We would like to introduce you to our special friend, Ukrainian beader Marta.

Marta has always been a very popular beader from Kyiv, Ukraine.

Her handwoven, beaded and macramé jewelry are coveted and her patterns and tutorials have been purchased by many.  Her Instagram page is filled daily with bright colorful imagery of her work.

Then, a year ago, her posts stopped.

As war began in Ukraine, Danielle Wickes and I tried to think of what we could do to help.  Our first plan was to urge all our friends to purchase her Etsy patterns.  This way she would not need to do anything, as mailing parcels was not going to be easy.  More time passed and we urged people to support her shop for finished pieces.

We all have the opportunity to do something small which can help.

It is impossible not to worry about her as she lives in Kyiv, a city in the news almost daily.  We also recognize that Marta isn’t the only beader in Ukraine, she just happens to be the one Danielle and I followed online the most.  We kept asking ourselves, what could we do next?

So we asked Marta if she would allow us to release a pattern that she designed so that it would be available to anyone in the world.

We also wanted to teach a pattern for our Michaels students that would be unique and allow us to put a positive spotlight on a fellow beader living and working in a war zone.

We are honored to announce that Marta created three new projects PDFs for us. We are also grateful that John Bead sponsored this initiative.

Today we are giving you a links to the first two patterns along with a link to the special class next month for Michaels.

We hope that you will enjoy Danielle’s classes teaching you how to make these earrings and while beading, send your most positive thoughts to Marta, so she knows we are thinking about her and her country.

Danielle and Carmi

Instagram: @martajewelry

Etsy: www.etsy.com/shop/MartaJewelry

A quote from Marta: “Creating patterns and jewelry is one of the ways to express myself, what I feel and see. It’s interesting how we put together little beads to create something new, cute, beautiful, meaningful for us. The beading process could be challenging, but definitely joyful!”

Special Free Class #1 from John Bead

Project PDF is here:  YellowFlowersOnGreen_FringeEarrings_JohnBead

BONUS Pattern PDF:  Floral_FringeEarrings_JohnBead

Special Free Class #2 from John Bead for Michaels Store in March

Daisy Flower Earrings

Friday March 10, 2023

We are so proud to present to you a third beautiful pattern from Marta Andrusenko, owner of Marta Jewelry. In this class, we will walk you through the creation of one of Marta’s designs, a beautiful, springtime floral fringe earring.

Project PDF MartadaisyflowerPDF-final