Happy Mother’s Day

Future Virtual Meetings

Monday, May 16: Nir Kronenberg: Inventing New Beads Never Gets Old

Monday, June 20: AGM
Micaela Fitzsimmons: Collection of Beaded Purses

Barbara Bryce “Window Jeweler”

GRBS was very fortunate to have Guelph artist Barbara Bryce present to our group at our April member’s meeting. Barbara is a very engaging and humble artist with an amazing creative ability to look at everyday items and see their unique potential to become something beautiful.

Initially she worked in stained glass, but health issues caused her to look at something different in order to continue her creative process. She now creates assemblages from glass beads, wire and found objects. The treasures she finds inspire her, and many of her findings are turned into stunning sun catchers. Thus the name “ Window Jewellery”.

Barbara loves re-purposing vintage items and treasures that people give her, into new and beautiful pieces that give others joy.
All the principles that she learned in landscape design, she now applies to her wonderful creations. Her “Bangles” collection is testimony to that for certain. It started with a set of intertwined “bangles” that were a single solid piece with no clasp. She wasn’t certain how to get them apart without breaking them and then it suddenly dawned on her that they didn’t need to be round and thus her designs were born.

“Bangles” is a collection of 10 sun catchers, many of which have already been sold, called “Celebration of Spring”. You can find them on her website.

Her “Remembering Esther” project is another intriguing story:

Her husband’s Aunt Esther passed away in the summer of 2020 and due to Covid, her relatives were unable to get together to celebrate her life. Knowing Barbara’s love of vintage pieces and unique creativity, her family sent Barbara Esther’s jewellery. While sorting through it, ideas began to come to Barbara for tiny artworks as a way of celebrating Esther’s life. Once completed, Barbara posted the results to Esther’s relative and they began suggesting names for the beautiful pieces. Below is the collection of artworks created from Esther’s jewellery.

I was mesmerized by Barbara’s presentation and her statement that she “keeps playing with each piece it until it sings”.
You can contact Barbara and see more of her work on her website:

Barbara Bryce – Improvised Art Glass 

Thank you Barbara for an inspiring and intriguing evening, and a beautiful way to honour family members.

More of Barbara’s Work

Show and Share from our April Meeting

These two pieces were created by Lori Finney from a class on RAW run by the Beadworkers Guild in the UK, on Zoom. The beads are designed by Mairi Carleton, the Rope is a simple Herringbone Twist in 3 colours. The beads are removable and interchangeable.

The bracelet is from the same class~done in 2-needle RAW, and designed by Sylvia Fairhurst. She loves the bracelet with the added montees, but no more 2-needle RAW for her!!! (No disrespect to Sylvia, but Lori is VERY right-handed, and using a needle in her left hand is an accident waiting to happen!) Lori’s comment made me laugh – so good to have a sense of humour and positive attitude when we bead!

Yvette Herold‘s work always amazes me. She has a very unique way of looking at found objects and asking herself, “What if?”. Her “what if’s?” always turn out so beautifully.

The one on the left is a bead embroidered pendant with the center made from one half of an empty, squished Nespresso coffee pod!!! The bail is made from a metal ring taken from an old necklace.

The one on the right is called “The Good Eye”. Yvette’s sister was recovering from eye surgery for glaucoma when a friend gave her a few shells that she had found on a beach in Point Roberts, Washington. The shell reminded Yvette of an eye so she made the iris using some metal wire and a green crystal taken from an old brooch. I am not surprised that she gets many comments about this pendant!

Somewhere on a beach in the Caribbean, Yvette found this most attractive rock. Using bead embroidery, she bezelled it, trying to use colours that would bring out the ones in the rock as well as the different layers. Yvette has learned to walk the beach looking down for “jewelry worthy” treasures.

Gillian Clarke created this beautiful beaded reproduction of an old-fashioned perfume atomizer bottle, complete with the squeeze bulb for making it spray. It is called “Leinaala” (Hawaiain for “a gust of fragrance”) and she made it in a class by River Rose https://www.facebook.com/Beading-with-River-Rose-323741361407438

Sherry Stockton said that she was in need of a splash off colour in Spring/Summer ear jewellery! I definitely think these earring fit the bill. These are based on a peyote pattern by Kelly Dale of “Off the Beaded Path”. Sherry says that they are easy to to construct and could also be used as petals in a necklace. Tension plays an important part in the construction.

Erin Fish had never done dimensional beading in the past and fell in love with this pattern from Katie Dean. She asked Alexa Bradford (dimensional beading expert) to help her create this little guy. Alexa was very supportive and patient as Erin worked through the challenges of tubular peyote ( she lost count on the number of times it was ripped out). Every year Erin makes a Christmas ornament for each of her grandchildren, so this little guy will be added to their collections. Thank you Alexa!

Apple watch for sale, hardly used, used to belong to my Granny Smith.

Women After 50 Inspiration is Contagious!

Sue Charrette-Hood was so inspired by Barb’s presentation and enjoyed it so much that when asked if we had any jewelry collections from past relatives she got really excited to share hers. Sue is now inspired to upcycle some of her relative’s jewelry into window art: sun catchers and wind chimes. Sue wanted to share her excitement by sending us these pictures of not only her vintage jewellery pieces, but also the women who wore them.

The above is a shadow box of some of the brooches inherited from her husband’s great great Aunt (Anna 1864-1945), great Aunt (Lena May 1898-1985), Aunt (Margaret Elizabeth 1915-2014) and his Mother (Gloria Jean 1931-2015) who all grew up in the same house in South Carolina. Along with the brooches, Sue also inherited many earrings and pendants. We look forward to seeing at future meetings, what beautiful work Sue will be creating with her vintage pieces. How lovely to see the faces of the women who meant so much, and whose legacy will continue through Sue’s work.

Copyright © 2020 Grand River Bead Society. All rights reserved.

President’s Message

True to form, April has arrived sporting all fours seasons in just the first week – three more weeks to go. Looking forward to the May flowers.

GRBS executive met earlier this week and after considering numerous factors have made the decision that a Bead Fair will not be undertaken this year. This decision was not the preferred outcome after two years, however, was the best option for safety and financial.

We are also preparing for the Annual meeting in June and looking for members to join the Board for a three year term. Skills needed are organization, some technical savvy and a genuine willingness to help wherever needed to make GRBS even better than it is now. Please seriously think about joining the Board. If you aren’t sure and want to chat, please reach out to me or any of the Board members.

