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Behind the Bead Board: Gallifrey One, On Site Sales and our Next Projects

Posted on February 11, 2020 by admin Posted in The Life of a Bead Whore Leave a comment

Poll is Still Open

Hi all. I’m keeping my peyote stitch bracelet poll open for now until I run out of ideas. Not surprisingly, “This Is The Way” from Disney’s series, “The Mandalorian” won the vote when I posted it back in late January. What did surprise me is that the Cat Pawprints didn’t tie it or at least garner any more votes since cats are so universally liked in fandom, especially amongst my personal friends.

What Next?

I will continue to work on new designs for Doctor Who bracelets, patterns and kits. There are a ton of ideas out there I have on backlog and not enough time in this lifetime to get to them. To mix it up a little, however, I will also be doing pagan themed bracelets and My Little Pony – the latter hopefully in time for the premiere of the new generation in March.

Gallifrey One Commissions Closed and On-Site Purchases Open

Commissions are closed for deliveries to our customers at Gallifrey One, which is in TWO DAYS. Man, after the Christmas season died down, #gally1 sure came at us like a freight train! I will have patterns, kits and fully-made bracelets on ‘site if you want to purchase them and will have my credit card processing chip on me at all times if you don’t have the cash flow to do an impulse purchase. Here are the items that will be available for on ‘site sales:

Bracelets – $80.00

: 11th Doctor Bracelet

: 7th Doctor Bracelet

: 5th Doctor Bracelet

: I Heart Heart Doctor Who

: The Crack in the Universe Bracelet

Patterns Only – $6.00

: 5th Doctor Beaded Bracelet Pattern

: 7th Doctor Beaded Bracelet Pattern

: 11th Doctor Beaded Bracelet Pattern

: I Love Doctor Who Beaded Bracelet Pattern

: Crack in the Universe Beaded Bracelet Pattern

: Police Public Call Box Beaded Bracelet Pattern

Bracelet Kits – $65.00

: 5th Doctor Bracelet Kit

: 7th Doctor Bracelet Kit

: 11th Doctor Bracelet Kit

: Crack in the Universe Bracelet Kit

: Police Public Call Box Bracelet Kit

: Tardis Envelope Necklace Kit

If you would like to catch up with me at the convention, the quickest (and surest) way to get a hold of me if you don’t have my phone number is to direct message me on Twitter. Be sure to follow me first, then after I follow you, you can send a direct message. You can do the same on Facebook Messenger. My profile is here. Thanks!

Welcome 2020!

Posted on January 5, 2020 by admin Posted in The Life of a Bead Whore Leave a comment

Happy New Year, all and welcome 2020! It’s been a long time since I’ve updated the ‘site, but now’s the time and I’m excited to share what’s been happening.

No Gallifrey One Art Show this year

Doing the Gallifrey One Art Show every other year has worked out well for me, so I am skipping this year and will be back in 2021. I hated to do it, but time constraints and missing the submission deadline made the decision for me, so I’m going with the flow and concentrating on new designs and the Etsy store.

New Bracelets

I’ve created some awesome new Doctor Who bracelet designs and are they ever FUN! I may not have hit my goal of designing a new pattern and making a bracelet a week, but I set up a new Esty store and concentrated on improving my beading techniques. This year I’m ready to set new, more realistic goals and play with even more designs than ever. Here’s a sample of the new designs now available as instant downloads:

All three designs are available in the Etsy store here.

What’s to Come

5th Doctor Bracelet beaded final by T is for Tardis

The 5th Doctor bracelet. This was one of the first ones completed early last year that really showed an improvement in my technique. I had a hard time locating end findings to attach the toggle clasps to, but finally ordered some all the way from Turkey. Now I’m searching for the right toggle clasp to use. Unfortunately, the “clock face” toggle on the other bracelets pictured isn’t in a shiny gold finish, so I’m researching other options.

The Crack in the Universe. I can hardly wait to put this one up, OMG, it turned out absolutely AMAZING! What’s so amazing about it? It actually glows in the dark. How’s that for awesome? I just finished it off this weekend and tried to photograph it glowing, but it wasn’t cooperating, so I’ll finish up the regular shots tomorrow. Look for it to premiere in the next few days.

