BEAD & BUTTON & BEYOND....

Well.... The Bead & Button Show was a great success.... always a great time, I love to interact w/ customers & I especially love catching up w/ friends.

I really went crazy getting inventory ready for the show, so I came home w/ plenty of product to stock my Etsy shop w/... so that's what I've been doing since I've been home.
Plenty of acorns....

some fabulous large hole beads....

some gorgeous heart beads....

heart bead keys....

....& several kaleidoscoopes....

I have more to list over the next several days.... so much work!

Next on the agenda.... cleaning out my studio & adding a 2nd torch for teaching!! I bought a new torch @ the show, so excited about hooking it up!

Till next time....

THE BEAD & BUTTON SHOW...

...it's coming up quickly!! I'm ready, are you?

Heart beads, heart beads & more heart beads....

European-Style Charm Beads & bigger beads, perfect for necklaces 

& my new Duel-Length Stacking Charm-Bead Necklaces (bracelets, too!)

Plenty of cute earrings & jewelry

Glass & Copper Acorns (& acorns & more acorns!!)

Even a new size....MICRO...so cute!

Etched & enameled copper oak leaves & my sterling silver twig changeable bead holders, too! So much more!

Hope you'll stop by to check everything out.... booth 1136!

Here's a coupon for you, too... for 20% off one item at my booth....

& Click here for coupon for $2 off admission &/or Sunday's 2 for $10 special   

IS IT REALLY MAY???....

Just thought I'd take a minute to check in... finally! :o)

The Art Glass & Bead Show in Madison was FANTASTIC!! I was blown away w/ how well it went. Yay. I'm sure the fact that I did the Challenge bead helped! It was so much fun seeing what the challengers created... wonderful works of art!! There were 2 winners.... the Popular Vote & the Technical Vote. The Popular winner, a hat, was picked by the shoppers, the Technical winner, a necklace, was picked by the vendors. To see the winners & all of the participants creations, you can go to the show's website... here are a few pictures of the winners... (click for enlarged view)

Fabulous, huh??

I've been busy getting things together for The Bead & Button Show, coming up in early June. I've been having fun making some new bead styles that have large holes to be worn on European style necklaces (which I happen to make, too!)...

Fabulous, huh?? Such a fun picture.

Been busy making tons of acorns, too, of course. Don't know if I've shown you my new MICRO size... they're pretty tiny. Here's a few...

There's a big possibility that I'll be partaking in a huge Minneapolis art crawl, called Art-a-Whirl. My lampworking group, Star of the North Glassworkers, are going to be selling & demonstrating @ FOCI, Minnesota Center for Glass Arts the entire weekend of May 20-22... 5pm-10pm on Friday, noon-8pm on Saturday & noon-5pm on Sunday. I'll definitely be there... not sure if I'll be selling (so much to do for B&B!), but I'll be there helping out & demonstrating. Hope those of you in the area will come by to see what's happening. There will be glassblowing demos going on all weekend, too!! It'll be a HOT time! :o)

Something else to show you. I just did a wedding cake serving set for a customer...LOVE how they turned out...

So.... that's it for now! I'm busy making a bracelet for my sweet niece's first communion.

Till next time....

BEAD & BUTTON 2010...

Bead & Button was fantastic. Exhausting... but successful! Saturday & Sunday were on the slow side all around... Thank God that Thursday & Friday were uber busy. My best show EVER... beyond any expectations I had.

A BIG THANK YOU to my friend, Kelly Hazel of KLH Designs, who was @ B&B all week for classes & a little shopping... she stayed an extra day & helped me out @ my booth. And another BIG THANK YOU to my awesome friend, Kimberly Polka, who showed up & helped me tear my booth down on Sunday!!