Our programs have been a collaborative effort of all Board members and I’m looking forward to hearing about Barbara Bryce’s creative journey on Monday, April 18th.

Best regards and Happy Easter!

Sherry Stockton

Welcome to new member:
Carol Brocklebank-Kerwin

Future Virtual Meetings

Monday, April 18, 2022: Barbara Bryce: Working with Stained Glass and Found Objects

Monday, May 16: Nir Kronenberg: Inventing New Beads Never Gets Old

Monday, June 20: AGM
Micaela Fitzsimmons: Beaded Collections of Purses

Meridith Filshie – Never too Many Beads

GRBS was very pleased to have Meredith Filshie present to us on Monday, March 21.

Her creative journey is both unique and compelling. Meredith’s love of beads and most definitely for colour, were evident throughout her presentation. For her, colour is both thrilling and invigorating. Her detail with colour in her embroidery pieces is absolutely beautiful, which is evident in the photos below.

Meredith has had some formal training in art, design, and sewing and has explored a number of fibre art techniques. When she was growing up, her Mother encouraged creative pursuits supplying embroidery thread or wool and beautiful fabrics, primarily to dress her dolls. Excursions to “Dressmakers’ Supply”, a fabulous store in Toronto were always a treat! She was particularly attracted to the displays of seed beads, laces and ribbons which were not available at the fabric stores closer to home. Her love of fabrics and threads meant that she could rarely pass stores that carried anything remotely connected without a “quick” look. Books and magazines generated a lot of ideas about what she might do “if only she had time”. After buying Canada Beading Supply in 1994 and joining Out of the Box, a fibre arts group, in 2002 she has made time to explore new creative directions.

She purchased Canada Beading Supply in 1994 and been running the store ever since. You can find out more about her store at https://canbead.com.

Meredith leaves us with five philosophical thoughts:

1. Always have plan.
2. Always learn something new when taking a class – take that away with you and make it your own
3. Always learn the rules and learn to break them
4. Personal satisfaction is most important
5. Mistakes happen – learn to learn from them

Some of Meredith’s recommended reading:

1. Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert
2. Art and Fear by Bayles and Orland
3. Colour Confident Stitching by Karen Barbe
4. ColorWorks by Deb Menz

Our beading society is blessed with the most amazingly talented and yet humble people with a willingness to share their ideas, techniques and philosophies.

Thank you Meredith for an informative and fascinating evening.

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Bio of a “Window Jeweler”

Barbara Bryce loves creating assemblages from glass beads, wire and found objects. She is often inspired by the treasures she finds and especially loves the satisfying surprise that comes when the finished piece is finally hung in the window with sun sparkling through it. Thus, she calls her work “Window Jewellery”. Barb has picked up tips from many artists along the way, and still draws on design principles she learned studying Landscape Architecture at the University of Guelph.

She is particularly inspired by collaborating on commissions with her clients to produce unique and personally meaningful pieces of work that include their treasured keepsakes.

In addition to her artwork Barb also enjoys two very different but rewarding creative activities – over 10 years of designing and painting sets for a huge variety of theatre projects, and over 15 years of teaching tai chi with Linda Kearns’ Guelph Tai Chi for Health.

You can find more about Barbara on her website: Barbara Bryce – Improvised Art Glass 

We look forward to Barbara’s presentation on Monday April 18th.

May’s Presentation

Nir Kronenberg is the owner of Nirvana Beads, a US-based wholesale bead distributor with a focus in Czech Glass Beads and Buttons. Nir got his start in the industry as a traveling bead salesman. Founding Nirvana Beads in 2006, it quickly became clear to him that Czech Beads had the potential to differentiate Nirvana.

With the talent of his team and bead designers, he quickly got to work creating a distinctive line of Czech beads that would not only distinguish his company, but also take the centuries old Czech bead industry in a new direction.

Description of Talk

Inventing new beads never gets old. With thousands of bead shapes, hundreds of colors and dozens of finishes. There is no end to the creative possibilities that lie latent in the Czech Bead industry. Now just a shadow of its glorious past, this old-world industry is struggling to stay alive in a world that has largely sped by. Nir will talk about his company’s role in tapping this largely forgotten world and creating something new from methods, molds and manufacturers that are centuries old.

Show and Share from Our March Meeting     

Maria Rypan created this stunning neckpiece which looks absolutely beautiful on her. Snowy Owl – The birch bark stumper in the TBS 2022 Bag of Beads became the focal in this two-piece neckpiece.

The owl was created with porcupine quill work and bead embroidery. The bugle net collar provides as a base to showcase the birch medallion. You can see more in Maria’s blog:

http://rypandesigns.blogspot.com/2022/02/snowy-owl.h

Blog: rypandesigns.blogspot.com

Sherry Stockton created these beautiful Jean Power bangles in support of Ukraine.

The darker bangle was created as per Jean’s written instructions. Sherry modified the light green bangel by adding a few more plain rows. She used Nymo B thread, Delica 11/0 and hearts are Toho 11.
Sherry says that she learned a lot doing them! As we all know the first one is always the hardest. She’s about about to start a blue one with silver hearts which hopefully we will see at our next meeting.

Everything I Need to Know, I Learned from the Easter Bunny

Don’t put all of your eggs in one basket.
Everyone needs a friend who is all ears.
There’s no such thing as too much candy.
All work and no play can make you a basket case.
Everyone is entitled to a bad hare day.
Some body parts should be floppy.
An Easter bonnet can tame even the wildest hare.
To show your true colours you have to come out of your shell.

~Author Unknown

Tips and Techniques

Part two of: Glue Can be a Sticky Problem

Two popular glues are: G-S Hypo cement and E6000

Here are some reasons why people favour them:

G-S HYPO CEMENT

•  Good for precise applications, as it has a fine needle type applicator.
•  Can be used for securing thread in bead tips or bead cups when knotting beads, but it is also useful for bonding small pieces of metal.
•  It dries in about 45 minutes and is clear when dry. You can reposition items if you don’t get items placed precisely the first time.
•  It is strong.
•  It can be cleaned with rubbing alcohol or nail polish remover.

 E6000 

•  Tube end is more suitable for large surface glue applications.
•  Excellent bonding properties.
•  Glue is thick and therefore can fill in holes or dips in surfaces to be glued.
•  It has a strong smell so use in a well ventilated area.
•  Dries clear.
•  Bonding is not instant so you can reposition.Article edited from Canada Beading Supply – a beading company in Ottawa Ontario.
  