The 4th and 5th Doctor’s Scarves. I say “scarves” because there are two versions of this scarf in two different color schemes, one for each Doctor. Being a big, former 5th Doctor fan, I had to do the Davison scarf in beadwork as well as the more famous 4th Doctor’s. In fact, I did the Davison scarf first. I just need to validate these two patterns are being complete and ready to upload to the store.

Ideas in the Works

These are all in addition to a few new ideas for new bracelet designs previously unexplored. Like to see a “Hello Sweetie” or “I (double heart) Doctor Who” bracelet? Have another idea not seen or mentioned here? Leave a note in the comments. I can always use more ideas to keep me busy this year!

Gallifrey One 2019 Art Show & Wrap Up

Posted on March 13, 2019 by admin Posted in Finding your place in the Universe, Gallifrey One, The Life of a Bead Whore Leave a comment

fan on lax marriott carpet from kc dragonfly

Four days of fun, followed by con crud

It’s hard to believe it’s only been weeks since Gallifrey One 2019 ended. It seems like so much longer! And, as has become an unfortunate tradition in the 28 years Dennis and I have attended this wonderful convention, we both caught con crud. Hence in part why this update is so late. (<== picture me laid out flat for TWO DAYS from work, looking like this Gally carpet-worshipping fan I found on Twitter) The nasty little bug came and almost went TWICE, so I went and got antibiotics for it Monday.

It was once again a fabulous year of amazing entertainment, the highlight of which was the ribbon collecting war between Catherine Tate and John Barrowman. Barrowman, being the shy guy he is, came out on stage Saturday in a dress in an exploding tardis print in vibrant yellows and blues. Catherine showed him up the same day, demonstrating how long her ribbon trail was. She had a helper hold it on stage and went out into the audience trailing the end – which was easily two-thirds of the length of the ballroom! As you can image, her bragging about it being longer inspired all sorts of hysterically rude comments from John. Makes up for missing all the other programming outside the main ballroom!

tis4tardis art show premiere

What Next?

After all the sales have been tallied up and the thank yous done, I kicked into high gear. Even as con crud was trying to slow me down, my brain was non-stop forming plans for what to do next. While all the beading for the Gallifrey One 2019 Art Show was fun, it was also hard work towards a purpose. After a couple of years away, I really want to get back into jewelry full time and this time have more fun doing it. Yes beadwork of this intensity is hard work, but it’s work I LOVE. And when you love what you do, REALLY LOVE what you do, burnout doesn’t exist. When I finished the 5th Doctor’s bracelet, I jumped straight into beading 13s necklace without a single day’s break. When it was apparent I wouldn’t finish it in time, I went back to bracelet ideas and did one for the 11th Doctor.

I even set aside my fanfiction writing for a month because the beading bug wouldn’t let me go. And while I also dearly love creative writing I never regretted my decision to trade one fun project for another for a time.

Now the real work begins

5th doctor bracelet on KC Dragonfly So where – you might ask – am I going from here? Forward and up and never looking back. I can’t bead fast enough, there aren’t enough hours in the day to fuel this bead machine monster Doctor Who fandom has created. The beadwork for a new 5th Doctor bracelet is done – and it is a vast improvement over even the one that sold at the convention. See for yourself. The top one is the 1st version, the bottom bracelet the one that went into the auction (and sold).

Happily my rows were straighter and neater, there was less of a wobble to the overall bracelet and I fixed the orientation of both question marks so they face each other. It always bugged me they faced the same direction in the original design. And if ever there was a sign that doing what one loves is what we are meant to do in life, then improving one’s technique is the proof in the pudding!

And it’s beginning to show

5th Doctor Bracelet final by T is for Tardis on KC Dragonfly

It amazes me how much repetition and getting advice from experts can make a difference – and how fast it has manifested. This third version has really come so far in just a few weeks that it has me absolutely tickled. This is by no means the final product. That will come as I work on it this week. And I cannot wait to show you wonderful folks the finished product!

river song watch us run

Stick around and as River Song said, “You watch us run!”.

