The Treasure that Awaits

Everyone on earth has a treasure that awaits him. ~ Paulo Coelho

My treasure is always found at Bead & Button!

It is hard to believe that the Great Bead Mothership has taken off without me...again! But I did have a grand time conferring with the other bead freaks out there! And more importantly, I found some new treasures I could not pass up! This year I did NOT take a class. That felt weird. But I am going to ArtBliss in September so I will have to get my learning fix then!

Sadly, I did not take one picture this year. But I did get to see some dear bead friends... some that I never miss seeing and some that were new to me... Lisa Peters and her lovely mom Donna... Cynthia and Greg Thornton of Green Girl Studios... Diane Hawkey... Melanie Brooks... my sister-in-rust, Brenda Schweder... Vlad and Kremena Ivanov of Golem Studio... Marsha Hedrick of Amazing Porcelain... Angie Graham of BlueFrog Art Studio... Lola Surwillo...  Stephanie Ann Dieleman and her friend Kelly... Joan Miller... sweet Miss Kristen Fagan and sweet Miss Sara Oehler of Soft Flex... someone I have long admired, Tracy Bell of Copper, Glass and Recycled Trash... I got to meet Marsha Neal for the first time. She is such a lovely soul! I am always blown away by her generosity and kindness. And Kaushambi Shah came all the way from DC to take a full lineup of classes. She and Lisa Peters were instrumental in setting up the fun Art Bead Scene dinner filled with laughter (much of it at my expense - you can ask Diane about that!) and bead swapping. What could be better?

I met Melinda Barta from Interweave along with Marilyn Koponen who is an ad rep there. I would have loved to go on the bead hunt with them. Maybe next year!

I got to see Karin from Kalmbach who is patiently waiting for me to make up my mind and just DO IT ALREADY! The good news is that Heather and I are going to hold each other accountable. Right, Heather?

I was delighted when Tanya Goodwin stopped by the booth for a visit. She was wearing the necklace she made to celebrate her black belt achievement with the special pendant I crafted for her. And Angela Lund-Logan popped up as well. It is fun to put names and faces together from people who are regulars on the Art Bead Scene.


It is always a treat to see my sister-from-another-mother, Jess Italia Lincoln. This year she had her full entourage with her... including her sweet husband Todd and her little princess Livi! Livi is even more darling than her pictures with those bright blue eyes and the most adorable wardrobe ever. She was even sporting a handmade drusy necklace. The most stylish one year old ever!

Of course, the highlight for me is always getting to spend time with my best friend Heather Powers of Humblebeads and her Aunt Rosanne. I get to fondle, er, admire all the Humblebeads I want for a whole weekend (and add to my collection!). It always goes by too fast! I think that one of these years we will need to stay one extra day just so we can chill and actually sit and talk!

I know that I am missing someone along the way...if that is you, please know that is purely unintentional! There were some people that were missing this year. I truly did miss seeing Kerri Fuhr and Jennifer Heynen. I hope they will be there next time.

One of the best things besides seeing people, is shopping, of course. And although I thought I was on a very strict bead diet, I really couldn't resist! It was like a diabetic being dropped in the middle of the Hershey factory. I was pretty good this year and didn't go nearly as overboard as in the past (or did I?). You be the judge....

{Lovely new shapes and colors of czech glass beads from Nirvana Beads. I especially like the new Concave - Piggy Beads, as they call them. Those coral ones over there on the left. They have one hole in the middle like a bead cap, and then one hole offset. So you can get this cool spooning effect! These were brand spankin' new and they didn't have many from the factory, so I made off with an entire hank of the Pink Luster color. Yummy!}

{Small nugget pearl strands from TA Pearls. Cannot.Get.Enough. And at just $3 a strand, I can afford to love them so! I still have many strands from last year. This year I added this deep navy-purple color and a mix of turquoisey-green strands to my stash. And the multi-colored keishi were an impulse buy on their 'clearance' table for $12 a strand.}

{Our neighbor to the right is Angi Graham of Blue Frog Art Studio. Her display is pretty darn cool (everyone wants her old wooden tool box!) and her glass is dynamite as well. This year I bought some of her 'orphans'... glass disks that are quite gorgeous. And look at those peacock beads! Definitely a splurge! Also shown here are an assortment of Green Girl Studios treasures. I told Aunt Rosanne NOT to let me over there, as I am hoarding half a printer's tray full of their pieces over the years. But I escaped and bought some anyway. That sweet little owlie? That is original artwork from Azalea Thornton, who apparently doesn't fall far from their creative tree! I HAD to buy it to support her art. She had robots and monsters and the cutest little daisy flower person. I went for the owl and it lives on my bulletin board. I am one of those people who stops at every lemonade stand...and this is lemonade for the artist's soul. ;-) Keep on making art, Miss Azalea!}

