Dragons Tail Colorway Options for BABE! 2013

Below are images of the various colorways that the Dragons Tail class kit will be available in for my students at BABE! 2013.
An ooops in the email!  The class is Nov. 15th and 9am....not Nov. 5th.  One little number can make such a HUGE difference!  :)

This is a sold out class.  Sorry, I do not offer kits of projects I am currently teaching outside of the classroom.  This post is for my students to be able to select which colorway they would prefer so that I can reserve it for them.

These necklaces are all created with SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS Crystal Pearls and Japanese Seed Beads.  Remember to bring your Fireline or Wildfire to class.  If you forget or need to purchase some I'll have some available in class in 30' spools. 

Copper Dragons Tail

Petrol Dragons Tail

Bronze Dragons Tail

Cream Dragons Tail

Green Dragons Tail

Please reply to my email with your color choice at your earliest possible convenience in the event that I need to order more product.

Thanks!  See you in class!

Not My Holiday

Did you know I am a high school dropout?  It is certainly not something I am proud of, but it is a fact and one I have learned to stop hiding from.  I’ve managed okay since then with hard work, determination and amazing people in my life. 

I’m the classic case you’ve heard about; a kid who couldn’t manage to conform to public school standards.  I had my own ideas and that really ticked off the teachers and administrators in my school.

The last report I turned in was on Christopher Columbus.  I got a big fat red F, was called into the principal’s office and my Mom was called and also reprimanded for allowing me to “speak my mind”. 

I ripped the pages up and dumped them on his desk just before I walked out.  I returned two days later to pick up stuff from my locker and never returned.  I did go to a vocational school, but that didn’t pan out very well either.  While I had the height and build, I did not have the tenacity for modeling.  Those girls are ruthless!  LOL

Anywho, on to why I hate Columbus Day and refuse to celebrate it as a holiday. 

These are facts; you can look them up if you don’t believe me.

Columbus did not “discover” the new world.  Leif Ericson found it about 500 years before Columbus got lost looking for the East Indies and stumbled onto the shores of a group of islands off the coast of Florida that we now refer to as the Bahamas. 

His greed when he saw the native inhabitants wearing gold was the impetus for his highly funded return trip.  The original voyage was meant to establish a better trade route to Asia.  Instead he returned to Spain with 25 native Lucayan aboard his ship.  Of them only 7 survived.  Columbus noted in his journal, “I could conquer the whole of them with fifty men and govern them as I please”.

When the queen was made aware of the prospect of that much gold, she sent Columbus back with an arsenal of ships, weapons and 1,500 men.  Sounds like a friendly approach, eh?

Columbus returned with a renewed vigor to “conquer”, and set up horrible forms of treatment of the indigenous people raping and killing their women and children and setting up a token system whereby they would supply him with what he wanted (gold) or face a horrible torturous death.   

Another excerpt from his journal: "A hundred castellanoes are as easily obtained for a woman as for a farm, and it is very general and there are plenty of dealers who go about looking for girls; those from nine to ten are now in demand."

Columbus' acts of cruelty were so unspeakable and so legendary, even during that age of debauchery,  that Governor Francisco De Bobadilla arrested Columbus and his two brothers, put them in chains, and sent them back Spain to answer for their crimes against the Arawaks. But the King and Queen of Spain, their treasury filling up with gold, pardoned Columbus and let him go free.

It is estimated that the final death toll from post-Columbian disease and starvation was between 3-5 million. 

 

So, the next time you’re disgruntled that the post office is closed to celebrate our federal holiday of Columbus Day consider what took place in our history to bring that about.

Oh….and also consider that it was FDR who established this day as a holiday.  I’ll save you from hearing my tirade about that! 

Mine, Mine, Mine!

Ut Oh!  Controversy!  Proceed with caution, there is an opinion ahead. 

My thoughts are mostly about "ownership" or perceived notions of "ownership" regarding beadweaving.  That should scare quite a few peeps away!  LOL

Having been online for almost 20 years now, joining in with groups, newsgroups, email lists, online forums, you name it - that have anything to do with beading, mostly because I LOVE beaders and hanging out with them, and sharing ideas and oohing and aahing over other peoples beautiful creations, I have also managed to hear 1000 times, “I learned to bead from my Grandmother, Mom, Aunt, etc.”. 

I did, too!  And then I learned more stitches from my SIL, and even more from the Native American folks in my area who shared their knowledge freely with me….because that’s what you do.  You share what you know with others.  Especially in beadweaving.  It is how skills have been passed down from one generation to the next.

