Bead Fest Pity Party

There's a pity party happening around here! Watching all my favorite bead peeps getting excited for the Bead Fest Philly happening this weekend has left me wishing there weren't like a dozen states between me and Pennsylvania. There is so much excitement going on! I know that my sweet friend Miss Erin Siegel will be teaching a class there and so many others are exhibiting or just going to soak up the fun and good deals. I can totally tell what it feels like to those who can't make it out here to Wisconsin for the Bead & Button show each year.

Instead of moping in the corner and hoping for fun status updates on Facebook from that crazy Diana Ptazynski of the East Coast Bead Mafia fame, my friend Heather Powers of Humblebeads suggested that we throw ourselves a pity party complete with good deals, inspiration sharing, learning something new and having a blast no matter where we are at.

There are some great shops holding pity party sales this weekend. Check them out...I know I will!

Humblebeads - PITYPARTY - 20% off  + she is giving away gift certificates each day!

Earthenwood Studio Website & Etsy Shop - PITYPARTY - 15% off 

More Skye Jewels - PHILLYFEST - 15%

Tesori Trovati -  PITYPARTY - 15% 

Clay Buttons - PITYPARTY - 20% off minimum $20 order. Tari is traveling and orders will be filled after 8/28.

Song Bead - PITYPARTY - 20% off

Marla's Mud - BFW20 - 20% off

Genena Beads -  bfetsy - 20% off

Bo Hulley Beads - PITY15 - 15% off

THEA Too -WHONEEDSBEADFEST - 15% off

Here are some of the other things that Heather Powers has planned for us.

Friday - Bust your Stash.  On Friday we going to go into our bead stashes and pull out something that hasn't seen the light of day for a while. If you'd been to a big bead show, I challenge you to find something from a past bead show purchase.  You can share a photo and story about it.  Create something with it or give it away on your blog or Facebook page.

Saturday - Inspiration Adventure.   Get out of the house and find something to inspire you.  You can go to a farmer's market, craft show, festival, museum, gallery, bead store, antique store, walk in the park - whatever you can fit into your weekend that will inspire you.  I'm planning to attend a Fiber Fest that is not too far away.  Share photos from your adventure.

Sunday - Class of One.   Pull out a jewelry book and try one of the projects in the book. Go through a few books and pick a project.  How often do we really do that?  For me the answer is hardly ever!   I'm going to pull out Kerry Bogert's Rustic Wrappings and try my hand at one of the new techniques in her book.  Share your results with us.  We'll also share links of our favorite online tutorials. 

How fun is that?

I will be going home this afternoon and popping in some more Simple Truths that have just been waiting for me to add them to the Etsy shop, so there will be some fresh pieces there soon! And I think that there should be some giveaways this weekend, too...so watch for more here!