Beadfest Burnout

by Staci L. Smith

Well, here I am, still frantically getting ready for Bead Fest Philly.  It wouldn't be so bad if I hadn't waited to make beads until 3 weeks before the show.  

 

I am feeling burnt out.  I get the feeling I am not alone, from the posts I am seeing from others making endless amounts of beads for your fondling and buying pleasure!

 

I do feel I am over the hump though, and plan to sleep a little more, after all, I want to enjoy the show, enjoy my friends, and enjoy meeting new customers and friends.

 

Remember all those white unpainted polymer beads?????

Well, they are painted, sealed and the steel wire is waxed.  They are ready to be priced.  That is a huge relief.   

 

 

Bronze needs some finishing yet, but it is in process, and that is good.

 

I also want to make some more jewelry samples, because I think its important to show how my beads can be used.  Jewelry always seems to draw me into a booth. 

 

I didn't just want to have pieces by me, so I asked our own Carol Dean Sharpe of Sandfibers if she'd do me the honor of seed beading one of my donuts, because I know she shares my love of donuts (and her work is amazing!). 

 

She sent me these pictures, and I am over the moon excited about it! 

 

 

 

 

 

She used 8/o Japanese seed beads in matte grey and bronze and permanent finish galvanized pewter to work her magic!  I cannot wait to hold it.  I bet it feels amazing.

 

So that is all I have folks.  I am surrounded by half finished beads, a messy house and lots to do yet. 

 

 

 

 



Bead Fest Philly Show Prep- Putting Together A Table Display

Blog by Genea C-K

Hello friends!

It's crunch time now! Bead Fest Philly is fast approaching! I can't believe the show is less than 6 weeks away! It's my first time doing such a HUGE bead show so I needed to stock up on some display things for my booth. 

I thought you might like to see some "behind the scenes" stuff about getting display things for your booth and setting up.

Here is a funky fixture I picked up at Jo-Ann Etc. Awhile back. I thought it would be pretty cool with it's little compartments. They are pretty deep thought and it's amazing how many beads it takes to fill up that space!

Here's the turn table bottom. I decided to pass on this fixture due to it's stark whiteness and trying to fill up each space with beads.

Ahhh batik fabric! One of my very favorite things! I went on the hunt to find a pretty batik that was colorful, yet subtle to layer on the top of my table covering. I was lucky enough to also find this at Jo-Ann's and decided this was the one.

Then it was time to try it out on the table to see how it looked. I also pulled out a few other display things to see how they looked on the table. I set up a bowl of: recycled sari silk, hung my finished sari silk necklaces on a hanger to see how they would hang on a display, put glass headpins in some bud vases, put beads on rice, and layed down a bamboo placemat as another layer. The bead box is where raised boxes will be on the table.

To take inventory of what I had already made for the show and to figure out what I needed to make next, I laid all of my beads in the shop and stashed away on the table to see just what I had. It doesn't look like much, but then again it looks like a lot! Lol.

I went to Bed, Bath & Beyond and picked up this pretty nature printed bamboo table runner for $5 on sale! I loved the nature theme without it being too fussy.

Next I picked up a few of their pretty white bowls to see how they would look in my display. Again, I had to go on the hunt for tiny bowls so that they look full of beads. Here is a flower shaped bowl.

I also picked up this teeny sweet little white ramekin. I just love tiny things :D

Mom had these awesome clear bowls from Crate & Barrel so I tried them out here. The bowl looks pretty empty, but you can see the colors on all sides which is nice. 

Here is the same amount of beads in the tiny ramekin. Look how full it looks! 

Here are a few beads bowls on the bamboo runner to see how they look. Looks like the white bowls show up better.

Here is how the booth table display will look. I really love it so far! 

Next I had to figure out what I would use to cushion beads in my other display plates and bowls. Before I had used rice, but the rice wasn't really making the beads pop.

Here are some of my bright and ivory beads on the black beans. 

Here are some beads on some light brown colored lentils. 

Next I went on the hunt for some cute way to make price signs to sit on the table. I looked up tons of things on Pinterest looking for the perfect name place setting display. Then I looked at what I had, and I had remembered I had a slew of wine corks I rescued from Olive Garden. I pulled out my dremel, a sharp knife, and ring mandrel, and 19ga dark annealed steel wire and whipped up this little card holder. Kinda cute huh? :)

Here is what it looks like behind a plate of beads. Seems like the height should work.

I tried out a taller style one for my bowl of sari silk.

Look how cool that looks! Now I just need to make a zillion more and then design some price cards!

The last thing I have worked on was my table banner.

Ok so here is the banner. It won't be this neon looking, but it was converted to a special printing file. I just save it is a jpg image so that I could post it here. Pretty awesome huh? I was lucky enough to get some help from my dear friend, Karen Totten. She was kind enough to walk me through setting things up and converting my file :)

What shows are you doing this summer? Are you getting ready for Bead Fest too? 

xo Genea