Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Berks Bead Show....finally!!!!

The weekend for the bead show finally arrived, and I must say, I really felt prepared. Nerves kicked in of course, and I had that panick moment, where I thought no one would buy my beads.  I hate that.

Things didn't go smoothly, but they went.  Just realized prior to leaving that my car is overdue for inspection (an old chevy blazer that I can pack everything into nicely).  So we took my moms car, a Honda compact instead.  It fit, barely!!!  Whew!  It was like tetris.

We got there with no problems, my mom, daughter Julia and me....ready for a girl weekend.

Well- saturday was BUSY.  I barely got to hang with my girls.  But my mom and Julia had a nice time together.  Some bead friends that I know from our online group stopped by and they all had lunch together.  It was soooooo nice to finally get to meet these ladies in person, that I already felt so close to before actually meeting them.  What a fun group!  I wish all lived closer.
Not everyone made it in the picture.  Thats what happens when you get a group of bead lovin ladies in a room full of beads.  Its hard to get them to stand still in one place, unless perhaps you scream, "FREE BEADS!"

IN this photo, starting on the left, we have Marsha Neal of Marsha Neal Studio and her daughter (totally worn out from bead shopping).
Me- hiding in the back
Diana Ptzaszynski of Suburban Girl Studio
Jenny Davies-Reazor whom I have gotten to know for her jewelry- but she also does mixed media art!
And all the way to the right is Melinda Orr of Orrtec.  She does ceramic and wonderful metal components and jewelry.

Lisa's mom is peaking around the left side in the back.  She is as "berks bead show" as it gets.  I always think of her and Lisa working the booth together there.

Not in the picture are Sandra Miller of Beaded by Sandra and Kristie Roeder of Artisan Clay, who also brought her daughters (OH my Julia was sooo happy to see them!)  Mary Hubburd of White Clover Kiln came with her daughter too.  Where did they get to???  Did I miss anyone- geez- it was a blurr!

Of course- Lisa Peters and Joan Miller had tables there, and it was sooo nice to be able to talk with them through the weekend.  More friends I made online.  I also met new people, and just had a blast!!!!  Bead and jewelry people, we just get each other!

Here are some more pics of the girls!

me, diana, and jenny
Don't we look like we are up to no good????  I have a feeling if I hung around with this girl more often we would be!!!  (smile real big and no one will suspect us;)
Diana pushing the sari silks I was selling.  Holy MOly- ladies love their silks!!!  Sold almost all of them.
Lisa and I- love this lady and her work!  If you haven't met her in person, you need to track her down at a show!


(above)This is apparently the face I make when someone tells me to "just act natural" in a picture.  Yeah, you should see my school pics through the years.  No poise in front of the camera.  None.
This is another picture by Jenny of the booth- that bounty of beads is what I have been working soo dilligently on!



Here is my booth- the banner turned out nicely, and I was very happy overall with it.  It really stood out, wasn't too hard to set up and tear down at all, and not too heavy to carry, and matched my style!
This was my neighbor at the show, Dona Jones of Kindred Spirit Designs.  She does great copper components and jewelry- very detailed!!!!  I was honored that she bought my necklace!  She is wearing it in the picture, doesn't it look like it was made for her?  We hit it off fabulously.  I hope we keep in touch!  Anyone who loves their Doc Martens is ok by me!!! 



It was a great show.  And people did like and buy my beads.  I even had a wonderful cutomer buy a bunch on saturday, and she came back sunday to show me the wonderful necklace she made with them!!!!!!!!  It was so amazing!  I also had someone track me down from Belle Armoire Jewelry.  Did I tell you I have an article in there and a project in the gallery too?  I love the pictures they took of my jewelry.  As if that wasn't exciting enough, a customer read it and came to find me at
Berks.  I can't tell you how happy it makes me that my jewelry and beads are loved!

You can get a sneek peak of my article here- its titled, Butterflies and Chains.


Of course, I came home with some loot.  After a marathon of bead making, I got a pallette together to start making jewelry for my spring shows.  Can you tell where I will be going with it????
I got some great large keshi pearls, chunky grey gemstones, sea urchin spines (ooooooooo my favorite find) some Greg Graup cabs and beads, a couple Joan Miller daggers, lots of Lisa Peters Art beads and some odds and ends, Diane Hawkey beads, some Dona Jones pieces, and some bone beads.