Gallifrey One 2019 Art Show Update part four – final

Posted on February 19, 2019 by admin Posted in Appearances, Custom Pieces, Doctor Who Cosplay, Gallifrey One, Handmade Products, The Life of a Bead Whore Leave a comment

new owner of 4th doctor lariat scarf necklace from kcdragonfly

Thank you Gallifrey One!

Gallifrey One has always been one of the best local conventions and it gets better every year. This wonderful lady (on the right) made the show for me when I came in in the morning after the auction. She said, “I regretted not getting the 4th doctor lariat scarf. Will it be available after the show?” I smiled and said, “I’ll sell it to you right now. Just pick it up and take it and the bid sheet to the checkout gals and it’s yours!’ I gave her tips on it’s care and feeding and to make sure it stays secure as it can be a slippery bugger. She was kind enough to take a pic with me and I thank her for it and wished her many happy years of ownership.

I had the great fun of speaking to many art show visitors that morning/afternoon. Thank you each and every one for taking the time to stop by, admire my work and have a chat.

The Final Tally

All in all, we sold half of the value of the items we brought to Gallifrey One 2019 – a great ratio of sales for an artist. There was one or two artists that didn’t sell much (there always are). We all have our off-years and it is so unpredictable that sometimes it feels like a game of chance. For me, pieces sold that surprised me and others didn’t that were also puzzling. Here’s the final tally:

Sold –

4th Doctor Lariat Necklace
5th Doctor Bracelet
11th Doctor Envelope Necklace

Didn’t Sell –

11th Doctor Bracelet

I had expected not to sell the Envelope Necklace because it was a rather obscure piece. You really have to be a fan of 11 and remember the episode and I guess they did. It got three bids and came close to going to voice auction – two more bids would have sent it there.

tardis blue envelope

If you Didn’t Get a Piece…

Not to worry! People seemed pleased I am opening an Etsy store for patterns. And I have a surprise in store for the store in the next blog post, which will be a grand opening update. It will make them and our fans quite happy. Stick around as that announcement will be coming very soon.

A Final Thank You

I want to thank the art show El Heffes Elizabeth Klein-Lebbink and her significant other Jerome Scott. We have known you two beautiful people for decades now and you are the best art show mavens in the biz. I always get a warm fuzzy feeling in my heart when I see these two at a con and that feeling grows every year. I warned them to expect me next year and indeed also at Loscon Thanksgiving Weekend back at the same hotel. Sorry, Liz, you won’t be getting rid of me that easily. No more hiatuses for me!

Gallifrey One 2019 Art Show Update – semi-final

Posted on February 17, 2019 by admin Posted in Appearances, Custom Pieces, Doctor Who Cosplay, Gallifrey One, The Life of a Bead Whore Leave a comment

Hello Gallifrey One!

The Gallifrey One 2019 Art Show was fabulous and so much fun to do! Thank you EVERYONE who purchased art pieces from me. Everything that didn’t sell is available for purchase TODAY. So, if you were outbid or didn’t get a chance to buy, stop by and browse! You will also get a SPECIAL EXCLUSIVE COUPON towards purchases in our new Etsy store, T is for Tardis, opening tomorrow!

TIMES ARE APPROXIMATE. WE WILL UPDATE THEM AS SOON AS WE KNOW FOR SURE WHAT THE HOURS ARE BUT I WILL BE AT THE CONVENTION UNTIL CLOSING, SO TWEET ME AND WE’LL ARRANGE A MEETUP.

Events page is up

Posted on June 2, 2014 by admin Posted in Uncategorized Leave a comment

Hi all. Our events page is back up and already we are planning to have a table at Clockwork Couture in Burbank, CA in August. They created the event as soon as news was released that Doctor Who would be back on our screens with fresh, new episodes with a fresh, new Doctor starting then. We will have Doctor Who-inspired art pieces for purchase. You will also be able to watch us as we work on them AND we will also have the patterns for sale if you want the pleasure and satisfaction of beading them on your own. Come sit down and get a lesson or two when you purchase our kits with all the supplies you will need; needles, thread, beads and patterns. All you need to supply is the time and energy.

