Beading by the Bay part Dieux

Beading by the Bay was and will continue to be one of the highlights of 2013.  I have wonderful memories and I am so fortunate to be part of this great groups of beaders (even though Huib Petersen's class kicked my beading butt).  In the evenings, as I sit in my studio and bead after 9 hours at the hospital, my eyes are distracted by some of the goodies that we received at the retreat.

Books!  We received books again this year from Lark Publishing - one was "Making Wire & Bead Jewelry:  Artful Wirework Techniques."  I was so excited when I saw this book that I might have squealed outloud.  Another book was Ray Hemachandra's "Showcase 500 Beaded Jewlery" which is part of the 500 series.  I especially like this book because I know so many wonderful artists who are featured in this book and a good handful were at the BBTB. Now if I would have remembered to have them sign their pieces in the book, this would become a priceless part of my book collection, however, I thought of that when I got home. It’s a wonderful book and I love it.

The door prizes donated by Swarovski Elements are wonderful. I received a set of six boxes of Swarovski collections – elements that work together by color or texture. It’s so wonderful that I am just looking at everything now – not even using them. But I will. I can’t let these crystals sit in boxes for years. They would get so lonely.  Spread on the tables at the dessert reception was an array of wonderful crystals of all sizes, shapes, colors and oh, the sparkle….

At our table, we were very organized and polite about it. To make the magic last even longer, we took turns picking out what we like and wanted. First we put what we coveted in front of each of us. It was easy as we all wanted something different. I wanted two oval crystals that will be a pair of earrings in the near future. Cyn wanted some pearls. So Cyn, Jules, Dot, Sharon, Sue, Beki and I all picked our favorites out of what was on the table – other beaders were laughing at us, but we enjoyed it and had fun.

The final picture is of the "Wild Girls" as Marcia has called us or the "G'nomes" that Cyn Bicker has named us. I used photoshop to add Dot to the picture (as she was behind the camera but belongs in it). From the left - Sue, Liz, Lisa, Cyn, Sharon (barely visible), Beki (hiding), Jules, and Dot

Not to change the subject, but  BBTB and BBTB are the same.  One is “Beading By the Bay” and the other is “Bitchen’ Biker Turkey Buzzards” which has been a beading group on the internet for more than 10 years. Is this a coincidence? Or pre-determined by the gods? Ancient Alien connection? Perhaps a little of all of the above….

Beading By The Bay 2013

I enjoyed myself at Beading by the Bay 2012 so much, I knew immediately that I was going to sign up again for 2013.  I managed to talk three good friends into going with me which made it even more special.


Dot. Sharon and Sue

 Sue and I had an adventure in even getting to San Francisco.  I was printing the boarding passes when I noticed that the date was changed.  TO THE DAY THAT I WAS PRINTING THEM!  Once I convinced Sue that I wasn't kidding and that we were flying out in 4 hours, we raced to the airport, got through security, and found our gate.  Whew, we made it!  Wait - flight is delayed.  Now we have time for dinner, but we might not make our connecting flight at Denver.  Snow storm coming so we decide to get out of Detroit and deal with Denver.  Once at Denver, we run like OJ Simpson (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7W1hnR3kLwo ) in an airport commericals to make our connecting flight.

You know when you are sitting on a plane and waiting and waiting and waiting and finally those last passengers get on the plane (and they are looking frazzled) - that was Sue and I.  We didn't even have seat assignments.  Sue was placed in row 1 while I ended up in row 176.  I don't think it was quite that bad, but it was at the back end of the plane.  Whew, we made it.... Even more amazing?

Our luggage made it.

Of course the next morning, we are up at the crack of dawn, because we are still on an east coast clock.  After double checking that we indeed were in California, with our luggage, we sighed a deep sigh and started vacation.

Later that day, Dot Lewellyn from Columbus, OH and Sharon Hessoun from Tuscon, AZ flew in and the group was complete.  We had a nice lunch and dinner in Burlingame, CA, lots of laughs and chuckles and then to sleep!

Off in the morning to wipe things off my bucket list and during our two days of touring, we saw so much:  San Francisco, Golden Gate bridge, Chinatown, Cable Cars, Sea Lions at Fisherman's Wharf, and more.  What a whirlwind of excitement

Following our days of being a tourist, we buckled down to our main objective - Beading by the Bay.  Marcia and Susan put on such a nice retreat.  We had three great instructors this year; Marcia (of course), Huib Petersen and Sabine Lippert with some beautiful classes.  It's just a chuckle-fest.  It was nice seeing faces of persons that I met last year and hopefully will again next year.