TEXAS...

I had such a blast on my trip to Texas last month.... stopped in Kansas City for dinner w/ a bunch of my favorite Missouri friends & stayed @ my friend Stacy & Jerry's place overnight. THANK YOU! It was a long drive to Dallas/Ft.Worth on my own, but no problem. Just one quick stop in Wichita to check out a warning light on the truck, didn't want to end up in the middle of nowhere, did I?

I picked up Mom @ DFW... I think I know that place like the back of my hand now... spent enough time driving around in circles looking for her!!! Not fun. Enjoyed spending time w/ her & meeting up w/ a few of her friends. THANK YOU, Bobby Jo (& Mom!) for all of your help!!

BeadFest Texas was FANTASTIC for its first year... I had so much fun, especially w/ my Mom being there w/ me... the first time she's ever been to a show w/ me. I think she was impressed. :o) I definitely plan on doing it again next year. So much fun to meet such wonderful customers, meet new vendors & see many friends, too... I really enjoy shows, although they kick my butt.

Here are some pictures that my Mom took of my display, etc...

(click images to enlarge)

I met up w/ a sweet group of ladies who took me out to breakfast & talked to me about coming to Waco to teach a class in the spring! They were awesome, Lisa, Jenna & Jill... I had such a great time getting to know them... & I can't wait till next April!! It was also great to be able to meet a few Facebook friends in person... Gwen & Debbie. I just love meeting online friends in person... being able to hear their voices & see their mannerisms, etc.... makes the online experience that much more personal.

Spent a few more days w/ my Mom... drove down to Temple, TX for a quick visit w/ my cousin, Eric, & his sweet wife, Kim... so wonderful to see them. Took Mom by Blue Moon Glassworks in Austin on our way to San Antonio & spent the evening w/ my Uncle (Mom's brother), Aunt & cousin. It was good to see everyone!

Dropped Mom off @ the San Antonio airport (SO MUCH EASIER than picking her up @ the DFW airport!!) & picked up my friend Sue! (more below about Sue)

We had such a blast in Austin for a class w/ JC Herrell @ Blue Moon Glassworks! JC is a phenomenal teacher... not just because her beads are fantastic & fun to do, but she's so knowledgeable about glass & enamels & what she does... the hows & whys enamels work specific ways, etc. AND, she couldn't stress enough about enamel safety... putting just enough fear in us so that we, as adults, can make an informed decision as to how much protection to use & what kinds of conditions we should work in. (proper ventilation, cleanliness, etc...) It was just plain wonderful to get to spend some time w/ her, too. She's one sweet lady.

& of course Jim & Rose Berry were, once again, the ultimate hosts! Love them. Blue Moon Glassworks is such a wonderful place to take classes... sure wish they were closer!!! :o) It was wonderful to have some time getting to know them a little bit better after class @ dinner a few nights. Good times. Can't wait to get down there again!

We had a great time running around Austin w/ Donna Mehnert looking for the fantastic mosaic murals by Aly Winningham of Terra Firma Studios. Here, we found the mosaic bench surrounding the fire pit @ The Domain (phase 2), called "Texas Hill Country Birds". It's fantastic.

& spending some time w/ Lisa Reid (who I met last November when I was in Austin for Andrea Guarino's class).... & was so happy to have a little time w/ Anne Ricketts our last night in town. It was also wonderful meeting Martha Brogdon in class... we're friends on Facebook... always nice to meet people in person.  Funny, too, a woman that I met @ BeadFest was in my JC class, too!! How fun is that?

It was awesome to have my new great friend Sue Peoples fly down there to take the class & then drive all the way back to Minnesota w/ me!! We have met just a few times & are friends on Facebook, but had never spent any time together. It was wonderful. She's such a sweetie... fun & a talker, just like ME... we were never short on words, LOL, it made the ride home a breeze. Can't wait to spend some more time w/ her.

Anyway... what an adventure!! Can't wait for the next one!!

Till then...

~ Julie

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