Printed Native Stripes

As of July 5, 2015 it's live on Amazon and you can purchase your own printed copy ... enjoy

Give it a week and the last of the String Along files will be ready to have printed copies from Amazon.  I'm just waiting for a proof copy.  This is still one of my happy pieces even if I've seen ropes done in elegant colors.  You can see what others have done on Pinterest.

I'll let you know when it's ready

Book organization

Patterns & Graphing went out of print last year and I've finally gotten a printed republished edition up on Amazon.

You can also get an eBook copy from Bead-Patterns.  The nice thing about eBooks is that you can print out individual pages to scribble notes on.

And the prices have gone down also.





Urban Stripes has been an eBook for some time now, but I finally got the higher resolution photos together to do a POD edition on Amazon.

I personally still like paper copies of patterns, beading and other books.  
Amazon printed copy is here



When I did my first Bead Crochet book 14 years ago, I thought it might be just a 30 day wonder. Digital cameras were new and expensive, there were no Print-on-Demand services and downloads were scarce. I'm amazed (and grateful) that sales of all of my books continue as new beaders discover what they can do with bead crochet.

African Stripes

I don't move as fast as I once did, but it's still fun to dream up patterns in this technique.

Circus Bangles

It's live on Amazon

It's live - it's up on Amazon..... and they've discounted it.....

Republished Edition of Bead Crochet Ropes 

Also, you can now purchase this republished print version in England and the rest of Europe through Amazon.

If you've just discovered bead crochet, or wanted your own copy, here is your chance.  If you are one of the people who teach and have asked me for copies, you can wholesale order copies through Create Space, Amazon's POD subsidiary.

Now I'm off to a couple of Tucson's Gem & bead shows.  I need a pearilized 8/0 bead for the next String-Along - Garden Stripes - ready to go about Feb 15th.

Bead Crochet Ropes Republished

Republished edition of the original 2002 booklet.

will be available through Amazon's print-on-demand services in about 5 days. 

It will also be on Amazon Great Britain and Europe.

This is an exact reprint so the original tips and material information will not be current.  As the printing process is different, it's on different paper and had a long printing history, the price has been changed to $16.25.  The core information, clear how-to photos and patterns are still some of the best out there on the bead crochet technique. If you want to learn, this is how-to-do-it.  

So keep an eye on Amazon, but make sure it's the "republished edition"  

The price on the eBook has also been lowered if you like digital editions.

The eBook is on Bead-Patterns.

                                          ENJOY

Moths, Books & Beading

Well, I have a real mess of fabrics, paper patterns, old shoe laces, wire, beads and this huge reference book of moth photos that are larger than life sized -- way larger.  However, I have no soft sculpted moths yet.  I've been bending up wire, trying to figure a stable way to embed 6 moth legs in the middle of a stuffed cloth body.  So far all of my moth bodies wobble and promptly fall over.  So back to the drawing board as I really want legs on my moths.

As I travel around, running errands, I've been crocheting.  No, I've not been doing the driving!  Here is my Sister's "essence of snake" lariat that needs only another couple of inches to be done.  It sure does have that look of snake.  In the background is a pile of bracelets waiting to be joined.  I love everything but the bracelet joining.  It's right up there with doing my IRS taxes and I can procrastinate on both things almost forever.

Bead Crochet Ropes is the first book that I published, 11 years ago.  It's been out of print for some time now with only an eBook version.  I've had so many requests from different people, bead stores and bead crochet teachers for a print copy.

My Graphic Artist daughter has changed software 3 times and now lives half a country away in Chicago.  We've worked out the conversions, tweaked layout and photos back into place and as soon as Amazon's Print-on-Demand agency quits fiddling about the correct ISBN #,  there will be a republished, ink on paper book once again.  I'm in hopes of seeing something in 10 days to 2 weeks.  Cross your fingers.  The paper won't be as nice and it's one of those instant print processes .... so the price will be a lot lower at $16.95.  I've also changed the eBook price on Bead-Patterns.com.

I've been told that the set of how-to photos are some of the best out there for learning (or reviewing) the technique.   This edition is an exact republication of the original book.  Many things have changed over the past 11 years, however I've left the original information exactly as it was originally printed.

If you have an original copy, you may want one of these to cut apart and make notes on the pages.