In history, most arts and crafts or even artistic skills, such as lampworking from Italy, or the Matryoshka dolls from Russia, or German brewery, or Native American basketry, Brazilian Woodworking, Japanese Origami…. I could go on and on, had skills that were passed down from generation to generation.  Many times with no written documentation.  Each successive generation was just shown how to create something and many times they added their own unique style or even additions or simplifications to the completed work.  Sometimes they were closely guarded family or cottage secrets, but many times, in order for them to continue or flourish they were shared outside of the family.  In some cases it was to ensure the preservation of a technique, in other cases it was to ensure the industry did not die out.  And many times these skills were given freely to the most eager ones who wanted to learn. 

This is not to say that charging to teach shouldn’t happen.  Obviously I am not against that either as I do it myself, and as often as I can manage.  But I also try to share things freely as well.  I have an obligation to pass on what I was taught by some.  It was part of the condition of them sharing so freely with me that I would also share freely when asked.  I have an easy vehicle for that as I’ve owned a brick and mortar bead store for 28 years.  I cannot even begin to count the amount of times I’ve shown someone how to make a proper loop on a headpin, or how to keep their tension even in beadweaving, or how to get your knots secure on a strand of pearls, or what the proper thread path is for Peyote stitch….just because they came up to me and asked.  I also cannot express how fulfilling it is to me to be able to pass along what I was taught to another.    

And in thinking about what is, or in my “opinion” should be shared freely, it brings me right back to the impetus for the blog post.  Bead weaving stitches.  My personal opinion….they don’t belong to you!  Even if you “think” you came up with some unique thread path all on your very own, chances are you are sharing it with some other mind somewhere on this planet.  Now, the design you create with that stitch….all yours.  Any words or illustrations or images you may create in order to share or teach that to someone else….ALL YOURS!  But the course that the needle and thread are taking through those bead holes??  How would you ever have a way of knowing that it has not been done before?  I mean, it could have been a mistake I made just yesterday.  Or it could be something a Zulu tribesman is fine tuning right at this very moment, or it could be something a Pomo Indian perfected 100 years ago.  You don’t know.  I don’t know.  We have no way of ever truly knowing.  So let it go.  Stop with the Mine, Mine, Mine attitude about it.  It makes you look petty, and frankly rather selfish and snide as well. 

Do you ever see a knitter talking about a stitch being hers? A master tailor saying those fine crossed over stitches belong to him?  A fiber artist claiming stake to combing two fibers into a beautiful knot?  Heck no!  They are not vain enough to presume they’re the only living soul since the dawn of man to tie a freaking knot in some thread and you shouldn’t be either! 


I am not saying that every single one of us needs to share what we know freely.  I will say that I enjoy doing it as often as I can so maybe try it once in a while and see if it fills a space in your heart as well.  What I’m truly trying to say here is that if you let go you will be amazed at what comes your way.  If you share just a little you will gain more than you can possibly contain.  If you stop with the notion that something is Mine, Mine, Mine and realize that is pretty close to impossible and instead focus your energy and attention on what you can create with those thread paths, not only will your life be more peaceful but you will also have opened your mind to more knowledge than you can possibly imagine.

Let it go….it was never yours to begin with. 

With respect,
Happy Beading All! 

Small Family Run Business....Literally!

Did you know that my business, Whimbeads.com, is a small family run business?  Literally, it is myself and my husband Shawn, our youngest daughter Shawna and her girlfriend Kayla, Maria who works part-time packaging and Joan our accountant of about 20 years.  And once in a while when we’re getting ready for a big show we’ll also call in other family members and former employees to help us package up beads.

With this staff we manage to operate a retail store (Out On A Whim), run a fairly successful mail-order business, operate a wholesale division of our business and do trade shows.  Oh, and I also teach beading as often as I can manage to make it work. 

Our customer service department is us.  Our technical website maintenance is us (unless I need to call the hosting company for help).  The photographer is Shawn.  The buyer is usually me for new product and whoever has a free moment to get an order placed to restock.  The janitor and handyman is Shawn.  The people filling your orders are mainly Kayla and Shawna.  Those two, along with me, are the ones who process your orders and invoice them.  We also check each other’s work prior to shipping.  The main person in the mail-order packing department is Shawn with Kayla helping him catch up. They jockey for position on who gets to put the smiley face on the box.  Shawn builds all of our displays for the store and shows.  Maria keeps the product in order and displayed neatly so we can find things.  I create all of the labels and come up with all of the names for the beads. Shawna replies to about 75% of the emails during the week, or when I’m home working on the website or creating product for new classes/kits.  Whoever is closest to the register when you’re ready to check out is the person who rings up the sale. 

