Happy Thanksgiving!

Hello beady people and other friends and family!

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day. I have much to be thankful for, including our 34th anniversary, which is also tomorrow. In addition to a wonderful hubby, I have the best daughter in the world, a cute dog, a great job, and a wonderful passion for beads I am able to support by selling a few items here and there.

Right now, I am working on a piece for the Etsy Beadweavers December Challenge. The theme is Snow Queen. I love this theme. First, not all of us celebrate Christmas. Second, because it will be white and will be suitable for winter holidays or for a bride. There's a lot of red and green on Etsy right now. I made some cute little Swarovski crystal earrings that look like Christmas trees. Just on a whim I searched Etsy for any Christmas tree earrings and got 847 hits. The bad news is that my earrings are not unique. The good news is that the going price seems to be $18 plus shipping. I will be selling mine for $15 at the Polished Edge Day Spa in Altoona. No shipping charges.

That's the other good news. The Polished Edge will be setting up a display of my jewelry to sell. Anyone is welcome to stop by and take a look. The spa is located at 2612 Broad Ave., Altoona, PA 16601. The phone number is (814) 949-3442. Stop by and take a look. While you are there, schedule a massage, manicure, or pedicure. They are fabulous.

Don't forget (marketing switch on), if you see something you like at the Polished Edge, but you'd like it in a different color or length, etc., just let me know. That's one advantage of custom jewelry: for less than you'd pay for comparable mass-produced jewelry, you can have exactly what you want.

I also have a few items left at the Art4 Gallery in Hollidaysburg. Many thanks to the customers who bought most of what I had on display there.

This weekend!

I'll have a selection of jewelry at the Harvest Fest at the Lutheran Home in Hollidaysburg. It's not too early to think about Christmas, so I have lowered most of my prices to reflect the fact that I don't have to pay for shipping, insurance, PayPal fees, etc. when I sell in person. Also, I do realize that some people want cool gifts for holidays but might have lots of financial issues right now with gas/food prices and such.

See you there! For details, see http://www.alsm.org/events/events.html

Yikes!

Check this out: a beady friend had a very interesting visitor to her home:
http://marlainephotos.blogspot.com/2008/09/big-bear.html

Hi, Mom!

My mother doesn't do computers, but she's staying with my brother (hi, Dave!) while waiting for Hurricane Ike to do its thing, so he will show Mom my blog. Is this fun or what?

Philadelphia or bust

My hubby and I attended the BeadFest last weekend. It was really great, but I had this headache. Ouch... I spent about half what I had budgeted because it hurt to lean over the tables.

The tables. Full of beads, bead-related tools, findings, books, ideas, colors, and wonders.I saw a great lampworked bead with a dragonfly (my logo!) in shades of blue and purplish and green. Hmmm. It was on sale. Such a deal! I couldn't pass it up. I had just bought some seed beads a half hour earlier in the same shade of blue. Okay, the bead gods want me to have this bead. And at home, I have those vintage beads I bought two years ago and have been waiting to find the perfect focal bead for. Okay! Mine! I will post a picture when I finish the project because the vintage beads are absolutely perfect with the dragonfly bead.

I bought a whole bunch of seed beads and cabochons. I always want to buy cabs in person because they are hard to photograph. David Kramer of Dikra Gems (http://www.dikragem.net/downloads.html) must be the best salesperson in the world. Every year at BeadFest he greets me as if (a) he remembers exactly who I am and (b) I am his best customer. This year I spent about $30 at his booth, so I am definitely not his best customer. He just has that salesman's personality that is super friendly, but doesn't seem phony. See you next year, David. Maybe one of these years I will surprise you and visit your shop in NYC.

We stayed with my cousin, John. (Hi, John!) What a gracious host! He made us so comfortable, and we enjoyed visiting and remembering fun cousin times. Thanks, John!