Really great bead sales...my acorns & the etched copper leaves, OMG...they cleaned me out!! It was quite awesome! I've always enjoyed watching customers select their acorns... trying to find the one that speaks to them (they all have their own personalities!), but now watching them try to pair an acorn up w/ a copper oak leaf, priceless!! :o)

I haven't posted these copper leaves before, have I? (other than when I first learned to etch w/ Robin Koza) I knew last year that I wanted to come up w/ some sort of oak leaf element to go w/ my copper & glass acorns... these are what I came up w/ & they are FABULOUS! (if I may say so!) Some designs are from rubber stamps & some are hand-drawn. Alot of the backs I did by hand... some included words, like STRENGTH, BEAUTY, BELIEVE, COURAGE, etc. Robin saw this picture when I posted it on Facebook last month & sent me a message, asking if I would share my source for the stamp I used for the leaf @ the top w/ the bullseyes & wavy lines. I'm always happy to share a source... of course this source is difficult to share, since that is a hand-drawn design. I love it & had a few others that were similar... they all sold, of course! I will definitely do more... it's nice to have pieces that are uniquely mine.

I got a few wholesale orders that hopefully will turn into returning customers. My sweet friend Nicole Valentine of N Valentine Studio came to my booth with an amazing fine silver birdhouse from Christi Anderson of Elemental Adornments... she was looking for a miniature electroformed glass acorn to hang underneath the birdhouse. She found one & a little while later, Christi showed up @ my booth looking for acorns!! My stock was pretty low @ that point, she found some, but I'll be making her more. They're absolutely perfect w/ her pieces. How exciting! I actually met Christi when I first started lampworking @ a show here in the Twin Cities... her work is phenomenal. It will be fun to work w/ her & see some our pieces together!

It was awesome to see & hang out w/ long-distance friends...a fun dinner out w/ Andrea Guarino-Slemmens, Nicole Valentine, Donna Mehnert, Kristi Brokaw, Marion Ogle & a sweet friend of Andrea's from Israel, Ilana Magriso. The Blue Angels were in town & we ran into some of them a few times. A man in uniform... nice... Nicole was quite smitten w/ them & Andrea took the opportunity to put Nicole in the middle of them a time or two w/ a picture w/ a few of them & a phone call. LOL. Quite funny.

I missed out seeing so many people that I would've loved to see since I was on my own @ my booth... what a drag. Thankful that some came & tracked me down!! Wonderful to meet Heather Powers & Erin Prais-Hintz! I wish I had gotten a chance to come visit Heather's booth!

It was fun having customers from last year (my first year) return for more... (some w/ my business card w/ little notes written on the back!) and great to have customers that I've gotten to know through teaching @ the Madison Art Glass & Bead show the last 2 years come by to see me. I really enjoy continuing to build these relationships w/ such wonderful & creative people. 

Fantastic feedback about my booth space as well. That makes me happy. :o) It's ridiculously fussy... not necessarily fussy looking, but so many layers...pieces & parts... it takes me forever to set up & tear down. But I love the look! My friends laugh @ me & talk about how I need to pare it down! I'm so thankful that Kim showed up & helped me tear down on Sunday!! I do look wistfully @ the next aisle of well-known & talented bead artists w/ their single artisan tables & watch them show up just a few hours, if even, before the show starts to set up their space (& tear down quickly, too!) & think to myself "Hey, I'm just a glass bead artist, too... why do I have to have not only a full size booth, but why do I find it necessary to have all of the extras... like ribbons, chains, findings, etc... that keep me from quickly setting up & tearing down?" Well... I suppose, for one thing, I don't have the name (yet!) that draws customers directly to my table just because I'm me (& I make fabulous beads!)... so having a booth that draws people in has been helpful... & having the extras helps sell my beads, too. Can't tell you how many people walked away w/ a bead, acorn &/or copper leaf hanging from their necks as they continue on their way to shop the show.... FABULOUS advertising for me. So, for me, it's been worth it. A hassle, yes... but it's working.

Anyway... it was a wonderful experience. An awesome show. Can't wait till next year!!

Till next time...

~ Julie

QUICK BEAD & BUTTON TEASE...

THE BEAD & BUTTON SHOW...

...it's coming up quickly (way too quickly!).

I'll have some fabulous beads there, some jewelry, too...

...plus lots of glass & copper acorns and my sterling twig changeable bead holders. Hope you'll stop by to check them out.

Here's a coupon for you, too, for 20% off one item at my booth...

While I'm at it... click here for a coupon for $2 off show admission.

Hope to see you there!

Till then...

~ Julie

TEACHING & GUINEA PIGS...

