Beadwork Magazine | Marlene Blessing

With her lifelong passion for handcrafts —
especially sewing, embroidery, calligraphy, and clay sculpting—Marlene Blessing has found beading to be an exciting new pursuit. She has a master of fine arts degree in creative writing from the University of Washington and has worked as a book editor for more than two decades. Her own publications include a cookbook and an anthology of women’s travel stories (A Road of Her Own). She has also been a senior features editor at the Seattle Weekly and a contributing editor to SPA magazine. Her subject areas have varied widely, from crafts, cooking, gardening, and health to natural history, travel, outdoor recreation, and children’s literature. As the new editor of Beadwork magazine (2005), Marlene looks forward to developing feature stories and contributor projects that will inspire readers of the magazine to learn new techniques, develop and share their talents as beadworkers, inspire others with their creations, and celebrate the “community of the bead.” In her words, “The inherent beauty of beads, today’s increasing recognition of bead artistry, and the availability of countless bead forms and findings make beading one of the most popular and enduring crafts.”