Heather Powers

Heather Powers has been organizing the Bead Cruise for over 12 years! Heather loves inspiring others on their creative journey. She's so thrilled to share this adventure year after year. 

Heather is the busy beadmaker and jewelry designer behind Humblebeads. Creating and selling for over 23 years, Heather also teaches across the country and hosts retreats.  She sells her beads around the world and at Bead & Button and BeadFest. Heather is the author of Jewelry Designers from Nature, Beautiful Elements and the Beadmaking Lab.  

See more of Heather's work at www.humblebeads.com. 

Beki Haley

Beki Haley has been in love with beads for over 40 years now.  She was introduced to the amazing art form of seed bead weaving her Grandmother when she was a child.  That early start in exploring the intricacies and fine detail that can be attained with seed beads has stayed with Beki throughout her life.  Even as a young teen, Beki loved teaching others all the beautiful things that can be created with beads.  She has over 30 years of teaching experience in several different venues from large auditorium settings tointimate one-on-one classes.

Training as a classic silversmith at a young age gave Beki an appreciation and understanding of the art and beauty of jewelry design.  Beki uses those formal skills to teach the technical aspects of jewelry design.  In her classes, the students learn the importance of attention to detail and craftsmanship while exploring their natural creativity.  Her love and beads led Beki to opener own bead store, Out on A Whim, in 1986. With her husband, four children, several animals, and days filled with beads, Beki's life is complete. Visit Beki's site for more information: www.whimbeads.com. 
 

Kinga Nichols

Kinga Nichols was born in 1980, in Hungary. At 19, she packed up her life in a backpack and moved to the US where she has been residing since, albeit not at the same place. One way or another Kinga has been always making things, which started turning into a career when she was painting murals at the time she lived in New York.  Eventually she picked up a bead and Button magazine in 2007, found a bead embroidery project, and slowly but surely the obsession took over. 

After that first project, she started creating her own designs and quickly found her own distinctive voice that allowed her to translate her imaginings into beadwork. Kinga is always brainstorming, and her imagination provides an endless supply of fanciful ideas that she translates into bead embroidery. 

Her work first got noticed in the first Battle of the Beadsmith, quickly followed by her being a BeadDreams finalist in 2013 and getting 3rd place in the same competition in the Swarovski category in 2014, and a book feature in Marcia Decoster Presents, 2014. In 2015 she won first place in the crystal category in BeadDreams.

 In 2013 she started teaching and she hopes to continue this as her chosen profession for a long time to come, not only passing on beady knowledge, but perhaps her unique way of looking at the world as a magical place filled with endless possibilities.

To view more of Kinga's work visit her blog and Etsy shop. 

Tracy Stanley

Tracy Stanley is from the Pacific Northwest and has been teaching beading and wire working techniques for over 25 years. She loves organic elements and brings that into her work. Tracy is a big believer in quality tools and solid techniques and enjoys passing this on to her students so that they too can make quality pieces that are structurally sound, creating pieces that they can be proud of.  Her goal is to make wire and metal work accessible to all using simple low-tech techniques.

Tracy's newest book was released in December of 2016-Exploring Metal Jewelry and co authored a book- Making Wire & Bead Jewelry that came out in 2012.

You can check Tracy’s blog for what is coming up next:
Tracystanleywireandmetalarts.blogspot.com

Happy Beading!

Liisa Tururen