(I broke this post up into 3 parts... it's a freakin' book, sorry... if you'd like to follow along, I've posted them in reverse order so you read them from the top down, like a book, because I'm posting them all @ once)

As me & my work continue to evolve & get more exposure, I have people asking me if I teach. Teach?? I'd LOVE to teach! I've been told that I have "this way" about me... nurturing, encouraging. I like to share & I love to see others "get it"!

BUT...I don't really know if I CAN teach. You know what I mean?
Some people are amazing @ what they do..... okay, let's just say that I'M amazing @ what I do, LOL, it doesn't mean that I have what it takes to teach people how to do it, does it? I'm a little ADD (yeah, just a little!!!) & words, descriptions or directions don't necessarily flow freely & easily from my mouth at times.... so I just don't know. You know?

So..the more people who ask, the more I want to know if I can & realize that the only way to know is just to do it, right??

I wrote a post a while ago about Robin Koza & Carol Watson, who I met @ The Bead & Button Show... we made a great trade & started a fun friendship. Well, Robin posted a beautiful etched copper cuff on Facebook as well as some etched copper sheets... they were FABULOUS & I couldn't stop myself from contacting her about wanting to buy some of the sheets or make some sort of trade again. I totally could see me incorporating these etched copper pieces into my work. Somewhere along the way I said something about some "Julie torch time", (Robin had told me after B&B that she wanted to take my first class, no matter where or when it happened!) ...turns out that's what we were going to trade!! :o) Carol contacted me a short time later to say "I want to come, too!"

Panic!!! I'm not set up to teach one person, let alone two, in my studio...plus it's a disaster... what to do? I'm thinking..."is there anywhere in between me (Minnesota) & them (Indiana) where we can meet & torch?" Seems while I was worrying about this, Robin & Carol were talking & came up w/ a fabulous plan!! Robin asked me if I was interested in having them flying me out to them? They had a local teaching studio where they could rent torch time & we could all torch together. FABULOUS! FABULOUS! FABULOUS!!! Definitely cheaper for them to fly me out, I could stay in Robin's guest suite (made for a Queen!) & we could spend the weekend learning from eachother. Needless to say, I didn't hesitate saying YES!!

So we made a list of what they want to learn from me. I'm checking out their websites & see that they've taken classes from MULTIPLE fabulous glass artists, way beyond anything I've ever done AND they both teach a variety of classes!! I'm thinking "what in the world could I possibly teach them that they don't already know? Am I really going to bring anything to the table?" They reassured me that I would be. :o)

On their list:

• Big Disc Beads
• Shaping tips & techniques
• Hints on working w/ silver glass
• My thoughts on Color Theory
• Making glass acorns & electroforming them
• Showing them how to put together an expanded electroforming setup
• Kaleidoscopes
• Copper display tree

My message back to them:
"I'm so glad that you're both excited about this... I am, too!! I'm just hoping that you aren't expecting more than I can bring to the table! :o) I'm not this brilliant lampworker, you know I've never taught before... I don't even know if I can or SHOULD teach, LOL... I probably have really bad habits that I shouldn't be passing on to others, :o) ...I don't know if I do or not, but you never know! I probably could teach you alot about covering up mistakes, LOL... I'm really good at that! :o)

I also use an electric mandrel spinner...it's my crutch... I don't know if I can turn a mandrel by hand anymore. :o) Actually, I know that I can, LOL...you just work much hotter w/ a spinner, so I'd have to adjust [when working manually]. Do either of you have an electric mandrel spinner... or are either of you interested in learning how to use one? I know Carol likes to make utensil handles... this is why I bought my spinner in the first place... it cuts down my base bead making time, probably by more than half... and it makes pretty much perfectly balanced (centered) beads w/out much effort. I've turned more than a few long distance friends onto them... but then I'm not there to help them figure it out, so I know it's been frustrating for at least one or two of them. That is one of the ideas I have for a class I'd like to teach...the ins & outs of a mandrel spinner... & then making large beads for functional pieces (using the spinner). I talked to Scott Bouwens (Bearfoot Art Glass) at B&B about setting me up w/ a classroom set of spinners & rolling marvers... we still need to work it out, I certainly won't be ready to buy them by December, though. So... if either of you have ever wanted one of these, now's the time so I can give you all of my tips & tricks. (Scott has a 6-8 week lead time on these right now. No, they're not cheap... but boy, mine paid for itself almost instantly. Make sure you pick up the small sized brass rolling marver, too... really essential to have w/ the spinner.

