The Full Moon Al-Bader On Its Way

The Al-Bader Earrings

Have you ever come a cross a beautiful coin or semi-precious stone that every angle you view takes you breath away? Or that crystal stone with a pointy back or that piece that has no hole and you just can not figure out how to capture, frame or use it?  Well, if you are anything like me, then you may have felt it almost 'sinful' to cover the other captivating side of some of those treasures.  Today, i must admit that with some of my own private collection of Gary Wilson Stones, this holds true.

Treasure Stones

Luckily years ago I took a class with the exceptional Beading Artist Laura McCabe, a beading master in her own right, and a flamboyantly, creative being with the open-back bezel.  And as this is a time for new beginnings and growth in our present month of Ramadhan where the Moon guides our lunar calendar to mark progression of time and moments, the opportune time is here to pass this lovely skill on to eager fellow beaders with the introduction of "Al-Bader (in Arabic البدر; meaning: Full Moon) Earrings class this upcoming week.

Bader-Full Moon

Date:                 August 4, Saturday
Time:                11:00am- 3:30pm
Technique:       Open-Back Bezel
Level:                Intermediate
Prerequisite:     Peyote stitch; patience and love to learn ;)
Venue:              LB o J'zazz Beading Zone
                         Jabriya Block 9 Street 6 House 13 (Side Basement Entrance)

If you are interested to learn more about this class, please email us at: info@lbojzazz.com or call us at +(965) 2261-0686 or please click on to Full Moon Al Bader Earring Class Info and Fees.  Pre-registration for this class is required and this can be done at our LB o J'zazz shop in:

           Shaab Al-Bahri
           Block 8
           Mohammed Darwish Al-Aradi Street
           Al-Shaab Complex, Shop 4
           Kuwait

This class is created and lead by Bettina Al-Bakhit and will be supported and assisted by Lubna Saif Abbas.  The atmosphere is casual and comfortable and is a place you can just be.

Note: As this class is several hours long and it is Ramadhan, a dedicated private area is dedicated for those who wish to eat/drink, just bring along your own snacks and drinks. 

Solar Flare.. expected this Saturday August 13

A lovely gem of a necklace| Photo by Bettina Al-Bakhit

In tandem with the astonishing activity happening on our Sun planet, I thought there is no better time to introduce this 'astronomical' class to our wonderful students and to Kuwait then now. 

Albight it may look simple, creating an Open-back Bezel in this class will require previous experience in beading, patience and love.  An advanced class, this encapsulating technique mainly requires precision in details and appreciation of working with high quality Japanese cylindrical and tiny round seed beads.  With that receipe,  I assure you the outcome can only be termed as priceless.

The pendent of all pendents, this bezeled focal piece spur life| Photo by Bettina Al-Bakhit

All the credit for learning this advanced beading technique goes to my teacher and Master Beader extraordinaire Laura McCabe about 5 years ago.  During a marathon of workshops in mid-2000's, i came across a photo that made my eyes tickle.  And even though the class was 'Advanced', I was not about to let that deter me from learning how to create such exquisite, "living", and detailed pieces.  This Saturday, I share the core of what I learned with you.

I will show you how to cradle and center this Rivoli pendent with seed beads, embellish with sparkling vivid crystals, suspend off strun Soft Flex heaving wire with more crystals andaccented by Tierra Cast's fine findings and beads, and lastly the proper, clean way to close your piece.  Solar Flare Necklace class is rich with techniques and will opening doors to endless possibilities for you to create high quality jewelry of your own.

You will be learning 5 major techniques in this class.

Technique/s:                      Open-Back Bezel; Circular Peyote; Tubular Herringbone/Ndebele; Embellishing;   Stringing
Class Level:                       Advanced
Prerequisite Required:       Peyote; Herringbone/Ndebele
Time:                                 12:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Venue:                               Jabriyah, Block 9, Street 6, House 13 (Side entrance to Basement)

As usual we will be offering several colorways to select from. 

To register, kindly visit Mr. Chaminda at our LB o J'zazz shop in Shaab Al-Bahry.  And if there are any questions, please email us at info@lbojzazz.com or call 2261-0686.