{I am sad to know that next year Melanie Brooks of Earthenwood Studio will not be exhibiting. I save my pennies all year to buy some of her goodies! Miss Melanie is embarking on new adventures and I wish her all the best. I picked up a few things that will round out my stash. And she had this great tray of lovelies from her friend Gaea and I couldn't resist this carved heart tube bead that looks like bark!}

{Miss Lisa Peters is located right across the aisle. Danger! I cannot stop myself from pouring over her trays. I love her flowers with the hole in the center, and there were several wee ones carded together by color. No orphan goes unloved with me! She also had some great cardinal bird heads, each one different. I am on the hunt for cardinals as that is our h.s. mascot and I plan to make jewelry for their upcoming fundraiser.}

{I cannot help but smile every time I am around Diane Hawkey. She is just so fun, and her beads speak to me...literally! The word beads she does are my favorite. And she had these cute little hearts with words I couldn't pass up. Plus I bought all the rest of her teeny tiny houses. And some birds with branches. But I really love the new iridescent raku style that she is working on. I called these 'grungies'; she calls them 'relics.' Those little moon and star connecters are so sweet! And the little purple star bead is reversible to a moon!}

{I always stop by Holy & Pure Gemstones. Like a million other booths, they have an interesting assortment of just about everything. This year I found some faux sea glass small rondelle beads with a sort of peacock AB finish on them.}

{Another find from Holy & Pure Gemstones... rhinestone encrusted saucer shaped beads with bling on both sides. I am thinking earrings, or pendants. For their size, they are heavy. I think they will be a special touch here and there.}

{Teeny-tinies! Crystals and glass pearls in 2mm will make great spacers!}

{Peanut beads and some really cool fringe type beads in tubes!}

{Of course, my week would not be complete without adding to my Humblebeads stash! It really is quite embarrassing how many of Heather's beads that I own. I really must make something with them! Her new bracelet connectors and pendants are so soft and ethereal... a couple of cardinals to add to my newest collection, and will you look at the colors on those shimmery leaves!? Real gold leaf is added for that amazing depth of color.}

Doh! I just realized that there is a picture missing! I got some great glass headpins from Nikki Thornberg and some ceramic ones from Marsha Neal Studio. If I can find the picture, I will add that to this post. But know that they are pretty marvelous treasures!

{Last, but not least, I stopped by the Beads Direct Online booth. I first found them last year and was amazed at the colors their finishes add to the gems. I brought so many people back to their booth and this time, while I was talking to owner Leslie D'Souza and his wife Mary, I could have sold the necklace I was wearing that featured their beads in it a dozen times over! People were literally walking across the aisle to touch it. This year I picked out the following treasures: chrysocolla onion briolettes, lapis AB rondelles and cushion-cut squares, natural aquamarine AB with a gorgeous sandy color, pink opalite AB (I think...), labradorite AB, onyx and green hematite AB tiny rondelles, hessionite garnet AB, natural aquamarine AB cushion-cut cubes, hessionite garnet AB nuggets and the last two strands they had of a titanium coated garnet in rough cut. This was the big splurge of the year. But I do think it was worth it!}

I have been so absent of late on this place that I love. I am trying to get back to it. (Did anyone notice that I didn't do the Challenge of Literature in May?) I am spending nearly every single night (except for Mondays) at a ballpark for my two kids teams, five between the two of them: league baseball, league softball, travel baseball (my husband coaches all three) and new this year travel softball and the Junior Legion traveling team. It is a good thing I like diamonds (of the ballpark variety) and I am happy not to have to cook until August! I want to be present for these moments as they will not be going on forever. Beading and ballparks don't seem to mix very well, at least not for me. And I am working nearly every day on a new venture that I am excited to release that will allow me to do fundraising for causes I am connected to as well as making a little income on the side (more on that at a later date). I am hoping to work back into the swing of things and get back to the Challenge of Travel in August. I have already been thinking of the concept. I hope you will consider joining me.

As promised, I would like to have a little giveaway. It has been awhile since I did one.

Since I am a hoarder of the highest degree, I have treasures that I have yet to break into from the last THREE Bead & Button shows. I know! Criminal! But cutting into them will surely get me to start using them. I will pick out a lovely assortment of goodies from my past stashes, as well as my current spoils to gift to one lucky winner. All you need to do is answer the following question:

If you were to go to Bead & Button,
would you spend your money on classes or beads?

What classes? What beads?

I will pick a random winner from all comments on this post on Monday, June 24th.