The Carrollwood News & Tribune
She's Taking A Strand
CANDACE C. MUNDY/TAMPA TRIBUNE
Sally Lewis, owner of Twice Loved Treasures Handmade Jewelry and Home Decor, is seen reflected in a mirror she decorated with a variety of beads, an example of her craftsmanship.
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Published: January 26, 2008
Updated: 01/24/2008 09:33 pm
CARROLLWOOD - In her home studio, bead jewelry artist Sally Lewis has the beginnings of a rust-colored lariat.
She plans to incorporate earrings, donated from a friend's jewelry box, into the necklace by turning them into tassels.
Also in the works is a woven tubular string of tiny blue seed beads featuring a sliced aquamarine agate.
To make the multicolored blue necklace, Lewis uses a process she calls "bead soup."
She pours out a mixture of tiny size 15 seed beads in various blue hues and dips the needle into the pile of beads. She threads the beads three at a time in a circular stitch to form the string of tubular beads.
She tries not to look too closely at the clump in order to get that variegated pattern.
"This, to me, is more meditative, and I enjoy doing it. Every time I do it, it's different, and that's what I like about it," she said.
Lewis works out of her Carrollwood home off Bearss Avenue, turning out unique beaded creations for her business, Twice Loved Treasures.
In 2005, friends encouraged the former teacher to turn her bead hobby into a business.
Most of her clients are friends or referrals from friends who commission her to do pieces for birthdays, anniversaries, or if they need a special occasion necklace or bracelet to wear with a dress.
Lewis' love for the tiny baubles began a decade ago after taking a continuing education course on bead embellishments at the University of South Florida.
Growing up, she was crafty and enjoyed crocheting, knitting and sewing. The handiwork and stitching required in beading came naturally.
Like many novices, Lewis' early sparkly works followed a color-coordinated pattern. With more confidence, she branched out into elaborate shapes and textures.
Beyond necklaces, bracelets and embroidered purses, Lewis transforms three-dimensional objects such as candlesticks, perfume bottles, head busts and hand forms into beaded art.
For a piece called Hand Hearted, Lewis stumbled upon the ceramic hand in a shop in New York.
She spent a year weaving seed beads of various shapes and sizes around the appendage and interlaced it with heart-shaped glass beads.
Another work, called Goddess Triumvirate, is a trio of beaded fiber forms that was published in the bead anthology "500 Beaded Objects."
Lewis said she hasn't had the heart to sell the larger works, which took countless hours of beading. As a result, her Carrollwood home has become a small gallery showcasing her beloved beaded creations.
All of Lewis' beadwork is hand-sewn. Beads are not glued but attached with different types of stitching, creating a netting technique that wraps around an object.
"It's kind of like I'm making a sweater, but I'm making it to fit the object," she said.
Lewis travels to bead conventions to meet other "mad beaders." She also draws inspiration from vacation vistas in the southwestern United States, visiting art museums, antique stores and watching television shows on beading.
"You never know where I'm going to find my next bit of stuff that I'll bring back and use," she said.
In her home studio, Lewis has dozens of stacked clear boxes that hold hundreds of gemstones, crystals and beads - all waiting to be added to the next beaded treasure.
"I find if I collect things that I like, I'll eventually find things that go with it," she said.
Lewis said she hasn't done much advertising; often she's her best spokeswoman.
"A lot of times, I wear them and I sell them off my body," she said.
A few years ago, she branched out of beads and started making keepsake photograph boxes and picture frames. Her first project began as a present for her mother's birthday.
She starts by gathering old family photos, photocopies them and glues them onto wooden boxes and picture frames. She adds old maps and other inspirational words to fit each theme.
The memoir treasure chests are popular and another crafty outlet for Lewis, but sculptured beadwork and necklaces are her passion.
"I'll bead anything you can think of," she said. "I don't think there's a bead I wouldn't like."
TWICE LOVED TREASURES
ADDRESS: 3306 Westmoreland Drive
PHONE: (813) 962-4781
WEB SITE: www.sallylewisgallery.com
Reporter Elizabeth Lee Brown can be reached at (813) 865-1502 or ebrown@tampatrib.com.
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