Do You Wanna Know a Secret?

Blackbeard's Bounty Necklace Copyright Margot Potter from Bead Chic

One of the hardest parts about my job is that I can't really share much with you. Since I don't sell my finished pieces at retail, I have to keep them under wraps until publication. That means I'm often working a year in advance. I can keep a secret, but it's not always easy! I get so excited when I'm creating new pieces.

I can't tell you what my next book is about, I can't show any of the designs I'm creating...it's a lot of Top Secret stuff around Studio Madge. If I share pictures or concepts, I risk someone taking those ideas and beating me to the punch. I can only blame myself if that happens simply because I couldn't keep it under wraps. Once you've put it out there, it takes on a life of it's own. That's the hardest part of designing and sharing your work on the internet. It's so easy for people to right click, save images of designs they like and then forget where they found them. Once you see an idea, it's easy to absorb it and later use it in your work without even recalling that you've seen it before. And then, most unfortunately there are those who just think the internet is a great big free for all and anything they see is fair game. It is what it is and even though it stinks sometimes, my job as a professional designer is to protect my ideas.

I keep my cards much closer to my chest these days than I used to. That being said, I'm so excited that I can finally share some pieces from my new book Bead Chic, here's one of my favorites. I called this necklace Blackbeard's Bounty. It's a tangle of gun metal chain, SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS pearls with a Green Girl Studios skeleton key hanging down the back. Yummy.

I'm going to offer free projects and book giveaways as we get closer to publication. So stay tuned. It's fun to finally be able to share with the class!

Cheers,
Madge