BeadFest 2009 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

This is the hotel/convention center where the BeadFest was held just outside of Philadelphia in the King of Prussia/Valley Forge area. The convention center was over to the left, but still attached to the hotel. Very large maze of hallways to walk through, which made me feel a little bit like I was in the hotel in The Shining.


Lorelei drove down from Upstate New York and picked me up at the Philadelphia airport. We chilled at the hotel for awhile before Beth Anderson picked us up and we went out to dinner together. Beth is a very kind and caring woman, I'm so glad I got to meet her. Check out her blog and etsy shop. Beth gave the best 'good-bye' hugs and I felt like we were family.

Check out Lorelei holding up the new ChainStyle book. She has NINE designs included in this book and her work is on the COVER of the book. How exciting to see it in print (finally!), but it will be another month or so before the publisher starts sending out copies to everyone who pre-ordered. btw, that's my ivory lentil bead on the right side :)

This is just one of many rows of vendor booths on the main floor of BeadFest. It was really overwhelming walking in and seeing so many shops set up with beads, Beads, BEADS everywhere!

There was a humblebeads section designated front and center at the Bello Modo booth. Very cool seeing Heather's beads in person. I bought two little sets to watch over me at my torch for inspiration. I love the colors and rings of color echoing each other all over the beads.

These bright enamel beads were made by Sara Lukkonen of C-Koop Beads. I bought several of her magnetic clasps which are the rounds in the foreground and also some of her toggles. The magnets are very strong inside the clasps, but easy to work. I'm excited to use them!

These were some Buddhist monk beads at Hands of the Hills, Inc. I bought two really cool silver rings from them.

Look at all the colors of Marsha Neal's ceramic beads. Delicious! Marsha was so full of upbeat energy and humor...I LOVED spending time in her booth. If she was my neighbor, I would probably be sneaking into her kitchen at night after the kids go to bed to talk over coffee. And I don't even drink coffee! Her beads were so cool with wonderful glazes and mesmerizing patterns.
Here are some very cool shards that had holes in the middle for use as toggles or at the end for focals.

I got many pics of Marsha and Lorelei laughing and having a great time, but I like this one the best. It makes me smile and wish I was back in Marsha's booth. You can check out more of Marsha's beads in her Etsy shop.

These donut beads were made by Kristie Roeder (pronounced raider, like Raiders of the Lost Ark) of Artisan Clay. I would like to sit in Kristie's studio and watch her work because the process sounded absolutely fascinating. She binds her donuts in string or twine and then sets fire to whatever wood or other combustibles she can find to smoke out her works of clay. They turn these beautiful shades of greys, browns, blacks and grey and look like they were dug up from the ground from thousands of years ago. I bought some of these, too. :)

Here is Kristie with Lorelei. I didn't think she was going to stand still because she was just jumping-up-and-down excited to be at BeadFest, and perhaps just to be alive. If I had one tenth of Kristie's energy, I KNOW I could get everything done in one day that I want/need to accomplish. She is another whom I wish I lived closer to so I could walk into her studio.

It wasn't too long ago that I became Facebook friends with Julie Nordine of Credit River Art Glass. She is an incredible lampworker (in spite of occasional 3rd degree burns on her thumbs) and it was a complete shocker to come upon her booth at BeadFest. I had no idea she was going to be there, but I'm so glad I got to see her work in person and just get to stop and chat. Julie was very cool and I might have to crash her studio next summer when we drive back up to Minnesota! I wanted to buy one of her acorn or birdhouse beads, but I was out of money. Something new on my Wish List. :)

Here is the Green Girl Studios booth with so many ultra-cool charms, beads and clasps. I enjoyed getting to sit down and talk to Andrew Thornton and Will while they ran the booth. Andrew traded me a few beads for some of my lampwork beads, which I thought was awesome! Will and I traded thoughts on iPhone apps and now I am addicted to Flood-It.

We got Will to take our picture and Lorelei ducked down so I wouldn't look like so much of a midget. Can you tell she was amused by playing the shorty?

So this little weekend getaway started a month ago when Lorelei asked if I wanted to fly to Philadelphia to go to BeadFest. I had no idea what BeadFest was, but I jumped at the chance to get to meet her in person and spend the weekend hanging out together. I booked the plane ticket and hotel room almost right away and then added the weekend to my countdown app on my iPhone. I am so thankful for this opportunity to meet so many extremely talented artists, make new friends and get away from the normal routine at home/work for a couple of days.

I'm glad to be home. Sleeping in my own bed (fyi - those sleep number beds or overpriced crocks of air mattresses!) and snuggling my kids.

I'm glad to be home. My levels of patience were restored with this little break. I'm filled with a new level of calmness and a feeling of being at peace with my life.

I am inspired.

p.s. Check out Lorelei's account of the weekend here.