  ---

When You get the chance to sit out or dance….. I hope you dance.

∼ Lee Anne Womac

“When the power of love
overcomes the love of power
the world will know peace.” 

Jimi Hendrix

President’s Message

Welcome to Returning Member:

Janet Jones

Future Virtual Meetings

Monday, March 21, 2022: Meredith Filshie: Bead Embroidery

Monday, April 18, 2022: Barbara Bryce: Working with Stained Glass and Found Objects

Monday, May 16: TBA

Monday, June 20: AGM

Pam Kearns Journey

GRBS members were pleased on February 22, 2022 to have guest presenter, Pam Kearns share her journey of discovery with us.
Pam’s story of creativity began as a young girl, learning to knit and sew from her mother as part of her upbringing, but Pam’s journey in beading started at the CreativFestival through Cathy Lampole. Cathy gave her a free pattern and a quick lesson on peyote stitch. The rest is history.
That was her beginning and the rest came from being self taught along with tutorials, magazines and classes. Our own Marilyn Gardiner was also instrumental in promoting Pam’s interest in beading.
Pam was fascinated by peyote stitching and thought about it so much that it finally became the name of her business “Peyote Dreams”. Peyote is her stitch of choice as she designs patterns and teaches others this wonderful style of beading.
Her work has been published in Boho Bangle and in many of the TBS calendars. She has also taught at Bead and Button show.
Pam’s discovery of who she was came about due to the loss of her job and a gastric bypass. Both gave her the courage and willingness to look at who she was and in finding her strengths and passions.
She has developed a wonderful personal philosophy: “Don’t let anyone tell you that you are not good enough.” True words of wisdom!
Her creative philosophy is just as powerful:” Learn the technique and then make it your own and If you like it … that is all that matters.”
Pam continues to keep busy by teaching virtual and in person classes at BeadFX and That Bead Lady along with TDSB’s Learn 4 Life adult-learning program.
She is involved in Virtually Every Crafting (www.virtuallyevercrafting.com) and also does Monday Mini Classes.
Her love and enthusiasm for peyote was very obvious and her willingness to pass on this style of beading to others is truly an inspiration.
Thank you Pam for an inspirational story of both your personal and professional journey and a wonderful evening.

You can contact Pam or see more of her beautiful work at any of the following:

Email: PamelaKearns2019@gmail.com

Website: www.PeyoteDreams.ca

Etsy Shop: www.etsy.com/shop/PeyoteDreams

Meredith has had some formal training in art, design, and sewing and has explored a number of fibre art techniques. When she was growing up, her mother encouraged creative pursuits supplying embroidery thread or wool and beautiful fabrics, primarily to dress her dolls. Excursions to “Dressmakers’ Supply”, a fabulous store in Toronto were always a treat! She was particularly attracted to the displays of seed beads, laces and ribbons which were not available at the fabric stores closer to home. Her love of fabrics and threads meant that she could rarely pass stores that carried anything remotely connected without a “quick” look. Books and magazines generated a lot of ideas about what she might do “if only she had time”. After buying Canada Beading Supply in 1994 and joining Out of the Box, a fibre arts group, in 2002, she has made time to explore new creative directions.
During our March meeting, Meredith will give an overview of her beading life.

Show and Share from Our February Meeting

Maria Skinner had a bracelet that she wasn’t wearing because it was too large for her wrist. So, being the problem solver that she is, she took it apart, strung the beads on 3 different colours of rat tail and one on cotton thread. She had to do it in 3 parts because she did not have enough of right the colours. It turned out absolutely lovely. Maria is an adventurous soul who loves to try new ideas!

Alexa Bradford does the most beautiful dimensional beading. The vase is by River Rose. Lexi says that it was fun to make in both herringbone and peyote. Her patterns are very detailed .
Lexi’s bell is by Teresa Morse of Iceni Bead Design. The pattern is done in a circular peyote in size 11 delicas.

Lexi’s gnome was from a pattern by Katie Dean. She sells either the pattern or the on-line tutorial and pattern together. Katie also does great classes online which allows you to work at your own speed. When I saw this, I immediately fell in love with it and ordered the pattern with a promise from Lexi that she would help me with this design as I have never done dimensional beading in the past.

These two beautiful pieces were created by Gillian Clarke. The vessel is “Alison” by River Rose, which was the February 2022 bead-along with the Facebook group “Seedbeads and More”. It’s the fifth vessel of hers that Gillian has made, with another halfway completed. (which hopefully we’ll see soon)

The necklace was made a few years ago. It is 14K gold filled chainmaille in roundmaille pattern, with a row of inverted roundmaille about every 1.5 cm to separate it into segments. Gillian didn’t plan it that way, but it was turning out too stiff as plain roundmaille and she couldn’t afford to buy any more gold rings. A creative way to fit a design that wasn’t working!!!

The above pendants and earrings are Yvette Herold’s way of finishing off tubes of delicas and bugles. As she haven’t been to a bead store in almost two years, these pendants (and many more ) have been her COVID projects. All of them are made using brick stitch and are a variation of a diamond pattern….inexpensive to make, but they do take a while. Brick stitch is easy and very Zen!

Karen Townsend’s stunning work with Kumhimo is truly amazing. It’s easy to see why this is one of her favourites techniques.

Sue Charette-Hood has beaded the shamrock pin with her Zoom Texas beading buddies since it was her group’s project for March (she was invited to join this Texas beading group in 2020 after the onset of Covid and still beads with them 3 times a week). Beading with these ladies kept her sane whilst being locked down in 2020 & 2021…. just six months after moving to SC. And now, thanks to Zoom, she is happy to be able to bead with our group too.The shamrock is called Quadrifoglio & was designed by Theodora Seimeni.

These are two pieces of Sue Charette-Hood’s Solar Ecllipse jewellery that she created and are being sold in the South Carolina State Museum. It is a repurposed piece that Sue designed as a request for the museum, based on the August 21, 2017 solar eclipse.
Sue says that you can check out their cool website where you are able to virtually stargaze from their planetarium. (links below)

http://scmuseum.org/

http://scmuseum.org/events/upcoming-events/ 

https://shop.scmuseum.org/

c Women After Fifty

USB Cigarette Lighter which is rechargeable and environmently friendly. Perfect for fusing Fireline pieces together when beading. Available from Amazon.

