Focus On: Kerrie Slade

Profile: Kerrie Slade

Shop http://kerrieslade.etsy.com/

Blog http://www.kerrieslade.blogspot.com/

Kerrie Slade is a published member of the EBW Team on Etsy.com. Her beautiful beaded blossoms have graced the cover of Bead&Button magazine.

Tell us about yourself. What makes you, you?

Hmmmmm, looking from the outside in I suppose I see a whimsical, nature loving, bead addicted Brit. with a quirky sense of humor and an eye for detail.

Do you see yourself as an artist or craftsman or both?

I've been called an artist and a technician (amongst other things lol!) and I never would have considered myself an artist, but I kind of like that idea. I'm still a little too self-controlled to really let myself go and be what I consider 'a proper artist' but I'm growing into my new skin gradually.

What made you want to be an artist?

It's still all relatively new to me and seems like the second stage in my life very far removed from the first stage. It was never planned, I just stumbled into it and am very grateful to whatever lead me here.

Why beads?

I can't answer that one, I think beads picked me rather than the other way around, but I have no complaints!

How do you see your style?

I like to see it as a kind of modern pared down style that uses age old techniques. Lots of floral pieces, generally a limited palette of colors, resulting in what I hope are very wearable pieces.

What's the most wonderful thing you've made? The oddest?

Wonderful - well I suppose so far I'm most proud of my Foxglove Trio necklace that appeared on the cover of the April issue of Bead & Button, I've had lots of great comments on that design. Oddest - a commission for a glow-in-the-dark floral belly bar!

What inspires you?

Nature - flowers, butterflies, trees, the sky - oh and the beads themselves ... just seeing a particular color or finish of beads can spark off an idea.

What scares you?
Freeform! I know lots of beadweavers just love the freedom of expression it gives them, but I feel a strong need to be precise and symmetrical!

Tell us about your creative process.

Generally, I see a flower in the garden I want to try and recreate in beads or an image of a finished piece flits into my mind. Then I either jot down some notes and add them to the list of things to try, or get working straight away. It's rare that a piece ever turns out how I imagined and there is always lots of trial and error, unpicking and remaking involved. I have partially made pieces, still with long threads attached, all over the place. If it does work, and it's a design that a magazine is interested in, then I remake it, writing and testing step-by-step instructions as I go.

How did you get on Etsy and where else do you sell?

I opened an Etsy shop just over three months ago, after hearing lots of other bead buddies in the UK talking about it. I haven't sold anything there yet, but it's been a lot of fun learning the ropes and 'meeting' new people. I generally sell my work via craft fairs, galleries, my website and word of mouth.

Describe your shop.

Eyecatching!

Make a recommendation.

Recommendation - of another Etsy shop you mean? It would have to be all of the EBW team members shops!

Tell us the answer to a question that we didn't ask, but should have. If you can't think of anything, tell us something random.

What is your favorite beadweaving stitch? Ndebele/Herringbone.

A Rose By Name

Fourth in my EBW Treasury Series on Etsy, A Rose By Name is for Anna Neff. Anna is the sweet and talented lady who first suggested that I join the EtsyBeadweavers.

Her shop, A Rose By Name, is named for her Grandmother, and indeed her precise weaving tends toward the classic and elegantly understated.

As I looked at all of Anna's lovely pieces her Harlequin Cuff Bracelet just jumped out at me because of the fantastic color combination.

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I checked her favorites out and found a brilliant hand-dyed green scarf by EBW Teammate DantesSpirit and some fantastic photos. I was drawn to a blushing rose macro by terrifictagsstudio. I already knew I wanted roses so I was off to a great start!

I was pleased to find that we share a love for the wild abandon of Bohemianwhimsey's colorful glass, silk and lace jewelry and In Full Bloom was perfect color-wise. Also in her favorites I found Michal S' incredible Rumba focal bead.

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She has quite a few beadweavers hearted of course! Sandfibers' elegant Gold and Turquoise Peyote Cuff jumped out at me. That made me think of time2cre8's new Evolutionary Cuff and I went to look at it again. Sure enough, the colors made it a go!

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Now I needed more roses, but there were way too many to look through, so I narrowed it down to blue roses which offered FancifulFlair's clean, crystal blue watercolor and an unusual bracelet by lovesilver888. The bracelet wouldn't usually draw me, but it seemed perfect in this context.

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Then it was straight for my own favorites. The Green Striped Lampwork Beads by TeaguesBeads set Anna's bracelet off perfectly and were a tad harlequin. To finish off that thought I nabbed a Kaleidoscope Castle print from Alison Whittington at paintandink. Alison does fantastic and original water colors. I have a set of logo designs that she did for me that I love.

For the last item I wanted something blush, feminine and rosy. Another EBW Team member, Nemeton, had the Marie Rose Collar that just sang in the final spot.

Does it work? It works! For Anna-- enjoy!

See it closer for a couple days here.

Salamandar House

This is the 3rd in my series of Etsy Treasurys Dedicated to EBW Team members.

Recently I interviewed bead artist Melody Murray on my blog: Focus On: Melody Murray.

