring beaded in size 15 Miyuki Glass Seed Beads with #1 Bugle Beads. The increase on the fringe makes these earrings very distinct. I've included in the fringe small pieces of porcupine quills. Bead colours are Cream, burnt silver lined orange, orange and transparent brown.

Well that's all for now folks, I must start my morning chores of cleaning up this house then I can break out my beads and plan my new projects. I'll be in touch with news, pics and much more. Thank you all again for your continued support. Take care!!!

-=Beading Like A Crazy Woman=-

Hello everyone, just taking a few minutes this morning to update my blog...fill you in on whats been going on over the last few weeks. The title of my blog update pretty much sums up what I've been doing. Beading, beading & more beading. I'm diggin' in and finishing up some big projects to make way for more projects..lol.

I've just completed another cuff (which was ordered by a wonderful lady I met at the Mary March Museum on July 16th) and the original cuff has since been purchased which is just fantastic. I'm hoping to have a few cuffs made for the Craft Council Craft Shop as well as some for the Armouries Xmas Show in November & also for the 4th Annual Center Christmas Craft Fair at the Gorden Centre for the Arts on November 27th and 28th. So needless to say, I'm am very busy ..lol what else is new eh?

I've also opened an Etsy store ..!!! I've posted eight items and sold one of them in my first few weeks....how fabulous is that!!! The picture to the right is of a necklace currently available. I worked on this piece during the beading demos I did in June and July which focused around aboriginal themes and crafts. Check out my Etsy page for more details.

I've updated my website to include the contact information for my two new markets. You can also follow me now on Twitter!! Yes folks I've gone there lol.....check out my twitter page when you have time. Welp time to get busy...thanks again for all of your support!!! Take care folks....

Welalin!!!

-=Demo's & Beading & Orders Oh My=-

Hello folks, I'm finally able to sit (without my beading tray) and update this blog. It seems like forever since I've done anything else but beadwork. I've been traveling here and there non-stop doing my beading demos since June. When I haven't been traveling, I'm preparing for the next trip or working on a new project. It's been non-stop since the beginning of summer and now it's nearly the end of July!! With three extra beading demonstrations this year, along with picking up two extra markets, I have to say it's been just a fabulous season so far.

The first of my demos was at the Devon House in St. John's. Both myself and Jerry Evans were invited to do demonstrations and talk about our work. It was such a treat to finally met him in person, he is a very talented artist and so nice!!!

My trips to Terra Nova National Park, Beothuk Interpretation Center and the Mary March Museum were fantastic. There were even suggestions of some beading workshops...I'm hoping for this maybe for next summer, not sure if I'm ready for it this year..lol. Above is a picture of myself teaching my best friends daughter Trinity how to bead. This was at Terra Nova National Park. What a beautiful place!!!

This picture to the left and below were also taken at Terra Nova National Park. The kids just swarmed my table for beading lessons. I loved it!!! They certainly enjoyed it. I even had some boys that were interested and wanted give it a try. The tourists were so interested in my work, as well as the local folks.

I'm happy to say that my products are now available at the Heritage Foundation Gift Shop located at the visitors information center in the park.

The trip to the Beothuk Interpretation center was also very successful. I met so many wonderful people there and the staff was just amazing. A bus tour came in from Ontario while I was there and I chatted so much with these folks I actually started to lose my voice. I had some friends drop in to see me - folks from Grand Falls-Windsor - who traveled to this area to see the Ice Bergs at Twillingate.

The picture to the left is of myself, Karen Ledrew Day (supervisor) and Robert Lodge who dropped in for a chat with me. Crossing my fingers to get back here sometime in August, if I can get organized for another trip. I'm also happy to say my products are also now available at the Beothuk Interpretation Center gift shop.

I would like to thank everyone involved who helped prepare and organize these demonstrations: Shannon Reid (Shop Manager) and Maaike at the Devon House Craft Shop in St. John's, Starlen Thistle (Native Liaison) & Paula Gobi (Craft Shop Manager) at Terra Nova National Park, Karen Ledrew-Day (Supervisor) and Maureen Thoms (Owner/Operator) of Beothuk Interpretation Center Craft Shop, Boyd's Cove and Penny Wells (Supervisor) for the Mary March Museum in Grand Falls-Windsor. Thank you all so much and I hope to have the opportunity to visit again next year.

With all that going on, I've managed to get some work done. This piece (above photo) is my first beaded cuff. It's absolutely beautiful!! The huge chunk of Labradorite is just brilliant with the flashes of blue and gold, its simply stunning. I have an order for one already which I'm pretty stoked about!!!

These earrings are another "new" product for this season. Very delicate and light, these porcupine quill loops will surely turn some heads. I wore a pair when I was out shopping last week and was asked so many times "where did you get those earrings" ...I just love to tell them "I make them." I really need to make more stuff for myself...lol.

Whew!!!! That was a lot of information....I think I'll have to be more disciplined with my updating and really try to do it more often. I've many more things to talk about but will leave it for now. Till the next time folks, take care...have a safe and wonderful summer!

Welalin!

-==- Beading Demos & New Work -==-

Hey Folks!

Been very busy these past few week, finished up all my bead orders. To the left here are the gorgeous beaded rosettes I completed for Jerry Evans. He will be making Arm Roaches with these rosettes to add to his Regalia for the Pow Wows this summer. I've also included a picture of the hair ties I made to match the Arm Roach Rosettes (below).

I now have the official dates for my beading demos. Unless something comes up that will makes it impossible for me to attend I will be at the following locations in the Month of June and July:

Devon House Crafts Council

St. John’s, NL
June 20th, 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
National Aboriginal Day celebrations

Beothuk Interpretation Center, Boyd’s Cove, NL

July 12th, 9:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
“See How It's Made 2009– Jewelry Week”

March Museum, Grand Falls-Windsor, NL

July 16th, 2:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.

"See How It's Made 2009 – Jewelry Week”

I’m trying to schedule a day at Terra Nova National Park but not sure yet….still waiting on a confirmation for that. I’ll update here if I get a demo date for Terra Nova. If you get a chance, drop out to see me. Come see how I make my beautiful beaded necklaces.

I will be demonstrating bead embroidery. I will have some of my work on display as well as extra products on which will be available for retail.

Hope you like the pictures of my new work. This lighter cover to the right is for my sons teacher for guitar lessons.

My latest project that I'm working on now is a beaded cuff with a huge chunk of labradorite. This will be my first bead embroidery cuff....I'll post pictures here when I get more work done on it!

Talk soon folks.....take care and have a safe and fabulous weekend!!!

Welalin!!!