Robyn Alexander is an Aussie maker who is an amazing and talented fibre artist. This link to her shop includes her embroidery kits and supplies that she has either sourced as is, or dyed to create unique starting materials. It includes patterns, threads, butons and fabrics.The link to her etsy shop is included below.

https://www.etsy.com/au/shop/RobynAlexanderDesign

If you enjoy Kumihino check out Pru McRae’s blog at:

Blog

President’s Message

Is February your favourite month of the year? The month of Love and Family, not to mention the shortest month. I think February is my favourite month and closer to Spring too. Just a few days left to finish your Valentines gifts then a week to plan your Family Day activities. Wishing everyone a month filled with love and safe family activities during this time of Covid.

I’m looking forward to seeing and hearing about Pam Kearns creative journey at our next GRBS meeting on Tuesday, February 22nd. If you’re not a member, hop over to the Membership page at GRBS.ca and join us.

Take care everyone and be safe.

Sherry Stockton

Welcome to new and returning members:

Carol Cooper

Diane Henry-Baretta

Alison Griffiths

Future Virtual Meetings

Tuesday, February 22, 2022: Pam Kearns: Her Creative Journey
Please note: this is a Tuesday as Monday is Family Day

Monday, March 21, 2022: Meredith Filshie: Bead Embroidery

Monday, April 18, 2022: Barbara Bryce: Working with Stained Glass and Found Objects

Monday, May 16: TBA

Monday, June 20: AGM

Pam Kearns Presentation

Tuesday, February 22

Pamela Kearns has been on a beading journey for the last 20 years. Along the way she learned many seed beading techniques, weaving, felting and knitting and some with beads, some without. Join Pam to see her beading journey and some of the items she has created along the way.

Floored by Floor Kaspers amazing work.

Hopefully I am not alone in my adoration of Floor Kaspers work. We were so fortunate to have her present all the way from the Netherlands to Grand River Bead Society and Toronto Bead Society in a shared virtual meeting on Sunday January 16.

Floor is a well-known awarding winning bead artist. She has an extensive knowledge of the history of beads, creates lamp work beads and dabbles in ceramics. In the future she wants to include all mediums in her pieces. Her beadwork sculptures are already diverse, colourful and challenging. At the beginning of her presentation Floor shared a recently created pottery tea pot that she was clearly pleased with. Her foray into the beading world innocently began with her study of the history of beads, Floor remarked that creating beadwork was a natural progression of sorts.

I noticed quickly that her engaging presentation style makes you feel like it’s a living room conversation amongst friends. She spoke about her early and current beadwork and the anecdotes that inspired them. Floors describes her work as being based on the exploration of shapes she hasn’t seen before which is then paired with a serious addiction to colour. Personally I don’t think you can work with beads and not be a colour junkie.

Floor is quite accomplished for someone who has been beading for only a decade. She works in geometric beadwork and has a curious obsession with netting, relishing in how easy it is to create. Floor also commented on how relaxing it is to create beaded netting. Netting was one of the major shifts in Floors evolving explorations in working with seed beads. For sculptural works she studies shaped patterns to create unique dimensional pieces that can be worn. Colour also plays a pivotal role in her beaded art and for the record analogous colours are Floors preference. She often uses colour in graduating tones of similar shades. One such image of Indian squash that come in a variety of orange, yellow and greens, became the bead colours Floor used for a sculptural neckpiece. The effect is dramatic and I was quite captivated by her use of colour. Floor observed during her beading process on how the finish of the bead can also contribute to how a piece looks. Matte beads versus shiny beads are examined, and how they work together in a piece. With Floors larger beadwork she also has to consider the strength of her thread, and has to decide if the thread can support the scale of the beadwork. It can be too easy to overlook the mechanics involved in creating larger scale work.

Floor very casually pointed out that she has the entire collection of Miyuki seed beads, a point of envy for most. The Japanese seed beads are her beads of choice and this is a common brand for people who create geometric work, or any technique that requires precision. When Floor travels for her day job she has a travelling beaded kit that goes everywhere with her. Her day job is stressful and she uses beading as a form of relaxation and to unwind from a busy work day. I was amazed how Floor manages to have a full time job and create the incredible pieces she does. I also noted how she only works on one project at a time and typically finishes it, this is in contrast to my bins of unfinished projects and beading failures.

Like many of us Floor also uses her beaded art to reflect her feelings, she created a piece based on the effect of Covid in the Netherlands which she refers to as her “sad” piece. Our work should always be related to our life experiences and covid has certainly been something that is hard to ignore. Some of her geometric works are almost treated like objects of entertainment. One piece of beadwork was just the right size to hold eggs. It was truly remarkable in its colourful presentation and functionality. Never thought of a beaded egg carton before. It’s objects like this that are big, bold and vibrant that make her work truly intriguing. Floor was kind enough to reveal her supplies of choice, noting that she uses Miyuki seed beads almost exclusively, along with 6 lb fire line and John James beading needles.

Hopefully if you missed Floors live presentation you were able to watch one of two encore zoom presentations. I really enjoyed seeing her work and listening to her stories, which to me is often why we create artful objects in the first place. Can’t wait to see what amazing pieces she will be doing next.

*Floor publishes her projects in progress on her facebook page.

Submitted by Naomi Smith

no matter

how serious

 life gets,

remember to

have fun

and

be silly

Sun, Moon and stars

Glue Can be a Sticky Problem

If you want to touch
the past,
touch a rock.

If you want to touch
the present,
touch a flower.

If you want to touch
the future,
touch a life.
Author unknown

Future Virtual Meetings

Sunday, January 16, 2022, 1-3 pm: Floor Kaspers presentation

• Here’s a link to her website: http://www.floorkaspers.nl/beadwork/index.html

• Floor has a spectacular piece in Beadsmith’s current “Battle of the Beadsmith”, an 8-week competition. Here is a photo of her entry:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/909085782545395/permalink/3395761177211164/

Please note : this is a Sunday afternoon and will take the place of our regularly meeting scheduled for January

Tuesday, February 22, 2022: Pam Kearns: Her Creative Journey
Please note: this is a Tuesday as Monday is Family Day

Monday, March 21, 2022: Meredith Filshie: Bead Embroidery

Monday, April 18, 2022: Barbara Bryce: Working with Stained Glass and Found Objects

Monday, May 16: TBA

Monday, June 20: AGM

Presentation by Diane Henry-Baratta

Kumihimo is Japanese for “gathered threads”, and is an ancient Japanese form of braid-making. Cords and ribbons are made by interlacing strands to make a strong, decorative braided rope. Kumihimo is a fun and easy technique that offers a variety of outcomes from simple braiding to very involved beadwork. One of the most delightful GRBS evenings was the presentation on a braided Kumihimo technique called Kara Yatsu Kumihimo by Diane Henry-Baratta.

