So I know many of you asked about my beadfest experience. And we'll I was totally exhausted just from being there all day Sunday and didn't post. Well here it is... **pictures of the day will be at the bottom because I have no clue how to arrange them in order on my blog from my phone haha**
So Saturday night I packed my beadfest bag as well as the snacks and drinks Caitlyn and I would need (*they got left in the car and all we used was one water bottle haha so much for packing*)
Sunday morning we woke up at 7 am, got ready , left home at 8:40am. With two stops on the way we arrived at beadfest at 9:27am. The doors were open so we went and paid our admission fees (cait was free..all kids under 12 are). I had a huge bag of beads, findings, and vintage stuff to donate to the Beat It Beads foundation so we headed over to their table to drop off our load and ended up chatting with the beautiful woman who runs the program. If your interested in finding out more about their organization please like their Facebook page Beaditbeads. Tell them the Beadwench sent ya!!
Then we were on our way. Caitlyn has never been to Beadfest with me and she was totally in awe of everything and really enjoyed it. Our first stop was 2 Bead Sisters, these ladies are a bucket of fun, they remembered me from last year, their lampwork is absolutely incredible and only available for sale at shows/events. I got a few goodies here that are being used in my Superstitions blog hop.
We then headed over towards Artisan Alley where I wanted to say hello to a few artist peeps, first stop was Staci of www.stacilouiseoriginals.com she is an amazing polymer clay artist, she teaches classes at Beadfest, she has been featured in many jewelry magazines, and won first place at Beadfest for her amazing necklace. It was pretty busy so I wasn't able to get a photo with Staci but I was able to snag one of her awesome polymer clay creations to use in my Pachyderms on Parade challenge :)
As we made our way down Artisans Alley I stopped at Marsha Neal Studios display because her silk caught my eye, Marsha I had never met before but recognized her name right away, she has amazing ceramic pieces, kits, and silk of course I snagged some gorgeous silks and a ceramic to also use in my Pachyderms on Parade challenge. Marsha is a joyful spirit and is like sitting down with one of your besties we had a great convo and I think she magically lent me some of her amazing energy she even struck a rock star pose for the camera just for this blog :)
After we left Marsha's booth we drooled over Diane Hawkyes booth, need I say more!!!!!. I had a delivery to make to the fantastic Michelle McCarthy of Firefly Design Studio, she traded me earrings she won in my trunk show for credit at her table, which is awesome I love trades. So I picked up some amazing goodies for the Danse Macabre Blog Hop I'm doing :)
As Michelle and I said our goodbyes , my very good friend and fellow artist Colleen Haurin of Beadworks by Colleen appeared with her daughter Michalene, to hang with Cait and I for the day. The four of us had many many laughs and epic adventures ;)
We stopped at several booths and made several purchases. My favorite gemstone vendor this year was The Perfect Gem!!!! The quality of their gems are outstanding.
As we made our way among the hundreds of rows Kim Lyons fellow artist and SRAJD member spotted me apparently she had to threaten to break Michelle's display to track me down by clothing and tattoo description. ...haha kidding she asked to point her my way and I wasn't far. I have been chatting with Kim online for about a year as we frequent the same groups she also doesn't live far from me. So I got to meet and hang out with some amazing people at Beadfest. I got lots of goodies. I made a list and actually stuck to it. I didn't get a few things on my list because well I had a budget and I broke it in half literally because I splurged on a few things ...
By the end of the day I was worn out and in pain (my plantar facitis issues kicked in overdrive).
However for those of you wondering if Beadfest is worth the time, travel, lodging, and money..... my answer is absolutely yessss... I am fortunate to live 45 minutes away and don't need lodging. But it's worth it. If you have thought about coming def come.. you won't regret it. The classes are amazing and worth every penny. There are classes to suit every budget. They have added 45 minute classes for $26.00 and small $2.00 mini make n takes as well.
There is so much to see and do. But the energy, atmosphere, amazing vendors and fellow artists are well worth the trip.
I hope you've enjoyed my blog. Hope to see you there. Feel free to visit the artisans I mentioned tell them the BEADWENCH sent ya or Betony lol
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