I have a treat coming up as I'm heading North to bead with long time beading friends for a day or two.  It will be nice to see everybody and even better to share creative solutions.  I hope they help and push me further along the Moth pathway.

Cold Season's Greetings

As the year turns, we start waiting for the light to return.....

With the Winter Solstice upon us, I want to take this opportunity to wish my family, friends &; followers a peaceful Solstice time and a happy and prosperous 2013.

"The time has come," the Walrus said,

"To talk of many things:Of cabbages--and kings-- 

Lewis Carroll

I realize that I've been very quiet these past 7 to 8 months.  So ...... here is the story in brief.  I'm going to step back, slow down and take life a bit easier.

Being diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis has left me confused in both mind and body. I went from not being able to do anything to a shadowy existence. It's not easy to make up new habits and ways of life at age 70. As one of my sisters said, "you had the good times, now you're freaking old so get used to it!"  Medication has been holding the major symptoms at bay but leaves me tired and sometimes thinking impaired.  Beyond that I have reclaimed an almost decent normal life with the help of a dear companion who puts up with my nasty attacks, washes dishes and will drive me anywhere. He is a comfort and a luxury I can't do without these days. 

Where am I in beading and creativity.  I can no longer travel to teach.  I can (and will) do small in-studio sessions by prior arrangement.  I will continue to publish patterns and pattern sets.  However one major side effect of the medications is a worsening of the terrible procrastination  symptoms.  It just seems to take me three to four times longer to get anything done.  I'm going to attempt to do another Spring String-Along; "Garden Stripes".   Bear with me, please -- I have the ideas, it's just getting them diagramed, written up and the samples crocheted.  Instead of 7 days between sections, it could be 10 days. Anyone want to trade comma, spelling, graph and grammar proofing for a string-along spot?  I have one valued helper in Terri, but a backup wouldn't hurt.  

The beading mess is normal, alive and multiplying.

I can't not create - it's who and what I am.  It just cannot go back to a full time job with all-nighters to get to shows or workshops. Hold on -- I may take more exploratory side trips and become another Grandma Moses.  Who knows what the future will bring.  I'm sure going to find out as soon as I get things more organized.  

I'll still be around, more in the background, but doing something.  If you are in Southern Arizona or South New Hampshire for a couple more summers;  get in touch and let me set up a more private workshop for you in my studio.  

The Eyes Have It

Too much excitement came in the door yesterday.  Contemporary Geometric Beadwork, along with two pairs of old French doll eyes arrived from Kate McKinnon. Stacked on top of that box was a box of beads from a Tucson Vendor.

OK, I held off opening the book til bed time and then enjoyed burning some midnight oil with a well organized, information stuffed, beadwork overloaded book. There is so much there that it's hard to figure out if I want to do some of it, and if so, where to start?

This was one of those strange impulse buys.  The eyes are neat and they open and close.  The mechanism is weighted to make them work right, however it makes them too heavy to incorporate into beadwork.  They are too small to be shelf  knick-knackery.

So, for the time being.... 

Here's looking at you.... creatively!

I had seen a photo of these daggerless daggers and asked one of the Tucson Vendors to bring me 1/2 mass of them.  Then the beads went missing and never made it to Tucson.  They had to wait til they got back home to send them on to me.  I think they will work beautifully in bead crochet.  As you can see, they are the same size as these gold medium daggers, just not a flared dagger shape.  These are the only beads I've seen in this shape.  One could hope to see more and especially in opaque primary colors.....

What do you think?

Working Hands - Hopefully

It takes crocheting a lot of samples to come up with workable rope patterns.  I have some wonderful bead faeries who do a lot of it, but when it comes down to the wire, I need to see myself that what I have on paper actually works with the beads. 

The agony of inflamed and swollen joints the last 5 months has meant that I haven't been able to pick up a hook.  I had some bead crochet patterns, but then I'd see that maybe a change of one or two beads would make the design work better.  It's hard to deal with the time factor that bead faeries need when I could do it in 15 min. or less.

Finally, after misdiagnosis, no diagnosis, Doctor head scratching, more tests and more than one specialists referral ... they are pretty sure that I have a severe case of Rheumatoid Arthritis. Why me, at my age, all of a sudden?  Who knows . . . There are so many people out there who have this, live with it and manage it.  I can do no less.  Give me time to get this all sorted out and I hope to be back to beading.