Fly My Butterfly

It's a time like this that a hand-made item made with love can never be replaced by anything purchased.  For my 18 year old daughters' Prom night I wanted to make jewelry she would cherish and which would hold many emotions and feelings starting from the hands that made them to special moments spent that evening with her friends.

Starting off, I thought to make her a necklace that would be elaborate and striking.  Her request was miles off the mind track I was on! 

"Mommy make me something elegent and simple.  I don't want a necklace, only a bracelet".  Talk about throwing me totally off track! 

Frankly, I must say I thought about it for 2 weeks.  Looked through magazines in hopes of getting inspired.  Three days before Prom, it dawned to me what materials I would use for the earrings first.  A Swarovski Rivoli I purchased years ago from one of my trips to the United States would be the focal.  Thanks to Laura Macabe class, I decided to implement the circular Peyote technique around to frame and encase the Rivoli. 

As my daughters' request was for the color blue, I decided to introduce two different blues, sky blue and torquoise seed beads. For an accent color I used dark topaz AB seed beads at the inner most frame circling the Rivoli.  When that was done, I strategically introduced Swarovski crystal pearls, bicones, and butterfly beads in order to give warmth, softness, youthfulness and character to the earrings. 

Thankfully, after showing my daughter the first earring I got her blessings and went straight ahead to complete the second.

"Fly My Butterfly" earrings was born.

Drawing a complete blank the next day, I decided to approach it the way I always have and just create as I go along.  I laugh as I recall my little bracelet journey only because I ended up learning something new myself. Naively I thought I would be able to finish a bracelet faster if I used wirework rather than off-loom.  Ha! The joke was on me.  But I must say, I like the outcome.  A complete row of wirework with butterflies. So delicate and liberating just like the feeling a young person has when graduating.  Perfect.

As more color and softness was needed, I decided to string 2 rows of crystals;  one crystal pearls and the other  row bicone crystals.  All strung and connected to a 3-loop sliding clasp, I made the deadline and was extremely pleased.  Most importantly, my most important and precious client was pleased too. 

The past 11 years of beading all came down to this one critical moment- making something with my own 2 hands for my daughter to compliment her beauty on this special day in her life.  Allah ya7fetha.

Fly My Butterfly...

As Dunes Unfold

Just as the wind playfully creates beautiful artistic stokes of sand lines with every gust of its whistling winds, so does my playful spirit embroider beads on special canvas. ‘Dunes’ is my journey through unforeseen paths of desert sand dunes which I began several months back. This is my 2nd attempt at a bead embroidery necklace and I am finding it surprisingly more peaceful and pleasant a process this time around. As this journey is in its early stages, I have decided to share the ‘Preface’ to my story with you.

Stage 1: (inner conversation between “Me, myself and I”)

Ok, I think its time I take the plunge and embark on this painstaking, two-by-two bead picking challenge. The time to face my fears, head on, by applying this technique on a necklace project has arrived. This fear, or rather challenge as Lubna would say, I have been avoiding for over a year reminds me of the old Energizer battery advertisement that so eloquently and positively describes its strength to “keep going and going and going” comes full swing. Barricaded in my cozy little studio, I decide (again) that our beloved desert would be the theme behind selecting my color palette of gold, off-white, grey, beige and shades of cream. Something that is neutral in tone and can be matched with almost any color dress, darra3a, gown, or blouse one might feel like wearing. Elegant, simple and almost “jewel”-like in its overall design was the direction I decided to go with.

Now I have a secret to share. On one of our (Lubna and I) many buying trips, I invested HEAVILY on an exquisite personal collection of stones which were masterfully selected, cut, and finished by Gary Wilson, a guru in Lapidary work. And I have just waited for the right time to use one of those stones on a worthy piece. The Bali Star Coral cabochon was the focal piece of choice for Dunes. Now let the wind currents begin.

With the template created and the focal cabochon attached, the ‘Preface’ and beginning to my Dune-forming, wind blowing journey is underway.

Radiant Suns and luminescent Moons brighten and present mesmerizing, almost hypnotic depth and intrigue to Dunes with the use of Swarovski Crystal Rivolis, Preciosa crystal cabochons, Mother of Pearl cabochons, Toho seed beads, and many other goodies.

May the journey continue and may the birth of Dunes be swift and glorious.

To be continued…