A Pocketful of Sparkles

Here is a quick report about my adventures at Bead Fest last weekend. The drive from DC to Philly was worse than I anticipated. Way worse. It is a 150 mile drive and it took me 5-1/2 hours to get there in the rain. I'll spare you the details, it was bad! My four year-old had Monsters Inc. watched before I even made it north of the DC beltway.

Anyway, despite the rainy driving conditions all weekend, the show was great. I didn't buy as much as I thought I would and my hubby was quite impressed with my restraint. I mainly bought seed beads. I also got the above sparkly blue beads, which are just itching to be made into a necklace and earrings. I bought another kit from Maria Rypan. Her work is SO beautiful and she is just the nicest person. I had a chance to speak with her for a while and thanked her for being so nice and helpful last year. Last year was my first show and it was so incredibly overwhelming. She took the time to talk to me about her work and convinced me that I too could make her pieces even though I was just a beginner. She was right. I got two of her kits last year and had a blast doing them. This year she had a ton of new things and I got one new kit. I can't wait to get started on it.

The other purchase that I made was two pieces of glass for fusing. I cut some pieces and fused them Tuesday night. I will get them this coming Tuesday and hopefully have something cool to show you afterwards.

I was more prepared for the show this year. I knew more of what to expect as well as more of what I was interested in seeing this year. I had a better idea of which vendors I wanted to see and what I was looking for as far as products are concerned. I had the opportunity to talk to a really nice woman from Fire Mountain Gems, which is just bead supply heaven! I met and talked to a lot of the artists and craftspeople. It was just a great group of people to be with and everyone was so nice and eager to share their art.

This is weekend two of three weekends spent traveling to PA in October. My husband paddles canoe competitively and he has a race in Bellefonte, PA this weekend. I'll be freezing my butt off along a creek in the middle of PA. My inlaws will keep the kids on Saturday and then bring them to the race on Sunday. Saturday, I will have some down time to myself while the hub is practicing on the water. I'll bundle up with a book along the water. Hope you have a great weekend!