Want to know a little about us? Let’s start with the creative person behind these fabulous jewellery kits—Marilyn Gardiner. Marilyn is an artist who has a passion for creating jewellery using beads and jump rings.
Marilyn is a teacher who enjoys teaching adults how to create jewellery. She teaches various jewellery making skills in workshops and in her jewellery kits. These “no fail” jewellery kits feature clear instructions that are step-by-step and well-illustrated with photos and diagrams.
Marilyn is also a business owner who creates beadwork and chain mail jewellery kits to sell, along with the jump rings, tools, books & supplies that she uses in her work. By the way, the jump rings are all produced by Brad Gardiner (her husband) who has a background as a machinist and maintenance millwright. Brad takes great pride in making jump rings of the very best quality.
And if you want to know more about Marilyn Gardiner, the artist, the teacher or the business person, read her bio below.
Read the Gardiner Team page to find out about all the crucial people who help make this business work.
Who is Marilyn, you ask?
I am obsessed with beads and jewellery creation. This is my new lease on life—I am also a retired teacher, school board computer consultant, and past partner in a graphic design company. Most of my beading and chain mail skills are self-taught using information from books, the internet, and trial and error. I’ve learned so much from my fellow beaders at the Toronto Bead Society, and the Grand River Bead Society, as well as at past Texas Beaders’ Retreats in Temple, TX. I love to travel to take classes from recognized experts (and to visit bead stores of course).
Three pathways have developed.
• First is a love of pattern and design from different eras and cultures and its reflection in my jewelry designs.
• Second is my enjoyment of teaching jewellery classes to adults. (This is not surprising given the many computer classes I used to teach to teachers.)
• Third is the satisfaction of developing jewellery kits that use clear, step-by-step directions and are illustrated with understandable diagrams and photos. This process extended into the publishing of online projects at Beading Times and The Bead Bugle.
My first book, Modern Chain Mail Jewelry; Chic Projects to Complete Your Look was published by Kalmbach Publishing in 2015. The next one, Fabulous Chain Mail Jewelry; Creating with Components, was released in September 2018.
Beadwork/Chainmail Education
William Hodge, Sir Sandford Fleming College, Haliburton campus
Haliburton School of the Arts
Jennifer Campbell, George Brown College, Toronto
Basic Wire Art Jewellery
Don Pierce, at Creative Expressions, Palm Springs CA
Beadloom Weaving
Virginia Blakelock & Carol Perrenoud, University of Minnesota, Duluth MI
Split Rock Arts Program, Beading on a Loom
Karen Lewis KLEW at Beaucoup Congé, Tucson AZ
Polymer Clay class
Bette Kelley, Yellow Springs, OH
Broadcollar classes
Rodrick Owen, at My Father’s Beads, Springfield OH
Kumihimo class
Jay Humphreys, Tucson AZ (developer of metal clay veneer)
Precious Metal Clay classes
David Chatt at the Gardiner Ceramic Museum in Toronto
Right-Angle Weave workshop
Michael David Sturlin, in an Arizona Designer Craftsman class held in Tucson AZ
Hand-crochet chain with fine silver
Cynthia Rutledge, held in Toronto ON
The Tibetan Bangle class
Joan Dulla, held in Phoenix AZ
Arizona Designer Craftsman class in wire crochet (that’s me in the turquoise top)
Andrea Graham, OCC class held in Waterloo ON
Feltmaking workshop
Wendy Remmers, Brea Beadworks, Brea CA
Keystone Weave class (chain mail)
Judy Walker at Bead & Button, Milwaukee WI
Paper Clip Bead Looming
Teaching
Canadian Embroiderers’ Guild Guelph – Fall ’02 – Beadwork Series
Wellington County Museum & Archives, Summer Art Workshops July 2003
The Bead School, Toronto 2004
Folk Artist-in-Residence: Beadwork, Joseph Schneider Haus, Kitchener 2007
Texas Bead Retreat 2008 and more.
Friendship Beading Retreat Quebec – July 2008
Toronto Bead Society – frequent techniques workshops, Spring & Fall Bead Fairs, May, Nov. 2009-2016
BeadFX, Toronto – ongoing, see my class schedule
Bead Junction Toronto – occasional, see my class schedule
Art Bead Circle classes at J.O.G.S. Gem & Mineral Show, Tucson AZ 2011
Jewelry Tools classes at J.O.G.S. Gem & Mineral Show, Tucson AZ 2014-2019
Canadian Bead Oasis Show, July in Halifax, August in Montreal – 2011
Grand River Bead Society Bead Show, Guelph ON October 2011-2018
Creativ Festival, Toronto ON October 2012-2017
Ottawa Glass Bead Artists, Ottawa ON November 2012 onward
To Bead True Blue and the Tucson Bead Show Tucson AZ, Feb., 2012-2018
The Bead & Button Show Milwaukee WI, June, 2012-2018
The Bead Gallery, Buffalo NY, Occasional
Iguana Beads, Cambridge ON, Occasional
Private classes – ongoing
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