Copyright Infringement

It doesn't matter that the saying is "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery". IT'S NOT. It's stealing.

I know way too many other instances of friends of mine having their designs copied. Apparently there are some people out there who think it's perfectly acceptable to copy something if they see it on the internet.

Such is the case with this blogger:
http://gvendolinyewellery.blogspot.com/

She has, on two separate occasions, posted pictures of one of my original designs. She apparently created the copies from images she found on my blog and/or on my flickr photostream, since I wasn't offering my pattern for purchase until a couple of weeks ago. I have told her that she needs to purchase the pattern, but she has refused to do so. I left a comment on her blog (which required her approval - that never happened) saying that this was my original design and that she didn't have permission to copy it. Now she's blocked me from leaving comments on her blog, and I don't have any other way to contact her.

This is so infuriating.

Here are links to her posts showing off "her" new bracelet. MY design.
http://gvendolinyewellery.blogspot.com/2009/05/little-vine-peyote-cuff.html
http://gvendolinyewellery.blogspot.com/2009/09/little-vine-peyote-cuff-ii.html

Since I can't leave a comment for her with the link for her to purchase a copy of my pattern (http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=33953679), I thought I'd solicit some help from my beady friends. If any of you have a spare minute or two, could you please leave a comment on her blog? Feel free to post the link to my pattern, so she can click that and purchase it.

And to all my friends who have had their designs copied (sadly, this happens regularly to at least one of my friends), I can empathize. I wish I couldn't.

Thanks for your support.

One new design and one not-so-new design in a different color palette... Here are two of my newest listings. The Copper Vine bracelet is the not-so-new design, this time woven using matte and shiny copper delicas. I'm so happy with the way this one turned out, and it was totally unplanned. I just happened to see the two types of copper beads sitting there next to each other, and it seemed like fate. I had already printed the pattern so I could make a custom bracelet for someone, but since I had to order some of the beads for the custom order I figured I'd go ahead with the copper ones. I'm so glad I did! This makes me want to try some other monochromatic combinations...


The Damask design is my newest one, although I was working on it for awhile. I wanted something that had the leafy, flowery look of the damask prints, and it needed to be in just two colors. This is the first version of it, created in the brightest red and white beads I have in my bead stash, but I'm sure there will be more colors in the future.

Wouldn't that make a great one for Christmas parties? I love the contrast of the red and white.

I don't know how much time I'm going to have to work on new designs over the next couple of weeks, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to be busy. I was just figuring out all the pieces I'm working on, and it's quite a long list! I'm just glad that I'm pretty quick at this (although "quick" in terms of beadweaving means that a bracelet like Damask takes three hours instead of four or five).

I was doing some Christmas shopping on Etsy, and I thought I'd see if a couple of my fellow Bead Art Originals members would be up for trading; and I'm so happy that they were!!! I've received one of the packages, and I couldn't be more thrilled with its contents!!!!!! I expect the other package to show up soon, and I already know I'm going to love it.

So anyway, that list of things I have to do includes one bracelet that's part of the trade. In addition to that one (which I'm currently "designing" in my head), I have two cuffs to make for my husband's aunt (both of which will be Christmas presents for his cousins), one special order bracelet for a special friend, AND last but not least... a project that involves 67,400 beads. I'm not saying what it is, but I'm sure you recognize that's a LOT of beads!! I'll post something about that project when it's finished. :-)

I'm not sleepy yet, and there are beads on my beading board and thread in my needle, so I'm getting back to work.

Saturday was a great mail day! The postman arrived with a package of goodies I ordered from Lisa Peters, and I could hardly wait to open it to see everything in person. I've been drooling over Lisa's work on flickr for awhile now, and I was soooo disappointed that I wasn't able to visit her at the Bead and Button Show this year in Milwaukee. It figures that she was there the ONE year I wasn't able to attend. Drat!

Lisa listed a few of her beads in her Etsy shop, but I figured she'd have lots more of them; so I shot off an email and then proceeded to hunt through her photos to choose beads and buttons. Do you know how hard it is to choose when everything you see is beautiful!?!? Somehow I managed, though, and Lisa was nice enough to add some new pictures of pieces she had on hand. She also answered a bazillion questions along the way. My friend and fellow beadweaver Carol Dean (SandFibers), who's been creating beautiful things with Lisa's beads and buttons for awhile, told me I'd love everything and she was absolutely right. I just couldn't stop staring at all those goodies, and I have TONS of ideas floating around in my head now. If only there were more hours in the day...

I'll take photos of some of the goodies in that box later (when the sun comes out). In the meantime, I'm busy taking notes and sketching ideas for how to use them. Want to see some of Lisa's work combined with beadweaving? Check this out! This is Carol Dean's work that she's showing off on flickr, but you can also find some pieces in her Etsy shop.

Yesterday I had just enough good weather (between rainstorms and helping my husband move our canoe around several times as he was trying to paint it and avoid the rain) to photograph my newest beadwoven bracelet design, Little Vine. It's so much fun creating these designs and then creating the bracelets. After I chose the colors for the first version of this design, I thought of a whole bunch of different combinations. I think for the next one I'll use a light background and do the vine and leaves in a dark color.

And a nice surprise this morning! Smadar (SmadarsTreasure) included Little Vine in this beautiful treasury!!
The treasury is brand new, so you can click the picture to go visit it and see everything up close. There are some beautiful pieces in there by some of my fellow Etsy BeadWeavers. Smadar herself is VERY talented, and I'm always oogling the pieces she creates. I really love this 3D Gold Trapezes necklace, but then I love pretty much everything in her shop.

Marilyn (aka GrandmaMarilyns) also featured one of my newest pieces in her patriotic treasury.
We're a patriotic bunch, aren't we!? Marilyn's Caribbean Blue bracelet would fit in there nicely, too.

Now it's time to go do something productive! And no, that doesn't mean dishes, laundry, cleaning, or anything of that nature. Those things can wait while I play with my beads!! :-)