Look What I Found!!

   What about that? So much fun crammed into one great piece! This beauty was made by Marianne Bernsen (BernsenArts on Etsy) - if you've never seen her work it's all very cool. She uses some pretty unusual items in combination with more traditional components and the results are really amazing. All of it makes me smile, there are a lot of bright colors, shapes and textures. Pop into her Etsy shop, it'll make your day!

A Beadfest Bonanza!

What a fun weekend! I headed up to Beadfest Philly Saturday morning with my daughter, Maggie and my daughter-in-law, Jamie. We decided to make a girls weekend out of it, starting with a day at Beadfest. Here are some of the amazing goodies we found...

Have to start this show with a set I got from Kerry Bogert. When I grow up I want to be a lampwork artist of this caliber. Kerry does the most amazing work - this picture doesn't do justice to the hollow bead. I love the bead in a bead and the colors are just poppin'!

On my list of places to get to is always Bergamini Beads. Furnace glass has always been one of my very favorites to work with, and the glass made by the artisans at Bergamini is absolutely the best. The satuated colors and variety of shapes make it almost impossible to choose which ones to buy, but I managed to pick a pile!

A new stop for me was A Grain of Sand where I picked up some great vintage pieces. They had tons of Bakelite in a huge variety of colors and shapes.

Hobo Glass was Maggies favorite place, she scored these great glass rings for a necklace - the plan is to make the large ring into a toggle - when it's completed I'll post a pict!

This was a fun stop too... and FREE is always appreciated! I love the idea of having a stamp with my initials so I can have a little tag to put on all my work - branding is an important part of making jewelry and this is a good way to do that. Look into it - its worth it!

You can't go to an event like this without hitting the big commercial sellers They're a great place to get inexpensive 'filler' beads, spacers, crystals and all those odds-n-ends that make getting your jewelry together easier!

.... and finally - I'll leave you with the biggest piece of glass I bought this weekend. This actually didn't come from anyone at Beadfest. I got this foot tall handblown drop at a crazy little place on Rt. 30 not far from Gettysburg called Desert Flower - definitely worth taking the time to visit this place!

This doesn't even scratch the surface of the exhibitors and amazing items at Beadfest. We had a great time checking out all the booths, chatting with other artists, watching demonstrations and just enjoying a weekend off!



+