Well, I fully intended to write blog posts while I was on my trip(s), but each day flew by in a flash! (I also took workout clothes and never even touched them, but that's another topic.) Here are some pix, with more to come...
When you grow up in hilly Southern Indiana, live in mountainous Oregon for five years, and then move back to the flatlands of Northern Indiana, mountains are a sight for sore eyes. I took this pic from the plane on the way to the Craft & Hobby Association (CHA) Winter Conference & Tradeshow in Los Angeles, CA.
It's really hard to see in this picture, but Angela (one of my CHA students & self-appointed groupie) made this Katiedids™ Creative Components necklace with MY picture in the center! The picture on my business card was just the right size. Hilarious!
In addition to teaching a workshop on personalized jewelry, I also demonstrated Katiedids components in the Beadalon booth. Fernando Dasilva signed copies of his new book,
Modern Expressions, and Lauren Andersen showed chainmaille techniques from her new booklets.
The rest of these pix are out of order, but here's Kristal Wick's awesome seed bead ring earring! She wore these in Tucson, along with a coordinating necklace that is fabulous. I hope she'll do them as a project on an upcoming season of Beads, Baubles & Jewels.
There were lots of mixed media designs at To Bead True Blue in Tucson this year. Julie Young from TierraCast made this cool necklace. I'm a sucker for keys and chain and I'm dying to add more, more, more junk drawer stuff between the elements on this design. (Yes, Julie, that's an offer!)
Love this vintagey photo of Kristal, me and the girls from TierraCast!
Here's Fernando at the CREATE YOUR STYLE in Tucson event. He taught a class on how to use SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS fancy stones and Beadalon wire to embellish a fabulous fabric cuff. A lot of the instructors and Ambassadors did demonstrations throughout the days of the show.
These are larger than life versions of some of the new SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS. These were displayed gallery-style in the foyer of the show venue. I didn't get pictures, but there was also a gorgeous exhibit of commissioned crystal designs inspired by water.
After the shows, we took a lovely, rocky hike up the desert foothills near Phoenix. It was cold most of the time we were in Tucson, but this was a warm, sunny day. We soaked up the sun and the topography before heading back to the freezing Midwest!
This is Step 1 of my unpacking strategy. I'll take more flattering pix of my treasures and post them here soon, but this is a pretty good example of how I feel after the trip(s)...inspired, wired and tired!
How about this subtle color palette? Greens, blues, grays = yum. Fernando and I found the Moroccan-looking blue/silver beads at a wholesale show. I'm thinking tassels or earrings. Something special to highlight each spectacular bead. The bird is from Green Girl Studios.
Isn't this a fun bunch? Most of these colorful beauts came from Beadtrust.com. I threw the bottle cap pendant and the interchangeable beads into this pic to represent those two trends. I saw lots of bottle cap motifs at CHA and tons of collectible beads at the Tucson shows. Fuschsia is going to be a big color for 2012, too.
Quatrefoil, my new favorite shape, and peace signs, one of my old favorite shapes. Check out the flat skull beads at the top of the pic, too. Love these! I'm already planning a colorful, wire-wrapped Halloween/Dia de los Muertos necklace. The metal components are from TierraCast.
And, last but not least: coprolite beads made from fossilized dinosaur poop! I bought these beauties for my future paleontologist daughter. Aren't you surprised that they're so gorgeous? Great variegated colors. My little scientist is going to love using these for crafts before breakfast (that's our thing).