Gosh... your list of what you want to learn... I'm laughing, because I've been able to get really good at these things BECAUSE of the mandrel spinner. LOL. Shaping: mandrel spinner... large discs: mandrel spinner. :o) I only started making those large discs recently & they're pretty much a breeze w/ the spinner.... I'm sure I can do them w/out... but why? LOL.

Color theory, eh? That would mean I actually have to have deep thoughts on the subject, doesn't it? You forget, I'm ADD. :o) I know somewhat what I like... I play, if it works it works & I use it... over & over & over again, LOL, if it doesn't I move on. We can talk it through, though... discussion & feedback is a good thing.

Silver glass.... I have a bunch of silver glass that I can't get to do squat... I find ones that like me & I work w/ them. :o) This is a work in progress for me, hit & miss at times... I might be able to teach you guys some things, but I can't guarantee that you don't already know everything I do!

Did I change your mind? :o) I think as long as we all go into this as a great learning experience for all, we'll be good.

This is good for me, too... I like the idea of just a few "students" at first...how do you guys feel about being my guinea pigs? :o)"

So....that's what we did!! I'll tell you all about THAT in my next post... this is already a book. :o)

I HAVE A FOLLOWING....

So... I have these two wonderful ladies who seem to have been following my glass journey for a while, Robin Koza & Carol Watson. They must've been talking about me because sometime before The Bead & Button Show last month, they both contacted me separately (the same day!) to say that they were excited to be able to meet me @ B&B & wanted to buy this & this & that, LOL! Too cute. We were all "friends" on Facebook, so I immediately went out to see who they were, put it together that they were business partners in an Etsy store called Cahootz! So I went out to see what they offered in their store & saw that they had viking knit pieces & hand dyed silk ribbons. Woo-hoo...sounds like a trade to me! (Regarding the viking knit... I make a really pretty bracelet that has viking knit on it & it's expensive because this viking knit is handmade [by me]... it's time consuming & I always joke that I'd have to hire some young child in a foreign country to do it for me to bring my price down!) So, it was really fun to meet them & they had their way w/ what they found in my booth & we ended up w/ a fantastic trade & I ended up w/ some great new friends! They're both quite adorable.

I didn't realize until later that Robin owned Glass Diversions, a fantastic frit blend business that everyone in the lampworking community knows & buys from. I'm such a dork. I just didn't put it together!! I don't do much frit, so I have probably only purchased from her once... a while ago. FABULOUS colors... yummy yummy frit... I'd love to incorporate more into my work.

Looking forward to getting to know them both....

TIME FLIES...

when you're a busy girl. :o)

Wow...where to start??

Well...we just got back from a 3 week road-trip to the west coast, so I thought I'd get myself back to blogging & tell you what I've been up to lately!!

Bead & Button was FANTASTIC!!! I LOVE doing shows...I love meeting & talking to shoppers & other artists... I love seeing other people's work... I just love the whole experience, period!! It was a really great show... slower than other years, from what I understand, but I did really well... that's really exciting. I can't imagine how I would've done in the past if this was slow! :o)

People LOVED my acorns & birdhouses... especially the acorns. It's so much fun watching people try to pick out the one they want... they definitely have their own personalities. I sold a kaleidoscope, too... I just had it there as a sample of my work & someone bought it! :o) I sold lots of beads and a bunch of my handmade changeable bead pendants... the simple ones AND some of my cast twig ones, too! Yay! I also sell 4"-5" long argentium and fine silver headpins, those went well, too.

