Home Again, Home Again...

I returned from the Bead & Button Show Monday at about 10:40 p.m. after an uneventful flight. I was rather grateful because shortly after I arrived at the airport in Milwaukee to begin my trek home there was a tornado warning and the sky was very dark. The "officials" said that the warning would be in effect until 4:30 p.m. Sure enough, at 4:30 the clouds broke and the sun came through. Wow! I sure wish the weather prognosticators were that accurate all the time.

Here are some pix of my booth. I think I convinced myself that I must reconfigure my show setup. It took almost 2 hours to pack up all my stuff and break down the booth after the show closed. Perhaps I need to rethink my "stuff" rather than my configuration. But I enjoy offering a wide variety of products. I had lots of leaf beads, focal beads, pendants, earrings, a few necklaces, several bracelets, felted vessels, and my new felted vessel kits.

The next evening I taught the first night of a new Beadmaking 1 class and Wednesday night I taught the first night of a new Beadmaking 2 class. Tomorrow I'm teaching a Beadmaking - Working With Metals class. Busy busy! At this rate, I'm not going to have much time to replenish my bead stock for the upcoming bead bazaar that I'll be doing in Miami. But I do love being busy. One of the things that I don't like about doing long bead shows is that I don't get a chance to "make stuff" while I'm gone. So after I finish this post, I'm heading out to the torch for awhile. I sold all of my oak leaves and I only have 1 raindrop leaf in stock, which I've put into my Etsy shop. Tonight I'll be embellishing a felted vessel.

Speaking of felted vessel, my new vessel kits were a hit at the Bead & Button Show, and I'll be putting them out in my Etsy shop as well. I can't wait to see what my customers do with them - each kit was a different mix of colors! Here's my sample vessel for the kit - and this is the one I'll be embellishing tonight.

I splurged on myself at the show. In years past I've stocked up on seed beads, Czech glass beads, lampworking glass rods, and any unique beads that caught my fancy. This year I didn't have a booth helper so I didn't get out on the floor to see anything. But I DID make it a point to find Lisa Peters of Lisa Peters Art. After seeing the fabulous pieces that my cyber friends Carol Dean Sharpe (sandfibers on Etsy) and MaryLou Holvenstot (time2cre8 on Etsy) created with Lisa's ceramic buttons, beads, and cabs, I just had to visit her booth - and she was right next to my collaboration partner Nanette, just 4 booths down from me! Here are the treasures that I brought home with me that Lisa created. I have no specific plans for them, but there was no way I could leave them for someone else to purchase!

Aren't they fabulous? I can't wait to start working with them. Perhaps they will adorn some of my felted objects. They might even inspire something new in my journey with felt.

Awhile ago I saw a blog post by Kate McKinnon regarding the new work she was doing. I was completely taken by her bird-related rings, and when I looked at them "up close and personal" at the show, I just couldn't resist. I've worn it every day since I got it, and it's amazing how many comments I get. The ring with the 2 birds on it is mine all mine! :-)

And now I'm off for a short visit with my torch. The day has really gotten away from me, and I definitely must create a few new beads before evening (and pizza, yay!) arrive. Mom will be ready to head over to Starbucks any minute, so I have to scoot. Have yourselves a happy and creative day!