Bead Events Hosted by Heather Powers

Hello dear ABS readers! Heather here, your bead-obsessed editor with news of two events that I'm hosting that I just had to share with you today.

First up is that general registration for Bead Cruise 2015 is opening up on May 8th. This is our 10th anniversary sailing.  This is a dream vacation filled with bead classes, bead parties, make-and-takes, design contests, a costume cocktail party and much more!

Our 2015 sailing is February 15th from Ft. Lauderdale, FL heading to St. Maarten, St. Kitts, San Juan and a private island called Labadee.  Yeah, a day on a private island.  It's paradise!

Pictured above is one of the classes that I'm teaching. Classes include metalwork, wirework, beading, stringing, bead embroidery, felting and polymer clay - something for everyone! Instructors include myself, Tracy Stanley, Beki Haley, Shelley Nybakke, Beverly Herman and Erin Siegel.

Beverly Herman is teaching the Star of the Sea necklace that features a ceramic cabochon from from Suburban Girl Beads.

Erin Siegel, co-author of Bohemian-Inspired Jewelry and former ABS contributor, is a guest instructor and will be teaching this fun and trendy tribal inspired knotting class.

We sold half our spaces yesterday during our early bird registration (for past cruisers) so head on over to the website and see if this is something you need to add to your travel plans for next year. If this has been on your bucket list, 2015 is the year to go! 

www.beadcruise.com

The next event is a little closer to home, in fact - right on your computer screen. I'm hosting my first online workshop on June 16th - July 7th. We'll explore color and polymer clay to make amazing beads. 

It's a four week class to learn color theory and how to create simple to complex cane designs, leading up to making this spectacular Van Gogh's Sunflower cane. You can read the details and sign up here.

The best thing I did in 2012 for my jewelry business...

Last year I discovered an amazing resource that I've shared several times here on the Art Bead Scene - the Flourish & Thrive Academy.  Their informative blog and conference calls were some of the first places I turned to when I started to seriously work on the wholesale line of my jewelry business.  I always clicked on Tracy and Robin's emails because I knew every time I'm going to learn something valuable.  So last fall when they opened up registration to their Flourish and & Thrive Academy course, I signed up right away. 

It is hands-down the best thing I've done for my business.  I started the course, knowing I would be in the middle of a move during part of it.  But with the lifetime access to the course, I knew I would be able to pick up where I left off and later enjoy listening in on the calls, learning from what others were struggling with each week.  Tracy and Robin also offer encouragement and support in a Facebook group for the course, so I knew if I had a burning question about the course they would be there to help.

From an in-depth discovery of who my ideal client was, to creating a collection of jewelry that appeals to buyers, to finding places to market my work and lots of tips for promotions, this 4-week course was jammed packed with just the information I had been searching for.  You know how you just wish someone would come along and tell you exactly what you need to do to make your business a success - yeah, that was Tracy and Robin!  The bonus material for the class is like getting a big Christmas present at the end of the course.  Sort of like, here are all the tools - go make your dreams happen.  Along with Tracy and Robins' wisdom during weekly conference calls we were introduced to other great coaches and resources that offered invaluable insights into our clients and our businesses.  Along with the big, lofty questions of branding and advice on rounding out your collection, there were practical tips like putting together a successful line-sheet, ways to merchandise your work and improve customer service. 

The designers taking the course ranged from high-end goldsmiths to those who string beads.  Each of us learned to tell our own unique story and were given the tools to find the customers who will fall in love with our work.  If you have been struggling with your business, whether you want to sell wholesale or retail, I can't recommend the Flourish & Thrive Academy enough.

Click here for more information on registration. 

(Disclosure: I'm a proud affiliate partner with Flourish & Thrive Academy, but even it wasn't, I'd send you there - they know what they are taking about and I love sharing a good thing!)

Win a Dream Jewelry Studio + a FREE Class Giveaway!

You all know that I am a class junkie. I love the experience of getting together with a group of like-minded individuals and exploring the limits of my creativity learning new tricks and soaking up the knowledge from a talented Master artist. If I could, I would travel all around the country seeking out those opportunities. But more often than not, my imagination is greater than my wallet and sometimes I forget how vast this country really is, so traveling great distances and footing the bill for all the expense that that entails is not reality for me, and it likely isn't for most of you.

But that doesn't mean the quest for knowledge has to end! Of course there are some wonderful books out there, and I have shelves of them, but it just isn't the same as seeing someone with your own eyes showing you the way. The internet has become my best friend if I want to learn something.

There are a lot of videos floating around out there. But not all videos are created equal. That is why I am excited to share with you a new (to me) service that taps into my need for creative play at a price, location and time that works for anyone on any budget, anywhere and at anytime.

I was just introduced to CraftArtEdu.com, an online portal and e-learning community filled with over 300 classes from renowned instructors that are hand selected for their high quality and commitment to excellence. The subjects range from jewelry, polymer clay and fiber to wood, mixed media and even fine art. Each class offered comes with step by step instructions, handouts and even feedback from the instructors. You can even watch a little teaser of the class which is helpful to know if you would like to invest your time and money into it.

I like that there is such a wide variety of subjects. I am not a one-note creative, and I am sure that most of you dabble in other inspiring pursuits. Obviously, I could learn a lot from the Jewelry section, but I am most intrigued by the Polymer Clay section. And I have my eye on the Carve Your Own Rubber Stamp class. You see, I work in polymer clay every day, but I am completely self-taught. And I have so many ideas for things I would like to do with my Simple Truths, if only I could carve it myself. It would be good to have some Polymer Clay classes under my belt if only to understand the wide ranges of this medium. And it would be awesome to come up with my own designs!

The website is very clean and easy to use. Each section has sub-sections that make it easy to find something you want to learn. I like that I can take the class at my leisure, and watch it again any time I want. The prices are reasonable as well. The average cost of a class is $28 but I found more intensive classes that were in the $70-125 range or as little as $10 or even FREE. Yes, I said FREE. They offer beginning level sample classes for free in all their sections. A great way to test out their service and get a taste of something new.

The generous folks at CraftArtEdu.com shared two things with me that I think you are going to love:

1::They would like to gift a class to one of our readers.
and
2::They are hosting a Dream Jewelry Studio sweepstakes with up to $4500 in prizes.

The grand prize is a custom CraftOptics Rx telescope valued at $475 (a must for my aging beader eyes!), a $150 gift certificate to RioGrande.com (sweet!) and $125 in CraftArtEdu.com classes (let the learning begin!). But that is not all! An additional nine winners will receive $150 Rio Grand give certiciates and $50 in classes at CraftArtEdu.com. Plus, twenty more winners will each receive a free class from CraftArtEdu.com. A total of 30 chances to win... Amazing!

Don't wait! The sweepstakes is open until September 30th! Follow this link to sign up:

My Dream Jewelry Studio sweepstakes

Okay! Now how about the FREE class from CraftArtEdu.com for one lucky random winner? Just answer the following question in the comments (must have an email to contact, please!):

If you could take a class in any subject other than jewelry, what would it be? Fine art like drawing or painting? Are you nuts about ceramics? Would you like to be able to knit or crochet? Or would you love to learn to sculpt? Just leave your answer in the comments.  

(It doesn't need to be something on the CraftArtEdu.com website, but what the heck! Go and check it out and let us know!)

Check back in one week from today for the random winner of the FREE class from CraftArtEdu.com. And don't forget to sign up for to win the My Dream Jewelry Studio sweepstakes!