Marie and Josh

Starr Design (Marie S. Orvick) by Sigrid Wynne-Evans     © September 2007   Marie Orvick (Starr Design) is a designer I respect both for her courage and for her designs. Don't miss her designs, they are all worked up and each one is truely a work of art. As nice as the thumbnails look, you just know the designs will look so much better in real life. Marie's designs have a pizzaz that is her own. Each one of her designs make me smile either because of its whimsy, or because of its class. It is hard for me to pick the ones I like best. I love her Halloween Witch Earrings (item 11392), simply because I love the witch theme for Halloween. Timothy Toymaker (item 11603) is just too cute for words. Southwest Diamonds (item #11409) is a classy bracelet that you can play with. Change colors if you like, add stones to the surface. I think this one is a beauty! I think Marie's designs are wonderful. She does a classy job. While this is enough to give cause for admiration, her story is yet something else that I admire. Few people struggle through tough times with the courage and lack or self-pity as Marie has. I tip my hat to Marie as a designer and as a soul with boundless strength.

Here is Marie's story:

I have always crafted under the name of Starr Design. I have done just about every craft imaginable. I didn't start to bead until late 2000 when a friend brought me a broken pair of bugle earrings. She told me that she knew I could fix them. At the time I knew nothing of beadwork. I went to the library and checked out a book on basic stitches. It took what seemed like forever for me to teach myself how to Brick Stitch. I finally managed with the help of some ladies up at my local bead store in Stockton California. This was the beginning of a new passion for me. Muriel and Deborah at Beads Plus in Stockton were always willing to answer my questions and view my creations with praise and encouragement.

It was shortly there after I began to bead and sell what I made. I sold at the local flea market and craft shows. Slowly but surely, my other craft supplies disappeared to the closet and my bead collection grew. I was on my way. I was designing on paper at first. Using graph paper and colored pencils.

In 2004 I bought my first computer. I fell in love with the paint program. I drew circle after circle and colored them in. It took a long time, but I finally got all my patterns loaded into my system. My home almost looked like a bead store. I had my displays perched against the living room wall. My work bench always had something new going on. My shelf with all the little bottles arranged neatly by color, style and finish.

Sampling of Marie's Designs:
Click on an image to view the pattern information.
 
               

In early 2004 I started thinking about creating patterns for sale. I contacted Sig Wynne-Evans through Bead-patterns.com and started asking questions. She was very helpful and supportive. It was then that disaster struck.

In September 2004, my house burned. Although the fire was put out before it reached my work area, the heat had melted all my bead bottles. My jewelry on their display stands once shiny and colorful were now blackened with soot. I reached out and touched my pieces only to have them crumble in my hands. Beads trickled though my fingers and hit the floor. I couldn't have been more devastated.

I packed up what I could salvage along with my 7 year old son and moved to Oklahoma for a fresh start. There were several times I picked up and needle and thread, but just couldn't bring myself to begin a project. My mind kept going back to the vision of all my work destroyed.

Sampling of Marie's Designs:
Click on an image to view the pattern information.
 
               

In December 2004, on my birthday I sat very depressed. I wondered if anything would ever be ok again. My little boy went next door in an attempt to help, told the neighbors that it was his Mom's birthday and she was alone and crying. The neighbor gave my son a little bisque jar. On top it had a comet attached to wire that stood up off of the lid. There were words on the top of the jar. They said "Shoot for the Stars" It was at that moment, I knew that Starr Design would rise from the ash and devastation only to shine, bigger and better than ever.

I went out to my shed and grabbed the box that contained my beads that I managed to salvage. I began to bead. This is when I created my Thunderbirds. Many more designs followed.

Sampling of Marie's Designs:
Click on an image to view the pattern information.
 
               

I approached Bead-patterns.com in late September of 2006 with my pattern for the Halloween Witch. Rita was kind enough to work with me on the formatting of a pattern for public sale. I have since published many patterns and have many more in the works.

That little jar still sits upon my work bench, so I will never forget. It was the generosity of a stranger and the love of a child that brought me back. It was designing that helped me to heal.

If necessity is the mother of invention, then perseverance is truly the father of design.

Marie's Creations:
Click on an image to view the pattern information.