It’s been a while since I’ve done a tent show. Wonderful day, surrounded by artist friends, beautiful weather and venue.
A quick look of Dequa Design jewelry pieces, Fall 2023
Happy 2022 friends! I’ve been away from writing during this year and a half of pandemic C-19/D/O. Each variant brings new challenges and delays everyday life as normal. What it is has allowed me to do is work at home a bit, take a new look at items in my studio and come up with new ideas and items. My first new idea is using memory wire with beaded crochet and end caps for bracelets. What I like about this idea is that they can come in various sizes and beads and will fit almost everyone.
New for 2022 - beaded memory wire bracelets!
Another New Year, New Idea is my work with metal. Working with wire and beads I have been creating new earrings for 2022! I really like this combination and hope you will too.
If you have questions about how to start bead crochet, beading in the round or any of the jewelry pieces, or a general comment feel free to reach out. I’m always happy to meet new people and make new friends. Here’s to a successful, healthy and enterprising 2022!
My passion is working with seed beads. Seeds beads are a generic term for any small glass bead. Seed beads are usually donut or cylinder shaped beads ranging in size from under a millimeter to several millimeters. The key to understanding seed bead sizing that that the smaller the number, the larger the bead. For example, 8/0 seed bead is larger in size than a 15/0 seed bead. The 0 used in measurement is pronounced “aught” , and can be denoted by a slash followed by a zero or a degree mark.
The sizing number is historically based on the idea that manfuacturers would refer to their standard size beads in the largest quanties as size 0 or null. Smaller size beads such as 10/0 were therefore beads that were 10 times smaller than the size of the size 0 or null bead.
Size measurement also correlates to the number of beads that will fit into a given inch when the beads are lined up side by side (with the holes parallel to each other) as in bead crochet. For instance, size 8/0 would equal eight beads to one inch, 11/0 would equal eleven beads to one inch and so forth. Now. this is just a general rule of thumb as there can be variances in this measurement based on the manufacturer, type of glass used and the beads finish.
I have worked with all sizes of beads over the years, combining them into unique wearable art pieces. Sometimes the best things are the stuff that’s leftover and we put in a bowl called “bead soup”. This concoction can often make for some happy accidents in design.
After working with so many beads over the years, do I have a favorite? Well, I say it depends on my mood. Sometimes I just like working with 6/0 or maybe I’m in a 15/0 state of mind. Overall, my favorite size just happens to be………drum roll please, 11/0 and the cut Charlotte. There’ s no one size fits all I say, have fun, mix it up, combine sizes for unique textures, and most of all keep beading…
Credit @thomaskinto
Well a lot has changed since I started this business a few years ago in 2016. I’ve changed careers, relocated to the north Florida pan handle.. When I decided I wanted to turn a hobby into a jewelry business I had no idea what I was getting myself into. The many challenges, lessons, friendships, mistakes ,and blessings this journey has taken. I knew that I could make jewelry that was different, I had never sold anything, but with the support of amazing friends, family, associations, and eventuality new friends, Dequa Designs was born. We did pop up shows throughout Delaware, Maryland, and became a fixture at New Castle Farmers Market every Friday at 4pm.
From bead shows, to craft fairs, and ultimately art fairs and even art galleries, I’ve had the time of my life. As I relocated to north Florida and began the next chapter of my professional career I was also trying to balance my love of jewelry making. I found myself with a health set-back, so I decided to take some time off and regroup and make the last year the year of health. I needed to find my “mojo” again. It’s been an interesting journey when you take time to focus inward on your self-care. For me, the physical results have been apparent with a number of pounds lost and the mental/emotional health is getting stronger with learning to count blessings and find happiness everyday.
What I have learned or “re-learned” in getting my mojo back, is that you need to hold tight to the things that bring you joy in life. It can be family, friends, sports, hobbies, any number of things, for me; its certainly family, and friends, although now days my circle is very small, laugher with friends ( I mean the silly, goofy kind kind) , being healthy, and making beaded jewelry brings me incredible joy and peace. I love working through and idea of colors and design to mapping out a finished product, the crocheting relaxes me in the evening and ultimately when an item is finished I’m incredibly proud, especially if it turns out well. And so I say to you welcome back, I hope you come along for this new journey, drop me a line, ask me a question, or just say hi, it should be a fun ride!