The specialist has me on a modified, low-dose Chemo regime.  It'll take a while to kick in -- about 10 weeks all told.   If it works and the side effects don't drive me batty, then this bout of nasty arthritis should be pushed into remission. Thin hair and a weekly bout of nausea is a small price to pay to have my hands back again and to be able to walk more than a hundred feet.

I won't dwell on it, nor bore you with any of the details of what's working and not working.  However everyone that's asked for future patterns, books, workshops and string-alongs needs to know why I've been so very quiet and non-productive.  Getting old just isn't for wimps, is it?  When I feel I can, the first thing I'll do will be a new string-along.

Amazon Overseas

Just a little bit of excitement here as I found out that two of my books can be had both in Great Britain and the rest of Europe.  You need to do an Amazon search in your country for either of these two books.  They still are only in English, but the stringing tables and graphs are universal, no translation needed.





Triangular Bead Crochet





African Stripes 


This book is also just released as a print copy at Amazon.

African Stripes ~ Advance eBook Sale

 The African Stripes eBook is ready to go off to my Editor for final editing.  With any luck, it will be ready to publish by the 1st of  October.  Would you like a advance publication copy at a special price? Check for details at the end of this post.
eBook Details on Bead Line Web Page

I am so very happy with the way this pattern set came out.  It manages to maintain it's African heritage yet looks clean and contemporary.  If you like the opaque primary colors that I used, then you are going to be fascinated with what these patterns look like in other colors and bead sizes; 15's, 11's and especially 10/0 Delicas.  I think the Mud Cloth Necklace done in cobalt and silver 8's is one of the most elegant ropes I've seen.  Here are some of the Blog Posts with photos of what others have done.

9/30/2012 - offer closed - it's on sale at www.bead-patterns.com

Between now and when the final, edited PDF goes to Bead-Patterns for publication, (Oct. 1st ??) I'm offering a special Advance Copy package.

• Digitally signed PDF
• Extra snake Pattern Rope included
• $18.00  (will be $19.95)

Your copy will be emailed to you when all editing is complete, but before it goes on sale to the general public.  That could be this week or as late as the first week of October.

Native Stripes ~ String-Along

Thinking of tropical Islands?  Sue K. had Hawaii in mind when she chose her colors.  She's a little bit left to do and then plans on adding beaded flowers to the cuff bands.  Her necklace is going to stand out where ever she wears it.

Meanwhile, the eBook has been published.  You can pick your own colors and make a Native Stripes of your own.

Bead Patterns is where you will find the download for this eBook as well as many of my other patterns.  If you and bead crochet don't agree, you can find most anything you want to bead at the site. 

Now I need to start organizing for my trip to New Hampshire for the summer.  We'll be leaving in 10 days and I need to get all the beads back into their containers for the trip. 

Native Stripes eBook - advance copy

Pre-Publication Sale for $18, see details below.

 The eBook is off to the Editor who will make sure everything makes plain English sense.  Then it needs a final pass before it goes on sale at Bead-Patterns.  After having the danged computer eat some of my files, I'm glad to have it done to this point.

Click on the back cover to see the details of what you'll find inside.  There are 33 pages of graphs, patterns, hints, textile inspiration and photos.













If you don't like my bright bold colors, you can make it your own with your color set.  This is a rope crocheted by Mariana that used the exact same patterns and construction, but her own colors.  There is a photo of her finished necklace in the eBook Gallery.  It's a beautiful color difference.  What would you use for colors?

Sale Details:
The final price will be $19.95 at Bead-Patterns.
If you're willing to wait til Sunday or Monday (April 22-23)
you can pre-pay  $18 and reserve a copy directly
from me.  It will be electronically signed.  I will email your
eBook copy when it's finalized, but before it goes to
Bead-Patterns.  Just be aware that it's a large file and
will take some time to download in your email.

4/25/2012 - offer closed out - it's ready for public sale.

Update Note:
You've read this far and ....... I just noticed that my Blog has gone over 65,000 reads. My birthday is coming up next week also.  I need to double celebrate, and will give the 6th commenter on this blog post a free copy of the Native Stripes eBook.   Be sure to let me know what your email is.