I had my oldest sister, Jeri, from Colorado, there to help me... it was fun to have her there... but geez, I almost had to chain her to the table to keep her from wandering off to shop!! :o) Every time she went to the bathroom I didn't see her for a half hour or more! Stinker. She kept her phone w/ her, though, so when 8 people swarmed my booth at one time, I would quickly text her "HELP!!" & she'd be right there! LOL. It worked just fine. I finally got a little time on Sunday to break away & visit w/ other artists that I only know from online. I just love that! I enjoyed meeting Lori Greenberg (& her cool mom!), Donna Mehnert & Kimberly Affleck... all very talented ladies that I was excited to meet! I especially loved meeting & getting a big bear hug from my favorite Facebook man Rashan Jones! It was so cool to finally meet him & see his work in person! He is a fantastic glass artist & we traded beads! :o) Several online friends & other artists stopped by to say hi & check out my work, too. I was so excited that Lisa Atchison stopped by to meet me! I just love her work & she's been so sweet & supportive online... & she's so freakin' cute, too... I was so pleased to get to meet her in person & see some of her beautiful work, too! Who else?? Amber Ballard, Robin Koza & Carol Watson stopped by... I just love them... it was so much fun meeting them & really look forward to getting to know them more online. Lots of acorn / bead trades that weekend!! :o) Stephanie Ann & Kerry Fuhr are now acorn owners, too. Those are some sweet & talented ladies...I was thrilled that they asked to trade! What a fun weekend. Samma Parcels stopped by, too... it was really nice to meet her.

Some of my favorite chicks from the Missouri Bead Retreat showed up, too.... Kimberly Polka, Serena Thomas & Marilyn Roberts. Had dinner w/ Kimberly & Serena one night... what a blast!! It's so good to see them... I miss them.

I had Kristi Evenson's (Coliebug Beads) work there w/ me, too... remember, this was her booth... sadly she didn't do as well as she typically does... not even close... I felt bad, but I was reminded by mutual artist friends that people like to buy directly from the artist... especially the normal large wholesale orders she would get... of course they wouldn't want me to set that up for them. I still felt like I let her down, though. Crazy thing, though, she had a banner made up w/ her new business name on it (CB&CO)... it was gorgeous & matched her work much more than her old whimsical name/logo did, but it really confused people. She was listed as Coliebug Beads in the program & people know her as such, so they didn't "get" the new banner. Some people would ask... but it became REALLY obvious when a friend of hers came by and asked if it was Kristi's work. She said that she kept walking up & down the aisle looking for her & would pass our booth & see her work & get really really ticked off each time, thinking that we were ripping Kristi's work off!!! LOL! It was funny, but really made us see that we were really confusing people.... so we put back up the Coliebug sign that B&B supplied us with and used my labeler to make large labels on her display board that said "Coliebug Beads aka CB&CO"... that seemed to help alot! People loved her work (handmade silver & copper findings) & actually, it went really well w/ my glasswork, so we had people putting the two together. Very cool!

Anyway... Kristi decided that even if the two shows end up on the same weekend next year, like she thinks they will, she's going to do B&B. She apologized, but I told her it was completely understandable... she relies on her B&B sales, especially the wholesale orders & new business customers she gets each year since they will probably buy from her throughout the year... that's huge for her. I love that I was able to have the experience & get myself out there...& I'm happy that I was able to help her at least keep her much desired booth space. From what I understand, since I was under contract w/ B&B for Kristi's booth space, it will make it easier for me to get my own space next year, even w/ the long waiting list... soooooooooo, I've applied for my own booth... cross your fingers that I get in!!

So, there you go... Bead & Button was a fantastic experience & I can't wait to do it again! Hopefully I won't have to wait too long!! :o)

Will write more about our road trip & what I'm up to next tomorrow...

Till then....

~ Julie

BUSY BUSY GIRL...ALIVE & KICKING...

Yep... dropped off the face of the blogging world again! Sorry. Thanks for the eMails, I really appreciate it when people contact me to make sure all is well.

Yes... all is well... life is good! Really REALLY GOOD!!

Looks like I've been absent from my blog for almost 2 months! Yikes. I'm not supposed to do that. :o)

In February, I spent a fabulous long weekend in St. Louis for the first annual Midwest Glass Experience @ Third Degree Glass Factory. It was a blast!! I love getting to see my favorite Missouri people (yes, there are some Chicago, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, Iowa, Arkansas & more people thrown in there too!)... spending time playing w/ fire... learning new things, etc. I took classes from:

Anastasia from Germany... what a doll & a fantastic teacher. I love her bead style & had a blast learning how to make her tree beads & work w/ enamels & super fine hair stringers.

Michael Mangiafico (Fig on LE)... awesome teacher, fun guy... made an awesome ant & naked lady. :o)

& Libby Leuchtman... another awesome teacher & co-coordinator of the event. I loved learning how to make complex discs & did some off-mandrel work for the first time.

