NEW work and a few packaging changes

Hello friends!

I am just returning from the studio and getting back to normal in Olathe. When I am in KC I spend 3 days cranking out beads, then when I arrive back in Olathe, I clean beads, do the bead preview, price, tag, package up orders, and list whatever is left(if anything) on Etsy. Then I have a few days of whatever else needs to be done in Olathe, and back to the studio in KC again. The change is nice, but it takes me a little bit to transition from place to place.  I posted my bead preview in the middle of the day instead of the morning like I usually do. I have been having a day off with Ricky when I return from the studio so I try to take that whole day off together. Sometimes it works and other times it doesn't.

If you are seeing this now you are in LUCK! Some beads have managed to make it to my Etsy shop! I have also been busily creating beads for my tutorials in Bead Design Studio for the March/April 2014 issue! I even created some kits for the tutorials so you can pick up most of what you need from my shop. You will still need to grab the Wooly Wire from Wooly Wire Etc ;)

So first I will show you all of the things I have created and then we will let ya know what is in stock ;) 

Here is a close-up of the left side of the bead tray. You will notice some past designs along with some new ones! OMG are the Urchin headpins amazing, or what?! I am SO excited those turned out so awesome!

More "Rainbow Serpent Sticks"! It's been awhile since I had those in stock! Since I was making "Ocean Urchin Eggs" I was on an urchin theme and just kept going with it. I even added in "Orchid" as a base color! Yum!

I even did a few new spacers in some of the new glass colors I received. I will get 1/4 lb increments to try out some new colors and see if it's something I need to add into my regular palette. OMG aren't the Urchin beads SO pretty?! There is something about the black base! Although I love me some ivory as well ;) 

Wow did you all go ga ga over these "Rainbow Chakra" headpins. They sold out FAST! I don't blame you though cause they are so pretty on that deep eggplant violet base!

"Sacred Om" glass headpins! These are all gone too! They sold out quickly. I saved a few for the kits, but I will need to make more singles soonish? I dunno I am almost out of this color AGAIN. It's alarming how fast I run through my glass now a days. If I don't buy a pound I almost need to re-order more glass after one studio day! Yikes! Pretty sure I can't be placing $200 glass orders every week like I have been! ;) LOL.

I couldn't resist here. These headpins are just SO incredible! Just look at those reflective urchin pools and the pops of rainbow on the back! So gorgeous. These are, of course, SOLD OUT. No shocker there.

Mmmmm Ivory, how do I love thee, let me count the ways... These are SOLD OUT as well.

Here is the "Sahara" base that little bit of warm golden yellow tan is such a perfect base for the rainbows as well. Yum! I even love that super pastel pool on the bottom right! So pretty! SOLD OUT.

Um.. lame Genea. So what do you have?! Well.. I have some gorgeous "Rainbow Serpent Sticks" in the shop along with "Ocean Urchin Egg" focals, and the magazine tutorial kits!

So here is what is currently IN STOCK!

"Sacred Om Lotus Kit" for the tutorial in BDS March/April 2014. This is the alternate design. The kits are 15% off from what you would pay for the kit piece by piece ;)

"Sacred Om Lotus" focal. If you just want the single focal you can find it here.

Here is the back side.

"Sahara" necklace kit for the tutorial in BDS March/April 2014. This is the necklace that is in the tutorial photos. The kits are 15% off from what you would pay for the kit piece by piece ;)

Spiral Earth Stone "Sahara" for just the focal.

Rainbow Serpent Stick "Ivory Rainbow

Rainbow Serpent Stick "Midnight Rainbow"

and last, but not least....

"Ocean Urchin Eggs"

So what's the word on this new packaging thing?

Well I decided to make a few changes for some of my regular customers to cut back on waste and allow for some more reusing!

