This afternoon I had the pleasure of teaching these two angels how to make necklaces. Meet CINDY AND JUAN!!

Juan is most likely the sweetest and most well behaved 11 year old boy on the planet. He loves playing soccer.. and took to stringing beads with surprising speed and ability!

Cindy is 8 years old and just as sweet as her big brother, she is a painter, a sculpter, and an expert translator!Dora .. their mother is a tad bit more shy … but she also delighted in making necklaces and seemed to lose herself into this rare quiet time in her world.

Juan made a necklace for his 92 year old great grandmother. Today is her birthday.And Cindy made some beautiful pieces, she works really well with color.

This is something I hope to do more often.. including many other kids from our amazing community here. Today was a test run.. and I couldn’t have had better kids to practice with! It feels great to teach and inspire kids to sit down and make something beautiful in a quiet and bright environment, it’s also fun to hear what happens in their world….

THANK YOU CINDY, JUAN, AND DORA… LOOKING FORWARD TO THE NEXT TIME WITH YOU!

Here is what I am convinced is the proof that there is a genius bead worker (and pattern designer) living among us in Old Mystic, Connecticut.
I met Laura McCabe at the booth of Gary Wilson (who is a genius as well, but for other reasons).. and she showed me several of her original designs… and after seeing tonnes of jewelry and being in Tucson show for more than a week.. I was stunned!
I bought this bead right away , and I have been holding onto it until today when I finally made a necklace out of it. The bead itself is about 2 inches wide.. and yes it is sharp! The “spikes” of savannah jasper are not backed.. they are completely encased in small gold, and glass beads and tiny pearls. The necklace is a total of 37″ and includes Japan Akoya (6-7mm), Kamoka black pearls (10mm), and tiny white Chinese fresh water pearls.
It actually takes a lot for me to use “genius” in relation to bead work… but I think the fact that Laura makes her living doing seed bead work and traveling around the world teaching others to do the same.. pretty much sums it up!
www.justletmebead.com

I hope you enjoy her pieces as much as I do… even if they are a bit sharp for your taste.. I hope you will appreciate the mix of her imagination and talent! ( I should probably mention that she is really humble and sweet)
More power to people like Laura!