Yes... I need pictures. :o) Will add some here in a bit.

.........got home & got busy building up stock for both the Twin Cities Bead Bazaar (TCBB) & the Art Glass & Bead Show in Madison these past 2 weekends.

Both of these shows were FANTASTIC!! Such a blast & very successful! (yes!) Left me thinking "WHAT RECESSION?" :o) My 2nd & 3rd bead shows on my own & the first shows of the year. I was seriously worried that people either wouldn't show up or wouldn't be spending... neither was the case in either of these shows. In fact, the TCBB had record attendance!! Gives me hope that the year will continue to be successful. I'm really loving getting my pieces out there... love the feedback... love meeting people.

Coming up next for me is an Art Festival & Farmer's Market at Nature's Nest Organic Farm and Bead & Breakfast in Montrose, Minnesota in mid May (see my SCHDEULE on my website for details) and then the Bead & Button Show in Milwaukee in June. (come see me & Coliebug Beads @ booth #1138)

...I'm also preparing stock for my first art gallery!! I've been asked to participate in a gallery on Madeline Island that will be opening mid-May, just in time for the busy summer tourist season! I'm so excited! My good friend & mentor Jennifer Ionta recommended me... we'll be spending some weekends up there throughout the summer doing glassworking demos on the torch & just being there to answer questions about our work. Check back here on my blog & the schedule on my website throughout the summer to see when I'll be up there... would love to see you!

Okay... enough catching up for now. LOL. I'll add some pictures soon... I have something new to show you. :o)

Till next time...

~ Julie

HAPPY 2009...

Happy New Year!

2009, huh? Wow. Where did 2008 go?

It was a crazy year... fun & fulfilling as far as glass goes, I'm loving how I've grown as a glass artist... I still enjoy feedback from others (duh!)... showing me that I'm on the right track. I had some really successful shows this year, even after bigger signs of US financial troubles started stressing people out, which is amazing to me (I think it's an emotional thing for people.... jewelry, beads, etc... being able to spend a little something on themselves maybe makes it a little easier to cope w/ stress???)... so I'm just really thrilled w/ how things are going from that point...

...but I'm still looking for balance in my life. Is balance possible? LOL. I'm praying that it is & that somehow this ADD brain of mine will allow me to figure it out.

Anyway... that's not where I was going to go here... ;o)

2009 is already shaping up to be an awesome & busy year! One of my biggest wishes this year was to somehow get into the BEAD & BUTTON SHOW in Milwaukee in early June. I put the word out in a few places that I was looking for someone who wanted to share their existing booth because I heard it through the grapevine that there was a long waiting list to get your own booth & I hadn't even started that process yet. Well... my wish came true!! Kristi Evenson of Coliebug Beads has done B&B for years & found out that she was going to have a conflict w/ another big show here in Minneapolis the same weekend (for at least the next 2 years!). My friend Jennifer Ionta told her that I was wanting to find someone to share a booth with & Kristi contacted me!! She was so happy that she didn't have to lose her perfect B&B booth space & I was thrilled to get the chance to do B&B for the first time w/out having to wait on a waiting list forever. :o) She had to get it okay'd w/ the B&B people, but no problem. So... I'll be bringing her fantastic copper & sterling stamped charms & pendants so she at least has some of her items there & I'll get my own 8' space for my stuff!! I'M SO EXCITED!!! :o)

Check out my SCHEDULE on my website to see what else I'm up to so far this year!

HAPPY NEW YEAR, all!!

THE BEAD & BUTTON SHOW...

My friend Mallory (rosebud101) & I took a little road trip this past weekend to the Bead & Button Show in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was my first time there & it was FANTASTIC!! We spent just about 2 full days there... early Friday afternoon through early Sunday afternoon & I'm so glad that we didn't just make a day of it. You CANNOT do B&B in just a day.

Well, first of all, I should say that I was mainly there to scope things out, see if it was a show I might want to eventually sell at, so I didn't really plan to "shop" for things... (I obviously had no idea what I was in for. LOL!) I asked Mallory along for company...certainly didn't want to go by myself, right? We learned rather quickly that we're different kinds of shoppers, LOL! I'm there to scope, I like to visit w/ others, network, I guess you would call it. Mallory, OTOH, was a woman on a mission... with a list. :o) She also disappears quicker than a 4 year old, LOL... we learned that cell phones come in really handy & also learned that we don't need to be attached at the hip, either.