So here are some of the changes you may have noticed:

1. You may have noticed that you have not been receiving as many extra beads. I have been selling out so fast that I have been left with no extra goodies to slip into your bags. So I have been adding other goodies like Czech glass beads, and sari silk :D So if for some reason you don't like some of the extra goodies you have been receiving please do let me know so I can send you something that suits your taste better ;)

2. You may not have been receiving business cards. I figure after awhile you know where to find me and you probably only need so many of my cards to pass out to friends. I also HATE to think that you throw them out. If anything else PLEASE give them to a friend or send them back. Honestly I would be shocked if you did throw them away. Moo cards are SO pretty that really, you can collect them like artist trading cards ;)

 3.You may not receive a personalized thank you note. I may talk with you frequently enough that I don't feel like there is anything else that I could write to you that I have not already told you in a message. This saves on paper waste. Think of it as saving trees :)

4. You may receive a plain kraft colored box with your goodies inside instead of a stamped GB box. Again with the, you can only have so many of those until you have TOO many. So I have opted to send you plain boxes so that you can REUSE them for YOUR creations! Yay! 

5. You may receive some of your goodies in a plain cello bag versus a decorative bag with decorative tape and a sticker. SOMETIMES your boxes are SO FULL I can't fit them inside so I opt for a smaller bag instead of sending yet ANOTHER box. 

So with all of that said I hope you can understand why I have opted to make some of these changes. *IF* for any reason you don't feel like you are getting that same "Genea Beads" experience by these changes, please do let me know what aspects you liked and I will be sure to include them in your orders. 

Thank you for EVERYTHING you do! I could not be able to do the things I do without all of your loving support! xoxo Genea

Bead Fest Bead Swap- Bead Fest Blog Part 2

Hello friends!

So my second Bead Fest blog is about the amazing Bead Swap put on by our very own, Diana P(like I am going to attempt to spell her last name from memory! ;P).

Here is a photo of Diana calling off winners for the extra giveaways!

Some of our ladies that attended the swap. 

We all received these very special buttons for our swap. ONLY members that were swapping received them ;) You wouldn't believe how many ladies wanted our buttons!

I was lucky enough to get Mary Welsh Hubbard of White Clover Kiln for my partner(SCORE!).

What a great action shot of our box exchanging by Linda Landig :)

Look how darling she is! I clicked this pic so I had a photo of her opening her goodies from me :)

I wanted to do something really special for Mary so I came up with this amazing idea to do "A Tour of Genea Beads". I decided to gift Mary with some of my most favorite and popular beads in my body of work. 

Here is her introduction card for her gift.

I then created a card for each bead with it's title and a little story about how the bead  came to be. These cards were then put into pretty crystal clear cello self stick bags.

Each bag was then filled with it's matching "bead"(clasp, headpin, etc). Don't they look so pretty?!

Next I wrapped each bead and marked them with a number. They were to be opened in the order of which they were created(this is part of that "tour" part). 

Here is a close-up of the "finale" package. 

Next I needed a perfect package for all of the pieces. The one thing that was challenging to fit was the headpins. 

I went to Target to look for some pretty packaging and came across this wonderful little plastic pencil box! Ricky brought this style box to my attention. We only found a crazy 80's style in zig zags to start, but upon digging in the demolished back to school section managed to find this awesome hot pink one!

The box was PERFECT! When you undo the snap you could slide out the interior to expose the contents.

I loaded up the box carefully inserting each tiny package inside and stacking the first numbers on top.

The finished box looked like this when Mary opened it. Inside was her  "welcome and instruction card" and a pretty business card with my popular Bright Earth Bubble Button Wing Dings on it. 

Here were some of the beads and findings she received. From left to right: Ocean Urchin Egg, Wing Ding, Weeny Ding, Rainbow spiral s-clasp,  Lime Stone textured glass headpin, Starfish headpin,  Midnight Jewel headpin, and Spiral Beach Stone Coins(not pictured). 

Here are the gorgeous beads I received from Mary!

In the center you can see what Mary calls "Hubbard Green". A super BRIGHT limey color with turquoise! Yum! The paper rolled beads were created by her youngest daughter. She paints paper, cuts the paper and rolls them up into these fanciful little beads :)

I hope you enjoyed a look into our bead swap! What great fun!

See you soon for Bead Fest part 3!

xo Genea