Thanks to Chris Shand for teaching the caterpillar bracelet at our last meeting. Twenty brave members came out in the cold to learn the technique and take home a fuzzy fun bracelet. The colors they chose were wonderful.

March 15 is our next meeting and Janna Pereira will be teaching an embellished Brick-Stitch Bracelet. She will teach you how to use a double needle method to make the ladder that the rest of the bracelet is built off of. This is a simple method to get started so everyone will be on their way to embellishing in a very short time. You might think about brushing up on your brick stitch skills before the meeting. Just do a search with Brick Stitch in the title and you will find many free instructions on line.

Supply List:

• Fireline (6 lb) or other beading thread. Nymo is not recommended.
• 2 "Big Eye" needles (recommended but not necessary if you do not have them)
• Czech 3-cut beads. Approximately 10 grams. These are sparkly beads with small facets that catch the light. Metallic or AB coating looks best with this project.
• If you do not have these you can use size 11 beads but try not to use Japanese cylinder beads.
• 2 mm or 3 mm Czech Bugle Beads that match the 3-cuts, or use the colors of your choice.
• 5 -- 5 mm firepolished beads
• Clasp of your choice.
• Scissors, matt, thread conditioner and light of you need it. These are small beads.

Ann Petrou is one of our members and she will be teaching introduction to Precious Metal Clay on March 6 and 13. Ann has studied in several schools to become a Certified Instructor of Precious Metal Clay. PMC allows you to form the shape that you would like and when it is fired it turns to 99.9% pure silver. Learn to make your own beads, clasps, pendants and earrings. For more information about her classes please contact her at beachwalkerann@aol.com

BEADS, BEADS 2007 - Nice People Co., Inc.

Sunday, March 18th, 2007
12:00 Noon to 4pm

Summerfield Suites
54 Fourth Avenue
Waltham, MA

www.NicePeople4U.com
nicepeople@mindspring.com

6th Annual Divine Bead Festival

Sunday, April 29th, 2007
10 am to 5 pm

Mansfield/Foxboro Holiday Inn
31 Hampshire Street
Mansfield, MA 02048

Admission $4

For info, contact TERRI at 631-288-8914 or funkystuffbeads@aol.com

4th Annual Boston's Best Little Bead show at a new location for 2007.

Friday, March 2 from 10-7

Sat., March 3 from 10-4

No Sunday hours

admission $3.

At Boston-Dedham Holiday Inn Hotel

55 Ariadne Road, Exit 15A off I-95/ route 128, Dedham, Ma

more info can be had from Terri at funkystuffbeads@aol.com

Last months class taught by Marti Williams and her helpers was a great success. It was one of the largest meetings we have had with 27 members in attendance and almost everyone went home with a completed bracelet. That's what I call a successful meeting.

We had a lot of feedback from members that said they enjoyed being able to finish a project in one evening. That of course is not always possible as projects become more advanced but we would like to have feedback from our members of what they would like to see taught at the meetings. If any of you have ideas or thoughts on how you would like the meetings to go or what you might like to learn, we would love to hear them.

Caterpillar Bracelet is next months project. This is a chance for you to use all of those bits and pieces of beads that you have left over. Anything goes with this bracelet so use your imagination and what you have on hand to make a fun and funky bracelet.

Supplies:
10" of beading wire (size .014 is recommended but use what you have)
2 crimp beads--crimp pliers
Beading needles-scissors-work mat
Button or large bead for closure (actually any type of clasp will work)
Size 6 or size 8 seed beads for base (about 70 for a finished 7 1/2" bracelet)
Nymo or fireline beading thread--thread conditioner

Fringe Supplies Size 11 and size 8 seed beads
Various glass beads,crystals, pearls, charms, etc.

Look closely at the attached photos and you can see how each artist picked a certain base color theme and then embellished it with other colors. Also look at all the different types of beads they used to create the affect they wanted. Have fun with what you have on hand.