Bead & Button 2014 - Part 2

I won’t be hushed, I won’t be shushed.

But what I say I saw I saw.

I know my rights, I know the law!

I love it when I walk through the hotel corridors and see people that I have met through the years due to assisting Marcia – and they seem happy to see me.  I invaded breakfast one morning with Nancy and Mary – both from Chicago.   Mary even signed up for one of my classes – Princess Maya.

Later that evening there was a small gathering of mostly seed bead instructors, which was a huge blast.  We laughed and cried, shared secrets and lies; and told stories.  For me it was one of the highlights of the week.  Shout out to Jayshree Paramesh who brought henna “paint” for us!  So cool!

Saturday evening was the coveted TOHO party where I was Marcia’s guest.  It’s held at the Intercontinental Hotel, just a short walk away.  It’s a very nice event, with nice goodie bags.  What a nice group of people are at this event.

And Julie (you know who you are) wants the down and dirty gossip from Bead and Button – let’s see:  

·        I was called into the principal’s office

·        I called someone a bad name

·        I called someone else a bad name

·        I ate roasted garlic the night before a class.  No one complained (they could be all dead, though)

·        I swore in Arabic and Ming (from California) tried to teach me bad words in Chinese

·         I introduced myself to someone who I am FB friends with and he looked at me like I was from another planet and had no clue who I was (okay, lets me know that he doesn’t read my FB posts cause I do look like my pictures)

·        I was introduced to the same woman for about the 6^th time and I still don’t think she knows who I am (I have given up saying that we have met before)

·        I (along with two other beaders who I was chatting with) witnessed a woman tripping over the power cord taped to the floor of the second floor convention center to turn on one light bulb in a display (she went down hard). Fortunately one of the women I was with is a nurse and took control until security showed up. 

·        Even better?  Security tripped over the same cord!!  We made certain she was okay, filled out my witness report (including the fact that the guard tripped on the same cord).  The next day, the cord was GONE.

All of my classes went extremely well, my students were great, took my sense of humor with a grain of salt.  Projects went well with only a few little hiccups in the instructions.And then it was over.  I can’t wait for next year!

This might be the best picture from the show!

Bead and Button Week – June 2014 – part 1

Bead and Button Week – June 2014 – part 1

This year Bead &Button was a whirlwind of activity as I was a faculty member for the first time!  That was exciting enough for me, but I decided to take the journey to Milwaukee early so that I could have some good girlfriend time with Janice, Tracy and Marcia.

Traveling is always an experience that I enjoy.  This year was no different.  Leaving the train station in Dearborn (thanks Tom for dropping me off at an ungodly early hour), I was very excited.  Remind me next year (should I be selected for classes) that I need to only travel with ONE suitcase!  The train pulled into Chicago when things became interesting.  The train that was earlier than mine was missing!!  Short version – I was put on a tour bus, very comfy, and took the bus north to Milwaukee.  The best part of it was that I was able to snooze on the bus!

I loved rooming with Janice and Tracy – I don’t think that we could stop talking if we had to.  It had been a year since we were together and it worked really well.  Of course, Tracy and I had seen each other at Beading by the Bay in March – that was our practice rooming together!  Dinner that evening with our Marcia made it even better!  We were joined by Anne Mitchell and Beki and Shawn Haley of Whim Beads.

Photo by Anne Mitchell

Tuesday was my hang out and relax day.  I didn’t have any classes scheduled so I had breakfast with Beki and Shawn, I surprised Marcia with coffee (we talked about it last night with Tracy and Janice).  Marcia sent me a text with her order as a joke, so of course I had to get it for her.  Love my Marcia.  While in her classroom, I met several beaders that I have known over the years through her classes and some new friends, including Helena Tang-Lim from Manek-Manek Beads.  She has a great eye for color and has designed some awesome pieces of beadwork.  While chatting with Helena, I met Sunyoung Park-Hoffman (of Ezel Findings, maker of a great new travel bead mat) and her sister (who traveled from Korea!).

I was able to hang out with many friends for a while at the “Gathering Place” and see Mandi and her friend Ralonda, spend some quality time with Nikia and view the fabulous Crown Rings – they are stunning and I can’t wait for the pattern to be released!  Stunning, stunning, stunning (Should I say that again?).  I was a little disconcerted to see what appeared to be someone teaching one of her kits in the Gathering Place.  I hope what I saw was that they just decided to all do the same kit at the same time, but that’s certainly not what it looked like. 

Janice sketching at lunch.

I ran into Sabine Lippert and Claudia Schumann who invited me to lunch with them.  We had a nice time chatting about everything and nothing (and thank you again for my soda!).  Janice and I both had some free time during the day and managed to meet for a late lunch/early dinner and we decided on sushi from Kiku – which is walking distance from the convention center and the hotel.  It’s so good there!!  Unfortunately, it’s not the best looking place, but the food is good, it was quiet and cool.

My first B&B teaching of Dalal’s Dream was that late afternoon and I had 9 students.  It was a really good experience for me to have such good students; everyone was having a good time and looking forward to “Meet the Teachers” that evening.  It was a rush to break down class at 7am, rush to the convention center, and set up by 8pm.  I managed to do it quickly, steal some hugs from friends, and be back in place.  Since I didn’t have a stock of items to sell, I didn’t try and just have things to sell – I made the conscious decision to just meet people.  It was a great experience - I met so many people, received hugs and good wishes - it was so nic.

Amy Blevins rocking out with the tiara

Meet the Teachers exhibit with the Taj Mahal, bead embroidered purse,
along with the Tiara and matching necklace

Beading by the Bay 2014 - Part 2

We woke again in San Francisco, and this was going to be a great day!  Major site seeing was planned.  After a nice breakfast and packing, we once again figure how to pack our mini van and off we drove.  Dot did an excellent job of maneuvering through the streets of San Francisco and over the bridge we went.  Our first stop was Marin Headlands on the north side of the Golden Gate bridge!

This was a great spot for photos of the San Fran skylines and the bridge.  Well, except that the sun was shining when we got there, but the fog rolled in.  And FAST.

Dot is looking for the top of this monster tree.  This picture really shows how large they are.

Following our quick stop at the bridge, we drove north to Muirwoods National Forest to see the Redwoods!  This has been a great visit for me and crossing off items of the bucket list (crossing Golden Gate Bridge – Check!  Redwood Forest – Check!).  We waited in the parking lot for our last member to join us! Beki Haley of Whim Beads, who doesn't live very far from Muirwoods.  

Front: Liz, Sue, Tracy
Back: Cyn, Dot, Sharon
Not seen:  Beki (taking picture)

We wandered down the meandering path in awe of these beautiful giant trees.  The further removed from the parking lot, the quieter the noises became almost as if the trees were absorbing the sound.  These trees are massive, and not even the largest redwoods in California.  If my Dawn Redwood in the garden grows to 1/5 of their size, that is going to be a large tree.

A quick drive north and west of there brings us out to the coast and Stin, where Beki prepared a wonderful picnic lunch.  It's funny - the northern girls (Dot, Sue and I) thought the weather was wonderful.  Sharon, who now lives in Tucson, was freezing.  And Cyn, Beki and Tracy (California and Seattle) thought "Oh, jeesh, rain again"!!