Diane is a self taught “kumihimost” (is there such a word ?) and described it as a rabbit hole that she as gone down, as she can spend hours playing with beads and colours. Diane loves to use resources for braiding that she describes as cheap and cheerful – love that expression!! Diane was a wonderful, patient teacher, who gave very clear, precise instructions and added her own version of humour for this art form. She often asks herself – what would happen if ???, which probably leads her down that rabbit hole to greater design ideas! She defines Kumihimo as a portable art that can be done anywhere with endless possibilities. Her quote – from teaching her primary students, “ criss cross apple sauce, up down and Even Stephen” is a great way to keep the pattern of braiding in your head.

Recommended resources were a book by Rebecca Anne Combs and of course Pinterest. Her presentation was followed with an excellent and interesting discussion by our members with many wonderful questions and ideas for this unique style of braiding. You can see from our December sharing pieces how popular this art form has become.

Thank you Diane for a wonderful, fun and informative evening.

Diane recommended “Beaded Kumihimo Jewelry” by Rebecca Ann Coombs book as a great resource.

Women Over Fifty Floor Kaspers Presentation on Sunday, January 16th 

Floor Kaspers is a Dutch glass artist, bead worker and bead researcher. She started out as a sculptor in stone and bronze. Today, 25 years later, even her jewelry pieces still look like sculptures, even though they are made from many tiny components. She captures nature and the color shifts in nature in glass art, installation pieces and beadwork. Most of her pieces takes months of work, resulting in intricate pieces that show different ways that glass and beads can be used. She has recently started working in ceramics.

In her presentation Floor will share with you her process of designing and creating her larger beadwork pieces, including her 2020 winning Battle of the Beadsmith piece. She will go into design aspects that are unlike any type of standard jewelry or beadwork design. She will also explain her process of picking and mixing colors.

Show and Share from our December Meeting

At our December meeting we were overwhelmed with the many beautiful Kumihimo pieces that our members have created. The talent and passion for this beautiful art form is truly amazing.

This is Sherry Stockton’s Kumihimo bracelet done in two colours. Sherry made an OOPS (Opportunity Of Possibilities) when creating her bracelet and added a charm in that exact spot rather than discarding the braid. Perfect solution! Meant to be!

It is obvious from the above pictures that Karen Townsend has an amazing talent for Kumihimo. She says it is her favourite form of beading. Beautiful designs!

These are Kumihimo pieces that Yvette Herold created a while ago. The white and black one was made on a marudai and has beautiful end caps. The pink one has beads on only two strands and uses Chinese knotting cord. The piece of wire wrapped coral is from a beach in Barbados. The brown one combines Kumihimo and wire wrapping. Yvette is amazing at searching out pieces of nature to add to her beading work.

These cords were created by Roxann Blazetich-Ozols and are examples of another way of creating a necklace with leather dual lucet braided cord. Tie pins were used to keep the focal bead in place through the gaps in the plaiting. The cord was braided in such a way as to have a “trough” along one edge length so that the bead could be nestled into position. The tie pin was passed through the bead and secured at the other end with the protective cap end. Susan Hood made the beads and Roxann made the cords. Teamwork at its’ best!

Kumihimo is also Erin Fish’s favourite type of beading. The black bracelet is done with black leather cording using Diane’s lesson with Kara Yatsu (still needs the clasps). The others are circular Kumihimo with beads. Her favourite piece is the bottom right with a centre bead that she made by coiling wire. Erin also created the end caps and heart charm with the same wire.

These stunning earrings were created by Lin Chapman. The St. Petersburg stitch leaf earrings on the right was a YouTube pattern from Sonyscree Creations and came out beautifully. The “ Fandango” style earrings on the left are Lin’s own creation, but were inspired by the picture of a tutorial that Pam Kearns was teaching. They are brick stitch on a handmade copper jump ring with a picot edge. The 6mm seed beads sewn in at the top disguise the join at the top of the jump ring.

These beautiful bobbin lace designs created by Gillian Clark, were done using perle cotton thread and beads.

These CRAW pieces from Susan Charette-Hood’s November workshop were created by Evelyn Lee. Evelyn has definitely mastered this technique.

The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched – they must be felt with the heart.
Helen Keller

Membership Fees

Your membership fee of $25 to cover January to June 2022 is now due. Be sure to renew now so that you don’t miss the January meeting with our special guest Floor Kaspers.

So—look after your membership now—whether it’s new or a renewal.

Go here: https://grbs.ca/membership/

Fill out a membership form and pay $25 CAD with PayPal or by e-transfer.

See you in 2022.

Welcome New Member:

Barbara Bryce

Future Virtual Meeting Dates

Monday, December 13, 2021: Diane Henry- Baratta: Kumihimo presentation
* Note: this is the 2nd Monday*

Sunday, January 16, 2022, 1-3 pm: Floor Kaspers presentation

• Here’s a link to her website: http://www.floorkaspers.nl/beadwork/index.html

• Floor has a spectacular piece in Beadsmith’s current “Battle of the Beadsmith”, an 8-week competition. Here is a photo of her entry:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/909085782545395/permalink/3395761177211164/

Please note : this is a Sunday afternoon and will take the place of our regularly meeting scheduled for January

Monday, February 21, 2022: TBA

Monday, March 21, 2022: Meredith Filshie: Bead Embroidery

We know that our members do beautiful, creative work. If you would like to share your pieces with us, please use the link below to do so. We are looking forward to seeing all of the wonderful work that our members design and create.

https://form.jotform.com/211555457930256

CRAW Presentation by Sue Charette-Hood

Sue Charette-Hood has a very welcoming style of teaching. Her directions are not only exceptionally clear and concise, but she teaches with flair and humour. It was definitely that way with her presentation on CRAW. Sue even provided us with a limerick by Betty Stephan that shared the many frustrations that come with learning this technique! So much fun!

Sue’s most important tip when doing Craw was ADVANCE! Probably a good life lesson for us all!

