I thought at first I would learn Adobe Illustrator and Marcia DeCoster invited me to her place and spent a couple hours going over the basics of how to shape and color the beads, place, rotate and group them, and create the thread path going through them. I went home to practice and after several days, my frustration resulted in a few tears. I feel I let Marcia down a bit (although she swears that is not the case). I have not given up on AI - just put it on the back burner for a little while.
I shared my struggle on facebook, and received suggestions from several beaders who make patterns, but I didn't have the programs they suggested. Eva Dobos of deEva Designs (who is from Hungary) explained how she uses Word to do all of her beautiful patterns. Isn't it amazing that someone I've never met in person from half way around the world would come to my aid and be such a support? I caught on to using Word pretty easily and within a week or two I had created my very first pattern (with diagrams) for my Metal Bead Sampler Bracelet.
Two other facebook friends, Carol Dean Sharpe of SandFibers and Cynthia Newcomer Daniels of Jewelry Tales (both of whom have created and sold many beautiful beading patterns) proofread the pattern and offered excellent suggestions for improvements. I am forever grateful to all the wonderful beading friends who so generously gave their time and expertise to help me.
If you buy the tutorial only, you will need to purchase the metal beads and a clasp from your local bead store. If they do not currently stock those, you can ask them to order them from the Beadsmith (formerly Helby) Company. The tutorial lists all the required supplies.
For anyone who cannot locate the metal beads and clasp, I have also created a kit that includes all the metal and glass beads, Elegant Elements clasp, Fireline thread and two needles, along with the 10 page tutorial. Both the tutorial and kit are available in both my Etsy and ArtFire shops.
It is such a wonderful feeling to accomplish a goal but I can't quite cross it off of the list yet because now there are more patterns and kits to be made. My todo list has actually gotten longer (sigh) - but that's a story for another day. Happy Beading!