My daugther loved bead shopping at came home with quite the stash, but it was stashed away so fast when we got home I had no time for pics.  Here she is playing games with her gram!  I was so happy they came along. 

We had dinner with friends saturday night, Lisa and her family, and I was honored once again by Hank wearing one of my hearts on a necklace Lisa made for him.  I think he really pulled it off.  Who knew they were uni-sex pendants? 

Then Julia and I had ate chocolate, watched a movie and beaded in bed.  How girly is that?  Here is the necklace we made, using a Lisa Peters butterfly.

I think that sums it up.  I feel so overwhelmed by the support and love.  You all have been soo encouraging during this process.  I think this show confirms I can continue in this direction, doing both beads and jewelry.  Thank you thank you thank you!
You guys light up my life!

18 comments:

  1. It was great to finally meet you! I have to tell you that when I was showing my MIL the beads I bought she just loved your polymer too!

    ~Diana P.

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  2. I love this recap of the weekend from your point of view. Your work was SO awesome to see in person and pick out what we wanted. I used the two heart pendants that I got as little adornments for the wall going into my studio. I think I may start to do this with a lot of my artist friends beads since sitting and making jewelry is not too easy for me to do unless I've got an idea in mind :)

    Love, Love, Love your work! Your table setup was perfect & I am thrilled you had those bits of sari silk - I couldn't help myself :)

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  3. Tetris in the car! LOL. I was glad to meet you in person - the booth was great! I just wish there had been more time....
    JDR

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    1. Tetris for sure!!!! I can't believe we made it work. I should have taken a picture, but I am sure my camera was shoved in a corner of the car somewhere.

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  4. I'm so glad things went well for you - congratulations!
    Thanks for giving us a view of the show.

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    1. Thanks Jane! It was a whole new world, but I loved it!!!

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  5. what an incredible experience! your booth looks wonderful - all of those colors would have drawn me right over! and such a great group of people.. so nice to find your tribe...

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  6. This looks like a great show! Congratulations on doing so well. I know that it was a lot of work to get ready for it. I truly do not know how people do it all the time and stay sane. So great to have your mom and daugther tag along. But to meet all these beady-eyed women in one place! It is like you just stepped into the mothership, isn't it? That is what I feel about Bead & Button. I love Miss Lisa Peters. She is a delight and her mom is too! By the way, I don't know if it is just me or what, but I could not read your blog! The text was so light that I have to cut and paste it into Word to read it through! That is how much I wanted to read it. LOL! Maybe one day I will be fortunate enough to meet you in person. Enjoy the day!
    Erin

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    1. It shows up fine here, sometimes if it takes a while to load, the dark green background doesn't show up right away and its the light words on the light green. but I don't have anything fancy on it that should make it take a long time. I will ask around. thanks for letting me know.

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  7. Congratulations on all your hard work paying off so well! Now...off to add "buy magazine" to my to do list.

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    1. Its a good edition! Belle Armoire has been great lately (not that they ever werent). I liked the sea glass, shell and leather bracelets in there this time too!

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  8. Congratulations on a fun and successful weekend! I enjoyed reading about your adventure. Oh, and your booth looks great-love the wooden boxes of colorful goodies!

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    1. Thanks! I have always prefered the look of wood and earthy materials...I guess it shows.

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  9. Big congrats on the show...so glad for you that it went good. Looks like you had tons of fun! Also, your banner looks super.

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  10. Staci-
    It was a pure delight to read you recap of your wonderful weekend and to live it vicariously through your eyes. I hope that one day I can meet you and the other Bead Babes. But until then, it does my heart good to see your pictures and read about it. Thanks!

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  11. It was wonderful to read about your weekend..and to follow along the whole process from beginning to end...I am envious you were able to meet everyone..it's my dream to meet you and all our beady friends one day too..oh and I recieved my beautiful necklace today...thanks for the little extra..very cool..I love both of them...thanks so much....ttfn xoxo

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