Thanks for visiting my site!
I am Brenda Banas, a happily married Grandmother. I live in South Florida in a retirement condominium. I started needlework at age 5 and continued doing arts and crafts throughout my life. I became interested in rocks in 1979 and joined the Palm Beach Gem and Mineral Society in 1985. By taking classes there, I learned to cut and polish my own stones. I also took classes in silversmithing, casting and other classes offered by the society. In January 1997, Lynn Smythe offered a class in beaded cabochons. By now, I was looking for another way to set my cabs and I liked her beaded cabs. Not being able to attend the class at the last minute, the local bead store invited me to their open bead night and the girls there would help me. The rest is history. Now I don't have time to cut stones and have no room for them in my tiny condo with all the beads. I quickly learned several ways to put beads together, beginning with peyote stitch and going from there to sculptural peyote. I have learned many other stitches but keep coming back to sculptures, which I also do with wire wrap. I love the freedom I find with the sculture methods.
Keep watching for updates of what I'm up to now, and thanks again for visiting!
