Open Your Golden Gate!

Swarovski crystals and gift bags

Again this year I traveled to the City by the Bay (see Sashaying around San Francisco) to do some Beading by the Bay. Our wonderful instructors were Maggie Meister, Sherry Serafini and Liisa Turunen. I’m sorry to say that I have yet to complete even one of the projects the delightful women taught, but I am working on them! Like many large cities, San Francisco includes a bunch of ‘districts’ that give it even more color and texture. And thanks to good friends Teri and John, I was able to sample more of the area than just around the hotel. We had some wonderful adventures and ate some outstanding food!

Sashaying around San Francisco

It never hurts my feelings to go to California. And I was more than delighted to get to travel

Top L to R: Winding Road (Cynthia Ledbetter),
Cryptex in process (Marcia DeCoster)
Bottom L to R: Diffractions in process (Cindy Holsclaw),
Verona Wreath (Miriam Cielo Shimon)

to San Francisco to see one of my good friends and to wallow in one of my passions. Beading by the Bay is a retreat that brings a group of bead artists together to share their love of working with those addictive, tiny orbs of glass. My friend, Teri, who shares in the addiction, introduced me to this particular group. Our three instructors were Marcia DeCoster, Cindy Holsclaw, and Miriam Cielo Shimon; the meeting was sponsored by Swarovski, All Beads Cz s.r.o., Miyuki Co., Ltd., and TierraCast. The sponsors sent us bags of goodies we could use to design our own creations; the products were amazing, and ranged from necklaces, bracelets, rings, and earrings to hat bands, and purses. We also had fun learning from our three instructors. I’ve finished Miriam’s Verona Wreath, but I’m still working on Marcia’s Cryptex and Cindy’s Diffractions; I do have parts of each finished, and I can’t wait to get into my studio to complete these pieces.