Bead Week in Congress

March 27-April 3, 2015
North Ranch Escapee Park
Congress, AZ

We arrived at North Ranch on Friday afternoon.  The weather was beautiful with temps in the 80's.  The Easter Cactus was blooming around the RV park.

This cactus blooms at Easter time and the bloom only last 24-36 hours.

Prickly Pear are starting pop open also.

Spring time in the desert can be very beautiful.

Wood Carvers week was just finishing up when we arrived.  This NRPA wooden statue from Wickenburg was being restored by the wood carvers.  The horses head had broken off and it was very weathered.  

During Bead week at North Ranch we get a chance to try many hobbies such as his Wood Turning demonstration.

Students were given a chance to try their hand at this hobby.

Inside the activities center lots of happy beaders are creating new jewelry.

Six separate areas are set up for teaching beading, polymer clay and Gourd art.  There are 3 hour classes in the mornings and again in the afternoons to choose from Monday thru Friday.  Becky taught 3 of those classes. 

There were classes in Gourd Art.  

 Learning how to put beaded edges on gourd bowls..

and beaded patterns in the bottom.

Wire wrapping stones..

and wire jewelry making.

Polymer Clay is also a popular class.  Students learn to create clay patterned beads that are then baked into hard stones.

These disks will be baked and put together to create a necklace or bracelet.

Making clay flowers to decorate many things is easy and fun.

After baking in the oven they are as hard as stone.

Classes in necklace bead stringing are also given.

This is one of Becky's students. She taught classes on how to make the Twin Cube Necklace, bracelet and earring.

This is the Twin Cube Necklace.

This is another bracelet done during a class.

Each year Cathy Benton takes everyone's unfinished pieces and puts them together into a collage necklace.  It is a crazy piece that will be given away to one of the people that contributed something to the necklace.

There is also a Bead Challenge in which you purchase a bag full of beads.  The person makes something with the beads in their bag and everyone votes on the best creation.  #4 was this year's winner.

Everyone has a great time sharing and creating beautiful art.  

There are beads for sale to help everyone make new creations.  The teacher of each class puts together the needed beads and sells the student a "kit" to make the jewelry design being taught.  You can then go into the bead store to purchase more beads to make the same pattern in other colors or your own variation.

It is a week of inspiration in beading, clay, wire and gourd art.

These a few of the pieces that Becky finished this week.  She still has some projects that will be finished this summer and a huge supply of beads from the store to keep her occupied this summer.

Saturday morning we head north on Highway 93 through Nevada headed for Twin Falls, Idaho.  We should be home by late Easter Sunday afternoon.  We will be in Twin Falls until sometime in October so if you are in the area, stop in and visit us.

Becky and Lonnie