I have never been a CRAW enthusiast and never tried this technique, but Sue’s positiveness and gently nudging was certainly encouraging enough to give it a go! Thank you Sue!

Show and Share from our November Meeting

Presentation by Diane Henry-Baratta on December 13th.

Diane has been practicing the art of Kumihimo for many years and is a long-time vendor at the GRBS Bead Show, and now also a GRBS member. She will talk about Kumihimo braiding, show us some examples of her work, and demonstrate how to make an 8-strand half-round braided bracelet using the Kara Yatsu braid. The pattern and resources will be provided in the Zoom invitation that will be sent on December 6th, so you will be able to braid-along.

Samples of Diane’s work

Sample of the Kumihimo bracelet that Diane will be teaching at our December 13th meeting.

Thank you Teresa Carter

Tips and Techniques

Check out Lisa Yang’s site at:
http://www.lisayangjewelry.com

She has some wonderful tutorials along with suggestions for tools and techniques on her site. I love this idea for storing her delicas. Who knew a shoe bag could be used for beading??

If you are interested in macrame she also has a lovely tutorial on creating a Christmas tree ornament.

What is Christmas?

It is the tenderness of the past, courage for the present and hope for the future.
Agnes M.Pahro

President’s Message

Here we are – November and just 2 short months left in 2021! Okay, yes they are the regular 30/31 days but they do seem to go quickly – for me anyway.

The GRBS executive have been busy with planning for 2022 so we are sustainable and able to provide great programs each month.

We will continue to use ZOOM for our meetings for the remainder of the 2021/22 membership year. Another part of our planning was Membership fees for January to June of 2022. Before Covid our membership fees for 10 meetings was $45 or $4.50 per month. A great deal indeed! Membership fees from September to December were $10. Membership fees starting January until June 2022, will be $25.00 payable by January 1st.

This brings GRBS annual membership September 2021 to June 2022 to $35 – less than our regular annual fees. But then we all know there has been nothing “regular” during this past year.

To renew your membership please go to the website and fill in the Membership application – this helps us to also capture any changes to your information. We anticipate going back to annual membership fees in June 2022. Thanks for your patience as we head into the backstretch of the pandemic.

Lest We Forget – November 11th. I’m thankful for the freedoms I enjoy, at their expense.

Take care everyone.

Sherry

Welcome to our new members:

Cindy Vaughn
Lisa Carlin

We know that our members do beautiful, creative work. If you would like to share your pieces with us, please use the link below to do so. We are looking forward to seeing all of the wonderful work that our members design and create.

https://form.jotform.com/211555457930256

Miniatures Tested by Fire

We were so pleased to have our next celebrity guest presenter, Gillie Hoyte Byrom present to both the Grand River Bead Society and Toronto Bead Society on Wednesday, October 6, at 1:30 PM EST. Gillie is located in Britain so we altered her presentation time to an afternoon to account for the challenges our differing time zones create. In the enameling world Gillie is a bit of a super star. Her work is world renowned, and she has won several prizes and international awards, and did I mention she has created portraits for royalty? We were so fortunate that Gillie kindly offered to share her insights on the lesser known art form of enameling on metal and is credited as one of few artists keeping the art of miniature enamel portraiture alive. This specialized art form crosses boundaries from having an artistic function and as a form of wearable art, which was what drew my desire to know more. I have in the past dabbled into the art of high fired enameling or vitreous enameling (powered glass and metal oxides fused to a metal base in a kiln) and hope to someday explore this exciting medium again.

Gillies’ story begins rather innocently, as she recalls her interest in glass began with collecting pieces of smoothed sea glass from the coastal areas of where she grew up in Britain. Admittedly I can relate to how my own childhood interests often became the catalyst for my creative endeavours in my mature years. Gillie said her love for glass continued and eventually she began teaching herself the art of high fired enameling after seeing enameling at a craft fair. She instantly fell in love with the medium and wanted to know more. Her very first piece, the Daisy chain was featured on TV and her foray into the art of enameling began. Like many artists, much of her schooling was based on learning on her own. She was fortunate to discover an enameling course in Barcelona, Spain. This was a turning point in her career and made a huge difference to her enamel portraits.

Gillie is clearly detail oriented and articulate when it comes to her work. She pointed out that miniature portraits have to be within a certain size or scale to even fit the criteria of what defines a “miniature portrait”. The size of the persons head can be no larger than two inches around to be considered as a miniature. Creating an enameled portrait in itself is no small feat. Some portraits can take up to 12 individual firings at 1300 degrees Fahrenheit in the kiln before they are complete. Her studio space and tools are highly specialized to create the portraits. She mused that contrary to popular belief the brushes she uses consist of more than a single hair. It fascinated me to see the very tiny brushes she uses to lay down the powered glass and the end result is amazing. Creating portraits of people has its own challenges, an artist first of all has to be accomplished at drawing figures and people in any medium. It’s an incredible pressure to paint the likeness of someone and hope that they’re happy with it. The second challenge is creating the portraits in a diminutive size using powered glass as the medium in which to render the most complex facial features and personal details all under the use of a microscope. Gillie was quite descriptive in how the portraits are created and pointed out that some enamels can be created in a day while others may take several days, even months to complete.

Much of Gillies artwork is inspired by historical pieces of times past. She often exams older enamels in museums to get help in refining her craft. She reflected on how studying the older pieces has become the best way to learn. While she specializes in portraiture Gillie has created an astounding amount of work. She estimates she has painted over 500 of them during her career, in addition she creates enamels that are not portraits. I think it’s only natural for any artist to stray from their usual subjects and create work that is atypical. I do it all the time just to keep things fresh from an artistic perspective. During her presentation Gillies enthusiasm for enameling never waned and her passion for the art form was infectious. I really felt after watching her power point and listening to her stories that enameling could very well be something I continue with in my own artistic journey.

There were many things about Gillies love for enameling that resonated with me. I was happy to hear that she teaches and shares with others in order to pass on her knowledge and preserve this fine art form. Gillie has also written a book and created online courses on enameling, again for posterity and to share her specialized techniques. She continues to play an important role in the revival of enamel painting. Gillie is an inspiration to artists regardless, and very clearly earns a living through her passion for portraiture and creativity.

You can find more information about Gillie and see incredible images of her wonderful work at: www.enamelpainting.co.uk.

