The fact that the Angel Glamp Retreat was
held at the Enchanted Trails RV Park
in
Albuquerque was quirky enough to tempt me, and when my friend, Teri, said
she was going, I packed my bags and jumped on a plane. I was also attracted to
this retreat because of the instructors. While bead embroidery isn’t difficult,
it takes a special vision to design these pieces and a lot of patience to
complete the work. Having taken a class previously from Kinga
Nichols, I knew that we’d get to make something that was unusual and
reflective of her artistic insight; I wasn’t disappointed with the Sunrise and
Sunset Shores bracelets (I chose Sunrise). Nikia Angel, our other instructor,
has been one of my inspirations for quite a while and I was delighted to
finally get to spend some time with this creative lady. She gave us a choice of
constructing either her Crystal Fidget or the Tessellation Lariat. Of course, I
chose both and they are both wonderful! She introduced us to her Sparkly Wheel
component and invited us to use it in our own designs. A lovely bonus came from
Judith Bertoglio-Giffin; she
volunteered to teach a group of us bead crochet. That was exciting to learn,
too! These three ladies are exceptionally generous with their talents, helping
beaders take what they learned and incorporate it into their own designs. This
retreat was fun and I’m glad that I made the journey to Albuquerque! And
although I’d been here twice before for the Albuquerque
International Balloon Fiesta, I’d never really taken the time to explore
the old section of the city, nor had I realized that one of my cousins lives in
the area. Besides the hot air balloons, the city has a rich cultural history,
extensive petroglyphs from the Ancestral Pueblo peoples, and an interesting geologic
landscape.
 |
| Top L to R: Sunrise bracelet, Tessellation Lariat Bottom: Crystal Fidget pendent |
