I moved to Bellingham and have created a craft room for classes and a place for small groups of beaders to meet and work on their projects.  Classes are appropriate for adults and children 12 and older. This site does not have enough visibility to be the vehicle for promoting classes, at least not yet. The best way to get a class or tutorial scheduled is to get some friends together and give me a call.

Materials and tools are available for purchase before the classes. Beads may be ordered in advance from this site or make an appointment and come by the garage to choose your beads before the class date. There are 3 catalogues for use here at the bead lounge for those who are reluctant to use the web-site.

Polymer Clay Classes:

Tool kit:
rigid long blade
needle tool
tissue slicer
plexi roller
plexi work surface
bamboo skewers
baby wipes or other hand cleaner
20, 5/7" index cards

1.  Choosing your color palate and the basics of polymer clay work.  We will use the Margaret Maggio method of color mixing by formula and experiment with personal color palate creation.
Date to be set, 9am - 4pm $50 + $15 clay, bring tools or purchase kit at class
Instructor:  Karen Murphy

2.  Canes, veneered beads, Persian folded beads, and more.  Spend the day making canes and beads with them, then go home and make more.
(see these links for examples) Date to be set 9am - 4 pm $50 + $15 clay + $10 tools if you need them
Instructor: Karen Murphy

3.  Skinner Blend sheets and various uses of it.  Invented by Judith Skinner, sheets of graduating changing color are cut and stacked in various ways to create complex and amazing designs suitable for use in making vessels, boxes, jewelry, lamp shades ---use your imagination, no end to the possibilities.
Date to be set 9am - 4pm $50 + $25 clay + $10 tools if needed
Instructor: Karen Murphy

4.  Clay imitates nature. Tory Hughes developed several techniques to imitate materials such as ivory, jade, copal amber, rose quartz, turquoise, lapis and more.  Using inlays and other ideas, you will create "ancient" beads in one afternoon and fool your friends with jewelry fit for a queen.
(click here for imitation copal beads) date to be set, 9am - 4pm $50 + $25 clay + $10 tools if needed
Instructor: Karen Murphy

5. Mold making. Bring your great trinket finds, foreign coins, brooches, buttons, other items with great 3-D designs and bring your imitative clay from the last class to make some great stuff.
(Click here to see samples of beads made in molds with imitative clay).
date to be set, 9am - 4pm $50 + $15 mold material
Instructor: Karen Murphy

6. Advanced clay work: bring the canes and stacks and other formations you have made in previous classes to use in a unique project to be individually defined.  (click here to see some great projects)
Date to be set, 9am - 4pm $50 + whatever additional clay you need
Instructor:  Karen Murphy. 

Beads and Jewelry Design:

Order on-line through this site for your beads, or make an appointment to come to the studio. Tools, stringing materials and clasps and other supplies will be available at class time. (tools: crimp tool, wire nipper)

1.  Single strand necklace design
(click on this link to see single strand necklaces)
Date to be set, 9am - 4pm $50 + materials (your choice, available at class)
Instructor:  Karen Murphy

2.  Something wonderful out of junk: Multiple strand necklace design (click on this link to see multi-strand necklaces )
Date to be set, 9am - 4pm $50 + materials (your choice, available at class)
Instructor:  Karen Murphy

3.  Earrings:  symmetrical and asymmetrical design
date to be set, 9am - 4 pm $50 + materials
(See samples here)
Instructor:  Karen Murphy

4.  Peyote and other off-loom techniques for creating earrings, bracelets, and necklaces. (see this link for examples)
date to be set, 9am - 5 pm $50 + materials

5.  Ethnicesque pendants
(see samples here)
To be scheduled

Wire Work and components:

Tool Kit includes:
round needle nose pliars,
flat needle nose pliers, not serrated
Chain Nose Plier
sidecutter plierr
small steel block
small anvil
1" chasing hammer

1.  Simple basic wirework techniques for earrings.(bring tools or purchase kit at class)
Date to be set . 3rd 9 am - 4 pm $50 + $50 materials and tools
Instructor: Karen Murphy

2.  Dangles and components for your jewelry designs
(bring tools or purchase kit at class)
Date to be set, 9 am - 4 pm $50 + materials
Instructor:  Karen Murphy

Be well, Karen Murphy