Submitted by Naomi Smith • Black Tulip Designs

Show and Share from our October Meeting

This is Meredith Filshie’s beautiful beaded embroidery. I love the combination of complimentary colours. If you have any questions about her work you can email her at mfilshie@icloud.com.

Gillian Clarke’s exquisite River Rose Purse created from a beadalong class with River Rose. You can find her on Facebook as “Beading with River Rose”.

These are Sherry Stockton’s stunning necklaces from Jill Wisemans’ videos. Absolutely gorgeous!
On the left is her Butterfly Kisses using Miyuki Light Sapphire Grey Lustre 11/0 with firepolish accent.
On the right is her Double Spiral using Toho light rose gold and gilt-lined pale peach opal – both are perma-finish.

Alexis Bradford is famous for her creative and beautiful stars and she didn’t disappoint this month.

The “ Tulip Vase” on the left was a beadalong with the pattern by Tracey Lorraine of Crystal Star Gems & Jewellery. The vase is about 6 cm by 4.5 cm.

The star on the right was a Christmas bauble beadalong by DiMarca.
Both classes were on line.

Brandi De Knibber
GRBS Communications Co-Ordinator

Brandi is new to the beading world in general. She started out, as most of us did, doing something completely different – in her case, it was knitting and crocheting. Once she learned that you could do both with wire, things changed forever. Many years ago, she and her mother attended a Grand River Bead Society Show which opened her eyes to another world altogether. One member who had a great impact on Brandi was Gillian Clarke, who had a table filled with wired crochet items. Gillian generously (as our members are so willing to do) gave Brandi more information to ensure her continued interest in using wire in a different way. A few years later, she joined the society and continued to grow as a beader. She has since developed a passion for Kumihimo, Chainmaille, and Peyote Stitch. She looks forward to growing old passions, and finding new ones alongside our members.

GRBS Member Evelyn Lee’s
Amazing Bead Embroidery Work

Evelyn designs her own pieces starting with a doodle and usually has a basic idea in mind of what she would like to achieve. Often it will look completely different when she has finished the design process. She uses “Lacy’s Stiff-Stuff” beading foundation to work on, and ultra suede for the finished backing.
Evelyn works with size 11s for filling spaces along with 8’s and 15’s for finishing a bezel. She often uses 6’s for embellishing and trimming the edges. She feels that working with two beads rather than three allow the beads to sit better on her pieces and are tighter to the backing. Size 10 needles, long or short are her preferred needle size.
Evelyn prefers Toho or Miyuki beads because of their uniformity.
She loves colour, but forces herself to work outside of her comfort level with colours that are not her favourite.
Her pieces are unique and most definitely one-of-a-kind.
It is very obvious that beading is a creative exploration for Evelyn, often based in a willingness to take chances and explore the possibilities.
If you have any questions for Evelyn about her work or process, you can email her at evelyn.lee2@yahoo.ca

At our October meeting, our members shared some interesting ideas for unusual tools and their uses. One of the most fascinating tools discussed was the common awl. Merriam-Webster defines an awl as a “pointed tool for marking surfaces or piercing small holes”.
However, at our meeting, many other descriptors could definitely be used to define the common awl! Many of the uses that our members shared included:

• Great for knotting cord, picking and probing
• Helps slide a knot into place when knotting between beads
• Great for un-tying knots, picking thread and other stuff out of bead holes, knotting pearls
• Handy for poking holes in earring cards

  Cindy Vaughn has even created her own awls from polymer clay and a large darning needle! Wow!!

“Don’t wait for someone to bring you flowers. Plant your own garden and decorate your own soul.”

Luther Burbank

 President’s Message

Future Meeting Dates

Monday, October 18, 2021: Show and Share. Open discussion about buying beads online and “Tips and Tricks” about favourite tools.

Monday, November 15, 2021: Susan Charette-Hood: to CRAW or not to CRAW

Monday, December 13, 2021: Diane Henry-Baratta: Kumihimo presentation
*Note this is the 2nd Monday*

Sunday, January 16, 2020, 1-3 pm: Floor Kaspers presentation
Please note: this is a Sunday afternoon and will take the place of our regular meeting scheduled for January 17.

Welcome to new members:

Gina Whitlock
Nahed Squires
Natalie Baird
Dianna Hewitt
Michelle Qwsley
Diane Henry-Baratta
Meredith Filshie
Debra Wozniak
Sarah Joyes Ugly Necklace Reveal

This necklace by Lin Chapman is made from salvaged wire that she found on the side of the road and made into a gutter grate to hang on her neck. There’s all types of trash that she’s picked up that people have dropped… notably a cigar butt, paper, shredded tarp, pop tabs, rags. There is a full doggie doo bag (filled with chocolate… sometimes called a Keister Bunny), broken glass, felted dog hair, a ripped and discarded mask and a torn Tim Horton’s cup. Lin says it’s pretty ugly, but I think the entire concept is beautiful!

This necklace, designed by Yvette Herold, was created from a thorn that she stepped on while she was in Mexico. (Ouch!) Yvette is always creating beautiful pieces from her travels.

This is Sue Henry’s beautiful necklace created from coke can cutouts and electrical wire. Who thought that coke cans could become such beautiful jewellery?

Maria Skinner: created this interesting piece using polymer clay, seed beads, hearing aid parts, and a Maple Leafs lanyard. Creativity at it’s best!!!!!

Sherry Stockton’s piece made me laugh the most!!!
It’s created from a clothes hanger, novelty yarn and a Christmas bauble. I believe it’s still hanging in her closet and will probably be there for a while!

Gillian Clarke got really creative and brought back memories from childhood. I think we all remember making things from pasta and spray painting them. That’s exactly what Gillian did: gold painted pasta, rat tail and wooden rings from the dollar store! Well done!

Rozanne Blazetich-Ozois was taking a resin class and at the last minute grabbed her children’s baby teeth to include in this unique pendant. She added a lucet-woven leather cord. Memories!!

Sue Charente-Hood created two pieces for our challenge. On the left is a multi-contributor necklace and on the right is a spiky uncomfortable necklace.
Her husband was diagnosed with Covid, hence her mask that she wears to remind him to get his vaccine!

https://form.jotform.com/211555457930256

I’m always losing my glasses but never to this extreme! LOL

Tips and Techniques

How to Get Started:

1. Don’t let yourself get overwhelmed. Start out with the basics and go from there.
2. Watch YouTube videos to get started. Seeing someone else execute a step might be easier than trying to deciper pictures
3. Use online tutorials for ideas.
4. Skills come with practice; be patient!

