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Bead Fest Philadelphia was a success!! It was exhausting, but so much fun! I really enjoy meeting & chatting w/ shoppers & artists... of course I love selling my work & hearing all of the wonderful comments about it... very good for my ego. ;o)

Jennifer had a fantastic class... I really enjoyed helping out!

I got the chance to meet some fellow artists that I know online... I love doing that, it makes the online experience that much more personal!!

I took a few quick shots of some of the pieces I had out on my table since I didn't have a chance to photograph them beforehand...

~ Just a tiny heart to show off. :o)
This is probably the largest heart I've made (the glass is 2 1/2" long...3 1/2" to top of ring) & it's FABULOUS on!! :o) Definitely makes a statement!
I made it off of the end of my mandrel, first time I've done that, & I love it. I was asked to make a smaller version for someone @ the show... I'll definitely be making more of these... & I'm sure they'll all be smaller than this one... maybe!
Here's a side view for you...

I love this one...

Here's a little try of donuts for you...

these little puppies were super popular... I could've made another dozen or two & they'd be gone.

I love this lentil....

...ignore the white mark on the bottom of it... that was my color coded pricing. I couldn't write out all of the prices on the beads because of my burn, so I decided to do colored dots. I won't be doing that again, people don't like to decipher things, even w/ a list right in front of them.

Here's a donut bead that I made after I burned my thumb... I wasn't in love w/ part of the vine, so I electroformed it...

Isn't it fabulous??? :o)

I'm having fun creating... it's fun to see how things have evolved over the past few years...

BEAD FEST PHILADELPHIA...

Just wanted to remind you that I'll be in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania later this week....August 21st - 23rd for Bead Fest Philadelphia at Valley Forge Convention Center in King of Prussia.

I'm sharing BOOTH #1238 with my sweet friend, Jennifer Ionta of Spotted Moon Designs... come & find us! It's on the CONCOURSE level...not the main level.

Jennifer will be teaching a class... Earthy Florals With Atmosphere on Thursday, the 20th... I get to be her teaching assistant. :o)

Aren't these awesome? She's so talented. She'll have this type of focal beads for sale @ the show, of course.

Come see us!!

Julie

MORE HANDMADE SHOW DISPLAYS...

Just made a copper "tree" to display my glass birdhouses on. My original tree was a real branch w/ little copper hooks on it, but it got brittle, so was a pain to take from show to show... so I ended up making a copper one before Bead & Button. It turned out great & was easy to fold up & put into my show display storage box.

I took it up w/ me to the gallery last weekend & ended up leaving it there so they could use it to display my necklaces (they looked great on it!)... so I had to come up w/ another one before my next show, which I leave for in a week!

This one stands on its own... the other ones were buried in a vase w/ stones in it. I'm not so sure that I'll keep it like this, I'm worried about tippage... don't want those sweet glass birdhouses to end up on the floor... especially if it's accidentally tipped by a customer... that would be horrifying for them!

Anyway... it's made out of 8, 12 & 18 gauge copper wire. It stands probably 30" tall?? The "branches" can be moved into any direction...but will mostly be facing forward-ish, maybe splayed out a little bit...coming from the back edge of a display table. I'll add little copper hooks to hang the birdhouses from...




After I finished it, I hit it w/ a torch to bring some fabulous colors out of the copper... blues, greens, magentas, etc... really cool looking.

THIS WEEKEND'S BOOTY...

...just before cleaning...they're so pretty under water! ;o)
(click image to enlarge)
I pulled out my Rubino for the first time since my Opal Yellow / Rubino phase (over a year ago)... the bead on the bottom left (at about 7:30) is DH Terranova2 w/ raku frit on top w/ Rubino over white on the bottom... separated by raku around the equator. I love it! (check it out full size!) Looks like a new style. :o)

The other reds you see are Moretti Purple Red (w/ raku scrollwork)... my favorite red... fabulous etched.

The disc did not turn out. :o( End of a long day in the studio... I finally gave up on it. That usually doesn't happen...

LIGHTENING MY LOAD...

I'm trying to lighten up my show displays for air travel...love the concept of the necklace & bracelet cones that open flat for storage, but don't want the black or white that's available. I love the warmth of wood & natural fibers w/ my pieces...found some thin 12x12 sheets of sticky-back cork w/ the scrapbooking papers @ Michael's...decided they'd be perfect for these cones. I'll have 3 or 4 sizes, this is the smallest...Here's the back of it...just used little scrapbooking paper fasteners... easy to put together & easy to open for flat storage. The back side (inside) is just black cardstock. PLUS... there's nothing to sew!!! THAT, I like. ;o)Here's a side view...it's angled really nicely to show off your pieces better when your customer is standing in front of it. Will probably look better under the lights at this angle, too, I would think...


Here is a JPG of the pattern... click on the image for full size...





















Feel free to use it. Enlarge for larger sized cones.







This is the piece that is on the cone in the first picture...I made it just a few days ago...LOVE it!