So why am I sharing this?
So that you will know that when you go online and complain, prior to having even called or emailed and given us a chance to help you, you are not only directly hurting my feelings and/or the feelings of my family, but you are also causing damage to a small family run business who works hard 7 days a week to make an honest living. 

Please consider that there is a human being on the other side of that order and at least give us an opportunity to make things right before you assume that we don’t care.   We care more than you can possibly imagine.  We take great pride in how hard we work each day.  And we also take great pride in knowing that we give 100% of our energy to each and every customer.  But you should know that we are still just human, and subject to human error.

And since we are in the business of selling beads to make a living, trust me when I tell you that is our ultimate goal with every single customer.  We do our best to keep items in stock so that when you need them we have them for you.  If we run out, it is just as upsetting for us as it is for you. 

If we didn’t care we most certainly would not still be in business 28 years later having raised four children solely on the income we generate by working as hard as we possibly can selling beads.

Thanks for listening and considering. 

PS....I tried hard to not sound defensive so I could share this with you.  But it is hard when your feelings have been hurt to not feel just a wee bit defensive of something you love so much, which is my family and my business. 

A Plea To My Fellow Bead Store Owners

Dear fellow Bead Store Owners,

This letter is an appeal to each and every one of you to please pay careful attention to how you conduct your business.  While we are each our own unique businesses and we personally do not view ourselves as one company, many times, most especially online, we are lumped as one entity under the heading of LBS. (Local Bead Store).  When one of us behaves unethically and/or breaks the law, we all suffer a bit for it.  Very unfair, but life isn’t always fair, is it?

While I am proud to be an LBS owner for over 28 years now, I am not proud of how some other LBS owners conduct their business.  Nor do I wish to be viewed under the same umbrella as some of them.  Most importantly during the past few weeks when it has been brought to my attention the blatant theft that some store owners are inflicting upon beading designers. 

Stealing their patterns and teaching them in your shops.  And yes, it is stealing.  The excuses have ranged from, *A customer wore it into the shop and I asked if I could teach it*.  Really?  Did you ask the customer if he/she designed it first?
Or, *It’s just more advertising for the designer*.  No, photocopying their pattern is NOT advertising, it is theft.  Ask their permission first, they may just give it to you.  Or…shocker!  You may have to pay them something for their time!!  You know, like you expect your customers to pay you for the beads they walk out the door with!

The latest excuse has just really upset me, *Our patterns reflect a minimum of 20% change as required by American Copyright Law.* Really?  Where does it say that anywhere? 
If you’re going to take it upon yourself to educate others, maybe you should make sure you know what you’re talking about first.
I don’t want to waste my time here debating the interpretation of copyright laws.  That horse has sadly been beaten beyond recognition.  But suffice it to say that anyone with the ability to read can determine that there is no such law, or addendum to the law, or modification of the law that allows a change of any percentage to make something that somebody else created now yours.  Get real!  And stop making excuses for your theft. 
Actually, this final excuse is so see-through it is almost painful.  It proves that this shop owner knew he/she was taking something that didn’t belong to them and intentionally altering it trying to cover up their illegal and most definitely unethical behavior. 
Not only do I not wish to be viewed in the same category as someone who behaves that way, I don’t want to even be mentioned in the same sentence.

Please, fellow bead store owners.  Be respectful of these designers!  Without them your customers do not have new ideas to create, new innovative designs to be inspired by.

If someone came into your shop and just took things from you how long do you think you would remain in business?  How about if they just picked and picked and picked at you constantly from all directions, walking in daily and just pocketing a little of this and little of that….right under your nose!

Would you be able to stay in business long with someone constantly stealing from you?
Would you wake up each day feeling less and less like it is worth it to keep trying?
Would you feel hurt that others on Planet Bead care so little about your well-being?

Why would you treat someone else on our small planet the same way?

And are you aware that within a very short amount of time 100’s if not 1000’s of people who share the love of beads will hear about what a jerk you are?

The bottom line is that if you want to teach these beautiful designs that are created by someone else, just ask them!  Maybe they can work out a trade with you, a beader ALWAYS needs beads!  Or maybe they will just have a small fee to charge you for each student.  Or maybe they can come up with a set amount and you can support them while they support you.

There are so many ways to do this the right way and not a single reason other than ignorance and greed to do it the wrong way. 

I am begging you all to be respectful of one another.  To be supportive of one another.  Our industry is struggling enough as it is.  If we can care for each other, respect each other we will survive.  If we continue to take from each other this way we will all lose.  Don’t let that happen.  Do the right thing!

If you are an ethically run shop, Sabine Lippert from http://www.trytobead.de/ has designed this awesome label you can display on your website:

See what I mean about how giving someone can be when you treat them well?