Finding out that she loves beadwork, critters, gardening and handmade art inspired this treasury featuring: SalamanderHouse, GretchenKramp, caraway, PotteryByAnn, WickedOakDesign, thebeadlounge, watermelonkidz, CINEWEENIE, myfairladyvt4, naturaldevelopments, AnnE

I knew I wanted to use Melody's fabulous beaded headband so the treasury would be basically green.

When I searched salamander I found an adorable orange guy and a great tile, but much else that really caught me. I widened the search as I knew that Melody had a thing for lizards of all kinds. I found a bunch of great lizards, but didn't want to only have lizards so I narrowed it down to three, a mug, another orange/brown tile and a great psychedelic iguana! He's actually a doctored photo. I had an iguana once. He was awesome.

Melody is playing with hot glass these days so I went searching for green beads in my favorites and found two (1,2) that screamed texture/garden/reptile.

Tons of EBW Team items were green, but I was looking for lizardy textures and found so many wonderful things! It was tough to narrow it down, but there's only so much space!

I really love AnnE's work. I know her personally. She does the kind of thing that many don't take as serious art, but if I painted it would be along those lines.

I found so much that couldn't cram it all in, but I love the result and I hope Melody did too!
Till tomorrow afternoon, you can see everything a bit closer here.

Roses in the Night Sky

The winner of the Etsybeadweaver's Midsummer Nights Dream Challenge has been announced! The honor of first place goes to Smadar of SmadarsTreasure for her Roses in the Night Sky Cuff Bracelet.

It's a beautiful, one-of-a-kind piece, highly textured and embellished with is done with grayish-blue and yellow; dark metallic blue; milky-white and pale yellow glass and beautiful pewter roses.

Congrats to Smadar and all of the other brave souls who entered this months challenge!

Entrecard Brings On the Blog Comments

I haven't had a blog for long, but I got Entrecard immediately. It was pretty and I had a vague notion that it would bring traffic to my blog, which seemed like a Good Thing.

Someone old me that they weren't sure of the traffic's quality but that made no sense to me at first. Then I figured out that folks who read the blog were high quality and folks who spend .5 seconds on the blog to drop their entrecard were slightly lower quality traffic (can you hear the pc oozing from my pores?) and folks that read and comment once in awhile are the creme de la creme of the blogosphere! (My webspeak improves hourly.)

So then today I get this email that Entrecard has paired up with SezWho to get folks commenting. As I gather, it's a rating system to reward commenters with Entrecard points and thoughtful commenters with more Entrecard points.

Well, we'll see how it works.

We all love comments don't we? Anything to combat that blogging in a vacuum feeling? The only thing worse than a commentless blog is a spammed blog. It's just rude. And disheartening. And kind of icky in a mashed up smelly meat covered in slime and a tin can way.

But just as blogging is a learned behavior, commenting is a learned behavior. I look forward to learning how to do a better job of it myself!

One more thing. I'm having a time getting it installed though it seems like the easiest thing in the world. On the plus side the SezWho support team is quick and professional. Thank you SezWho.

And thank you, each one of you who read this and other posts and comment once in awhile!

Excuses, Excuses

The merest effort at a blogpost today, or anything else for that matter. I've felt pretty lousy for week now and I gave completely in today by sleeping late and then reading all day. Nothing useful and edifying mind. Just Mary Stewart's My Brother Michael and Rose Cottage.
I've read them before. They're not my favorites by any means. There's still something soothing about a day spent rereading tales you've enjoyed before. You know the geography of the author's worlds, there's a sure and happy ending to be had and in Stewart's case the very language is enchanting.

A Year On Etsy

I've been beading for years and selling off and on through those years, mostly to friends and family. I did do some sales on EBay and a few craft shows. I had my work in a gallery at one point. I've done home parties and still do once in awhile.

I found Etsy in late '06 as I researched Paper Clay. I was fascinated by the jewelry there, especially some of the unique metalwork. When I needed a special card for my sister's wedding I came back to Etsy to shop.

After a bit, I thought of selling there as well. In June of '07 I opened thebeadedlily on Etsy. It took a month to sell my first pair of earrings on July 13th to Tina at RuthiesGirlDesigns.

Today, July 13th a year later, marks sale #150 to Anaya at YanaDesigns.

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751 hearts say a few more sales are coming. A feedback rating of 220 says I shop too much. 100% positive says I care about my product and my people. 102 items for sale says I'm not going anywhere anytime soon.

I learned how to use a digital camera, developed a couple of product lines as I sought to make something that I could make and remake to save valuable listing/photoshoot time, vastly improved my beadweaving skills thanks to the ladies of EBW Team, became a moderator, joined Flickr and deviantART, started blogging, made some friends, quit my job.

I've learned so much. I have so much to learn. I'm thankful to each and every customer, to each and every viewer who reached out with a kind word or a suggestion, to the sellers on the forums who offer what they're learned, to my teammates who are always encouraging, and to Etsy itself and all of its Admin team who've made this year possible.

May next year be even better.