Words of Encouragement

1. Be patient and kind with yourself.
2. Don’t get discouraged if your product doesn’t look like the professional one. Keep practicing, and you’ll get there.
3. Jewelry making is fun; don’t stress!
4. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes.
5. Don’t give up! Love what you do, and keep building the passion for it.
6. Anything goes; be creative!
7. Have fun!
8. And last but not least…
   Be Warned: It’s addictive! 🙂

Plus: the best tip of all is; become a member of GRBS. We have tons of tips to help everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!

First, give yourself kindness and grace. Then re-gift it as often as possible.

President’s Message

Future Meeting Dates

Oct 6, 2021, 1:30 PM EST — Gillie Hoyte Byrom, enamellist

Gillie Byrom’s presentation to both bead societies of Toronto and Grand River has been finalized for Wednesday October 6th 1:30pm EST. Her talk will be about her enamel portraits: “Miniatures Tested by Fire” in a Power Point presentation.

Thanks to technology and good will, we are very fortunate to have celebrity artist, Gillie Hoyte Byrom, present for both bead societies of Toronto and Grand River on Wednesday October 6th 1:30pm EST.

Gillie Hoyte Byrom, an artist of over 500 portrait miniatures in vitreous enamel for a world-wide clientele, agreed to speak to us beaders and tailor her presentation to our interests!! Her talk will be about her enamel portraits: “Miniatures Tested by Fire” and will touch on techniques of portrait miniature and general enamel painting.

Gillie Hoyte Byrom hand paints enamels for a world-wide clientele. She works mainly to commission to create portrait miniatures using traditional vitreous enamel skills taught to her in Barcelona in 1990. Gillie has further developed these techniques using precious metals to produce jewel like heirlooms, treasured for future generations.

Vitreous enamel is glass fused to metal in a hot kiln. The base could be copper, silver or gold depending on your budget. The glass paints are applied by hand with the finest sable miniaturist brushes.

In Brief: Each enamel portrait miniature is painted in a sequence of thin layers.

The likeness and detail are achieved using a microscope and miniatures can be magnified to life-size. The advantage of enamel over other media is this – the glass colours remain the same from the final firing and will never fade over time, so the miniature can be displayed in sunlight. Enamel miniatures are jewel-like heirlooms to be treasured in your lifetime and by future generations.

Gillie teaches onglaze vitreous painting by book, course and video master classes.

Her website: http://www.enamelpainting.co.uk. will give you a better idea of this art form and the master who tackles historic figures, and contemporary topics. What a treat it will be to hear her stories behind the commissions!!!

Because of the time difference, the meeting will be at 1:30 pm in the afternoon (6:30pm England time). We sincerely hope you can rearrange your schedules to be able to personally experience the presentation midweek afternoon. (Sorry, recording privilege unknown at this moment.)

Submitted by Maria Rypan

Summer Sharing

Electromagnetic Radiance
by Maria Rypan

This was a Summer 2021 Challenge – vintage lampwork tiles get a second life as a brooch and bracelet!!

Blog about the creative process was just published:

https://rypandesigns.blogspot.com/2021/08/electromagnetic-radiance-summer-2021.html?fbclid=IwAR24d00dohWZVIS2FdX_GT-Lnc0IBmiM-Qx20y3FXPamk5yOLj141CGrRvo

This beaded necklace belonged to Michaela Fitzsimmons mother and is probably about 50 years old.

This is Sue Charette-Hood’s braided wire crochet necklace made with Canadian buttons (maybe military) that she found in her deceased Mother’s button tin years ago. She does not have any military relatives or acquaintances so Sue has always wondered where they came from. Nevertheless, every time she wears it, (and get compliments), she always thanks our Canadian military for their service!

Breathe Exhibit

The Breathe exhibit at the Art Gallery of Guelph has been extended to October 10, 2021. Check out the many beautiful works of art that are on display at The Art Gallery of Guelph, 358 Gordon Street, Guelph, Ontario N1G 1Y1.
Thank you to Maria Ryan her beautiful pictures!

On Saturday, September 25, 2021 Naomi Smith ( Board Advisor for GRBS ) will be teaching “Oh Let Me Be Free” Mini Dragonfly Pin.
This virtual workshop is hosted by the Art Gallery of Guelph.

To register go to: https://eventbrite.ca/…/online-workshop-oh-let-me…

I was being so good at the bead store, I really was …..

But then I got out of the car and went in.

The 2021 International Iroquois Beadwork Zoom

September 25, 2021

We would love to have you join us on Saturday, September 25th starting at 1:00 for our 2021 International Iroquois Beadwork Conference.

As in 2020 the conference will be virtual, held on Zoom. (Best part is we don’t have to wear masks and we can see each other.)

100 people can join us on our Zoom account.

Reply to this announcement to register fo the conference. There is no charge. Those who register will receive the Zoom information on Thursday, September 23rd.

Please register by Wednesday, September 22nd, so we can send out the Zoom information promptly on the 23rd.

Participants are invited to share news, including recent creations and acquisitions.

Following sharing of beadwork news, the program will feature a presentation by Rick Hill. Rick will present Haudenosaunee Visual History. He will be looking at the visual language out of which beadwork patterns emerge. Rick was one of the first people to write and publish information on Iroquois beadwork and has published extensively in prestigious journals and books .

This program is sponsored buy the Iroquois Studies Association, Johnson City New York.

Contact Information:

Web: www.otsiningo.com

Email: iibc@otsiningo.com

Techniques
and
Tips

This jewellery box belonged to Michaela Fitzsimmons mother. Michaela decided to reuse/upcycle her old jewelry box to house her beading threads and tools. Because she’s a fairly new beader, Michaela doesn’t have a lot of tools and accessories (so far). It holds what she needs for bead embroidery pretty efficiently, and all in one place. I love the memories that this this box: holds both past and present.

If you are interested in knitting with wire, check out this site!!!!!!

Fruity Knitting

Episode 114 – Knitting with Wire – Mahliqa

Freia Fibers Discount https://www.patreon.com/posts/patron-discount-54774826

Mahliqa Discount https://www.patreon.com/posts/54299809

Tutorial Index https://www.patreon.com/posts/29108120

Audio Podcast Index (Merino and Shetland Patrons) https://www.patreon.com/posts/29505642

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Gratitude is the memory of the heart.
Jean Baptiste Massieu