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www.oakvillebeaver.com The Oakville Beaver, Friday May 9, 2008 - 37 Artscene Oakville Beaver · FRIDAY, MAY 9, 2008 B E A D E D D R E A M S : Rosemarie Wolff shows off her jewelry at KnitoneBeadtoo on Lakeshore Road. The Oakville jewelry maker sells her creations at the boutique, as well as at The Haberdashers Bead Boutique on Dunn Street. MICHAEL IVANIN / SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER Beading a passion for local jewelry artisan By Susan Mann SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER Working with her hands comes naturally to beaded jewelry maker Rosemarie Wolff. Trained as a tailor in her native Germany, Wolff has worked with her hands to make crafts throughout her life while holding down various jobs, such as tailor and assistant in a jewelry store. She's made wooden items along with doing some painting and hand-sewn Christmas items. But failing health made it hard for her to continue making the wooden and other crafts. She can't stand too long or lift heavy objects or tools. About three years ago, she began taking beaded jewelry making classes at Sheridan College. "I just love making things with my hands," she said. It was the lovely colours of the beads that first lead her to try her hand at jewelry making. Since then she's found out that creating beaded jewelry gives her peace. "I can spend hours on one item and it makes me feel happy," she said. Wolff uses mainly small glass seed beads in various sizes to create exquisitely beaded necklaces, bracelets and earrings. She also occasionally does some beaded embellishments on fabric. Some of her pieces are simple spiral columns of beads using small and large beads in different tones of a colour like purple or green. Others are intricately woven designs of delicately-shaped flowers using various colours with hand-beaded clasps. Still others are large chunky pieces with big beads in bright vibrant colours. The beaded jewelry is sewn together using wire-coated beading thread. Wolff uses different clasps depending on the piece, including traditional metal, buttons or she makes a hand-beaded closure so she can match the colours of the beads in the piece. Her pieces are available for sale at two Oakville stores, including KnitoneBeadtoo on Lakeshore Road and The Haberdashers on Dunn Street. In addition to making jewelry she offers lessons on beadwork techniques. Wolff gets her ideas for jewelry from magazines, TV fashion shows, celebrities and people around her. "I look at what everyone is wearing," she said. From there she makes pieces that she thinks will look nice. Once she copied a necklace worn by her beading instructor. "Of course it didn't turn out the same way she made it," Wolff recalled. "I made something simpler. It's mine." Generally Wolff likes to do her work in the mornings. Sometimes she works from a pattern but if she doesn't understand how a piece is supposed to come together, she does it over and over again until she gets it. One piece could take upwards of 15 hours to make. In addition to using patterns, Wolff makes up her own designs based on her knowledge of what would work and what wouldn't. She believes it's important to take her time when doing her work. "If you rush something it doesn't come out right," she said. Her most elaborate piece is a brown and cream coloured beaded necklace that took a few days to make. The beads aren't that special, she says, but they had to be sewn together in a certain way for the necklace to have its twisted together look. "The stones are uneven and I had to keep a certain tension," Wolff said. To keep up with current ideas in beading, Wolff likes to go to the Toronto Bead Society shows where suppliers and jewelry makers have works available for sale. "Everyone is wild about Swarovski crystals now," she said. Mostly Wolff likes to work with Japanese made beads because they're good quality. The beads and their holes are all a uniform size. That's important, she says, because when you need to pass your needle through a hole two or more times, it's easier when the hole isn't blocked. While not everyone likes beaded jewelry, Wolff believes it has a certain beauty. To contact Wolff for beading classes, call 905-337-7007. your way to buy locally. Millions of dollars in Luxury Items to bid on... Coming soon! Luxury AUCTION The Hamilton Spectator May 1-12