We also hope to be working on Tardis cosplay parasols as well as have some kits for the available for purchase.

Previews

Steampunk Cogs and Clockfaces

Posted on January 22, 2013 by admin Posted in Doctor Who Cosplay, The Life of a Bead Whore, The World of Cosplay Leave a comment

A nice find at the Pasadena Bead & Design Show. Got them from StringBead. The best price I’ve ever found for steampunk Cogs and Clockfaces, too! Am toying with the idea of using them in my Tardis Pod cosplay. But will I have time to start and finish the costume along with everything else I’m doing? If not, they’re going into jewelry!

Before there were parasols, after there were earcuffs, there were bottles

Posted on July 12, 2012 by admin Posted in Handmade Products, The Life of a Bead Whore Leave a comment

I am a Bead Whore going WAY back. Every since I first saw tiny little beads as a child. But what was I doing before my recent, adult ventures with parasols, an Etsy earcuff store and my full-on obsession with Doctor Who? My beaded bottles. What are they for? What do you put in them? This s a question I get a lot when I wear them. You can use them for perfume, for holy water if you are a vampire chaser *grin*, or for holding essential oils. I’ve done the first and the latter, but haven’t chased vampires since my story writing days, so I leave the holy water to someone else, though I have been known to carry Moon Water in it. My favorite thing is to tell people to put an eyedropper in it so the contents can be taken out easily without spillage. Their eyes usually light up at that.

Though I haven’t put needle to bottle in a couple of months, I know I will take up their cause at some point when I run out of new ideas for parasols, an Etsy earcuff store and my full-on obsession with Doctor Who. I want something that will take less time, but still look elaborate and beautiful. Something in a lower price point for those who long to possess these little goodies, but can’t spare the cash for the big items yet.

)O( )O( )O( )O( )O( )O( )O( )O( )O( )O( )O( )O(

This one is my favorite. My artistically talented friends think so too, and that is a great compliment. They love the colors and they are REALLY FUSSY with that in their own work. I got them just right…how AWESOME is that?!?

)O( )O( )O( )O( )O( )O( )O( )O( )O( )O( )O( )O(

My first experiment with doing this type of beadwork came about with this bottle. The colors symbolize Rosemary and all it’s attributes. Rosemary is a “warm, fiery” herb (symbolized by the red beads). It’s appearance is like an evergreen in the year-round, slim, dark green leaves (hence the green – I even found beads that mimic their appearance perfectly!). The flowers are the same color as rosemary flowers, recreated here with small bunches of stone chips. I’ve received a lot of compliments on the perfectly stitched pattern of white and red beadwork on the body. That was a joy to do and I’m really proud of how it came out. The challenge was in creating the strap. That required several redos and nearly made me tear my hair out, but perseverance paid off.

If you are interested in getting a custom bottle and want to know what I can create for you, please send me an email via my business’s main page at KC Dragonfly. Thanks!

The Angels are at Denver Comic Con

Posted on July 12, 2012 by admin Posted in Doctor Who Cosplay, The World of Cosplay Leave a comment

Little Weeping Angel @ Denver Comic Con

Last month saw the first Denver Comic Con with a healthy starting attendance of nearly 20,000. There was a strong presence of the Doctor Who community in cosplay, attendees maxing out panel rooms and queueing to see a full-size Tardis. It is encouraging to see Colorado get their crack at getting some Who love in their own backyard. Thank you, Heather Maloney, for covering this and bringing it to the attention of the Doctor Who community on Twitter. You can read her full article here in the examiner.com. If you aren’t connected to her on Twitter at @DrWhoHeather, you just aren’t getting enough Who coverage in your life.

10th Doctor and Rose Children’s Cosplay

Posted on July 12, 2012 by admin Posted in Doctor Who Cosplay, The World of Cosplay Leave a comment