Anyway...Bead & Button Show is HUGE... almost 400 vendors... I truly didn't know what to expect. I knew that there would be people selling all sorts of beads & jewelry findings & such... but I had no idea that there would be lampworking suppliers there...like ABR, Frantz Art Glass & Arrow Springs... as well as Cattwalk, my favorite presses, Mary Poineal of McDuck Creations... and Scott Bouwens of Bearfoot Art, a lampwork tool engineering wizard who must never sleep! (I learned that if you ask Scott the right question(s), you can keep him talking for hours. LOL. We visited a few times...he's so generous w/ his knowledge...nice guy!)

I knew that my new friend :o) Bernadette Fuentes would be selling there, Tony & Lisa Blackwell from Zoa Art, too... as well as Jeff Barber, Stephanie Sersich & Dustin Tabor, since they were all teaching, & my local friend James Henke from Outa Torch Glasswerks was there, too... but I had no clue that so many other fabulous lampwork artists would be there as well... Andrea Guarino-Slemmons, Kate Fowle Meleney, James Daschbach, Dora Schubert, Milon Townsend, Larry Scott, Leah Fairbanks, Ellen Black, Gail Crosman Moore, Bronwen Heilman, Kristen Frantzen Orr, Heather Trimlett, Wayne Robbins, Sharon Peters, Lisa Kan, Nancy Tobey... just to name a few. LOL. Literally. There were many many more...I can't possibly name them all. Oh yeah, LOL... Michelle from Caliente Glass (aka. Boobie Beads) was a kick, had fantastic boobie beads, LOL & even better skulls & was sharing a space w/ Kerri Fuhr & Stephanie Ann... all of whom have incredibly fabulous beads. Mallory got a fabulous skull bead from Michelle & I bought a beautiful ocean bead from Stephanie Ann. I was completely in love w/ Kerri's beads, but had to pick one over the other.

I was so happy to see Bernadette, she's such a sweetie. I FINALLY bought one of her fantastic hand beads (yay!)... some of her other pieces, an incredible necklace in particular, just floored me. She & Mallory have befriended eachother online & they met eachother for the first time @ the show. We ran to Bernadette's booth first thing when we got there & I looked at her neighboring vendor & realized that it was this guy I had been trying to track down since the Gathering last year!!! I had seen James Daschbach & his fantastic beads about 5 minutes before the end of the Gathering's Bead Bazaar & knew I could find him again & then promptly forgot his name, LOL. I had seen his pieces in ads before & thought for sure I would see one again, but nope. :o) I was THRILLED to see him... I think the first thing I said to him was "hey, you're hair is much longer than it was @ the Gathering!" LOL. Geez... really smooth. :o) Anyways... YES, I did purchase one of his fabulous beads & chatted w/ him a bit a few different times throughout the show. He's going to start teaching & I HAVE to be his pupil. :o) I'm going to be in Seattle in August... I might have to go take a ferry ride for a private class.

It was nice to meet Andrea Guarino-Slemmons & see her fantastic beads in person. Just makes me want to take a class from her even more. Her hubby Whit is adorable. He's also a flirt. LOL.

Everyone that I knew (or found out) lived in the Seattle area I had to ask if they were going to be going to Mike Frantz's Glass Bash in August... Mallory thought I was bragging about going to Glass Stock (the week afterwards), I just wanted to know if I was going to have a chance to see them again & hopefully watch them demo!! So many fantastic glass artists live in that area... I think I'm moving there. :o) & yes, many of them will be @ the bash. Yeah!!

Libby from Third Degree Glass Factory in St. Louis was there...she has such beautiful beads & I had a really nice time meeting her & visiting w/ her. I'm definitely going to go take a class w/ her @ Third Degree & I think we're going to try to get her up here to teach.

It was really nice seeing & visiting w/ Kristi Everson of Coliebug Beads...I've seen her at the past few Twin Cities Bead Bazaars that we were both selling at & never really got a chance to visit w/ her. She does such awesome metalwork.

