Spring Creativ Festival

Here in Toronto we are wondering if spring is going to be chased away by a Winter Storm Warning today. But a sure sign of the arrival of spring is the Spring Creativ Festival. It is only two weeks away, April 26 & 27, 2013.

This 2 day Toronto area show is at the International Centre in Mississauga. Free parking and free seminars are two great selling points for the Spring Creativ Festival. Purchasing your tickets online before the show will allow you to enter @ 9 am before the general opening @ 10 am. Your advance tickets also make you eligible to win one of two $900 shopping sprees.

In addition to having a booth (#372) with our kits, patterns and books, Maria will be presenting three informative seminars.

Yes! You Too Can Bead!
Welcome to the world of beading! Great visuals illustrate all there is to know about the plethora of beads, metals, stringing materials, beading wires, wire gauges, tools and findings available in the world of beading. Gain confidence to discover or perfect your own beading style! Vancouver Room - Fri 9:30 

Beadwork: The Finishing Touch
Learn how to finish your beadwork like a professional. There are many clasps, stringing materials, crimps and bead tips from which to choose. Maria shares tips and tricks for finishing off your beadwork project. See how to add a new thread, crimping tips and more.  
Vancouver Room - Fri 12:30 . Sat 2:30

 

Beader's Paint Box  
How do you get your beadwork to pop? Maria shares a little bit of colour theory with lots of examples to show how to place bead colours, finishes and metallics against each other. It's easy and will soon become intuitive!
Vancouver Room - Sat 11:30

Stop by the booth, #372 to pick up a kit or pattern for some spring beading!

Our beaded soutache bracelet or necklace kits create an elegant textured band. The addition of the stone pendant changes the look of the necklace.

This video was recorded at last spring's Creativ Festival. Maria is demonstrating her diagonal weave bracelet using triangle beads. We will have a selection of diagonal weave kits to make this fun and easy beaded band.

For those with a stash of beads (big or small) we also have patterns as well as Maria's four books.

We look forward to seeing you at the show. Hopefully the weather will be more spring-like that weekend!

Happy Beading!

"Embellishing Your World" show

Maria and Naomi Smith with a printout of the opening slide

It was great sharing my "Embellishing Your World: Beading & Surface Designs" with fellow beadmates on Nov 10th at the Toronto Bead Society. This was an inspirational seminar with beadwork examples and stories from around the world.

What was special that evening was that Naomi, a fellow TBS member, brought her collection of First Nations Beadwork. I featured photographs of her collection in the first five slides of my PowerPoint. We combined the best of two worlds for the benefit of our members. I projected images and pointed out interesting details about the unique artifacts of the Mohawk and Tuscarora Nations. Naomi brought the genuine articles so people could then see them up close. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity for TBS members.

For my half of the display, I brought my collection of beaded "Pysanky" eggs. Several were beaded by Vira Pavlova Witkovska plus other bead artists from Ukraine. The beaded "Lilacs" were made by Oksana, a young student of an after-school Craft Program in Kolomyya. They're so life-like it's hard to believe they're just beads on twisted wires! Amazing... Love it!

Maria's collection of beaded 'pysanky' eggs, ornaments and bead wire "Lilacs"

I'll be presenting "Embellishing Your World..." to the new West Toronto Beading Guild on Mar 8, 2011 at their regular monthy meeting. We're going to combine it with a hands-on beading workshop on learning how to do the versatile Diagonal Weave. I'm looking forward to inspiring the new beaders!

If you'd like an inspirational program by a passionate speaker, just let me know.... I'll be happy to share this and other beadwork presentations.

Embellishing Your World

I'm just putting the final touches on this newest inspirational presentation about beading and surface designs (needlework, mixed media, etc.). This seminar will debut this Sat, Oct 22nd, at 3 pm at the Creativ Festival in Toronto. Here's what it's all about:

Transform the mundane into beautiful with an array of technique and design ideas presented by bead artist Maria Rypan. Be inspired to embellish a few things once you see how people in different parts of the world meet the challenge to create beauty with materials on hand. Breathtaking photographs of decorated objects and their stories will motivate you to transform a few of your own.

PS: There is so much eye candy! So many incredible artifacts from First Nations people, Pashtun tribes, Zulu chiefs, Ukrainian artisans, school kids and a former dissident, US crafters and a Canadian bead artist! Plus a chance to visually "meet" some of these talented people with their folk art.

I would love to show this PowerPoint presentation around the world. Just say the word, and I'll be there. Let's talk....

Mi'kmaq Museum, NS

Travel necessities - map, camera, beads, stringing material, brochures

Mother Nature forced us to find an indoor activity. The Glooscap Heritage Centre in Truro, NS had an amazing bilingual multimedia presentation about the history and folklore of First Nations people and early European immigrants.

The artifacts were displayed in cabinets equipped with press buttons which shed light on the objects when touched. While this was a great preservation idea, it was a bit of a challenge when taking pictures. We had fun trying to photograph the displays with one hand on the button and one on the camera. No complaints when a friend pressed the far corner one for an overall lit shot.

Here are two examples of traditional quill work with an introduction of a beaded trim. These are ideal for inclusion in my new seminar "Embellishing Your World: Beading and Surface Designs" which I will be presenting at the Creativ Festival this October.