It was also nice to visit w/ Jennifer Ionta of Spotted Moon Designs... she's part of my local lampworking group but doesn't live really close, so it was nice to see her. She's a super sweet lady & not only makes beautiful lampwork beads, but also makes incredible jewelry! Annemarie Herrlich & I are going to take a field trip down to her studio & play a bit sometime in the near future.

I ended up w/ some incredible beads... I couldn't help myself.... from:
Bernadette Fuentes
James Daschbach
Stephanie Ann
Lisa Kan
Scott Bouwens
Julie Suchy


Dora Schubert's beads are just as fabulous in person as you'd expect... & she's pretty darned nice, too. It was nice to chat w/ her. Her daughter was there w/ her ...beautiful girl, looks just like her mom.

I also had a really nice visit with Lori Engle of Heiden & Engle on our last day there... a really nice lady. It was funny because as I was talking to her I noticed a bead on her table that was just a little bit similar to the one I had been wearing all weekend (until that day, of course!) in that it had Rubino dots on the bottom 3/4 of the long tube & something different on the top 1/4. I thought that maybe I had packed that bead (w/ pendant holder & silk ribbon ...I'll post it in the next post) in the bag I had w/ me & sure enough I did... so I pulled it out & showed it to her. As she was chcking it out, the subject of how long I have been lampworking came up & she looked at me & said "do many people tell you that they hate you?" LOL. I took that as a compliment. :o) Very funny. I hope to meet up w/ her again someday... maybe next year.

Mallory & I really enjoyed shopping at & visiting w/ Catt & Fred from Cattwalk. The have such fantastic presses & so many awesome bead samples at their booth... it's really fun to just look at everything you can do w/ these presses. Catt had a simple & petite cross on display that had been made with her thinner versacube press & I mentioned that I have the thicker version of that press & make much larger crosses on it & she wanted to know if I had any of them w/ me, so I brought my beads along w/ me on Saturday to show her. We ended up trading one of my crosses, 2 crunched beads & a kaleidoscope (for her mom!) for 2 presses!! Yes!! :o) She had all of the beads out on display so others could see the larger cross & the fact that I manipulate & decorate them after pressing them..... and she wanted the 2 crunched beads because I don't completely fill the press, so the sides aren't thin & sharp and again, I decorate & manipulate the glass after I press it. She wants me to play w/ the versacube press more to see what else I can do w/ it & send her the beads so she can include them & the cross as examples on her website. I still ended up buying 4 more presses from her, too. LOL. God, I'm in trouble. :o)

Some non-lampwork favorites were Anne Choi, BEAUTIFUL & intricately detailed silver beads, Diane Hawkey had some of the cutest ceramic inspiration word beads...I think I ended up w/ a half dozen of them. LOL. Another ceramic artist was Jennifer Heynen of Jangles... she had really fun & whimsical beads & toggles. I got the most beautiful hand dyed fibers & ribbons from the Fiber Goddess & special ordered her The Diva Custom Cord Maker, which is quicker & simpler to use than the kumihimo disc I use now. (I can put the kids to work for me this summer so I can offer some fabulous braided cords w/ my beads, LOL...they've gotten pretty good @ kumihimo!!) And I bought an incredible polymer clay heart pendant from Christi Friesen of CForiginals... and spent a bit visiting w/ her, too.

Some of my other favorite suppliers were Vintaj, I just love their stuff & it was so nice to meet them & see their pieces in person. I get so many great comments on my pieces made w/the Vintaj findings... I had packed up a few of them & brought them w/ me to show them on Sunday after talking to them on Saturday about them. I'm going to send them photos for them to post in the gallery. Yeah!! :o)

Such crazy weather while we were there...we almost didn't go because the forecast looked horrible, but I'm so glad we went. Lots of thunderstorms the whole weekend & some tornadoes in the area, too. Sunday, maybe a half hour from closing time, while I was on the show floor they announced that there was a tornado warning for the area & to be safe they were asking everyone to stay away from the lobby windows & stay on the show floor.......& feel free to contintue to shop. LOL!! The whole room roared w/ laughter. It was pretty funny. There were some touchdowns in the area, but nothing that close & the warning was lifted just in time to close up for the evening. Bummer. :o)

Anyway...if you've followed along w/ me this far, THANK YOU, LOL... there's so much more I could talk about... but that's enough for now.

Julie