Gathering Recap (Finally!)

While on vacation in Portland in July we had the chance to get up to Bellevue, Washington for a couple days to the International Society of Glass Beadmakers annual convention, the Gathering.

I was blown away by the beautiful beads I saw, the friendly people, and the awesome deals on glass, tools (a shell press and a beadroller) and tutorials!  I spent WAY too much money, but I'm happy with what I got.  Even better was the Bead Swap on the last day of the convention.  The name says it all.  I brought a string of my own beads and I picked up over fifty awesome beads in trade from other beadmakers.  Here is an almost complete selection of the beads that came home with me.

If you recognize one of the beads as yours but the name is wrong, or vice versa, please let me know.  I had a *teensy* bit of difficulty keeping all the business cards together with the right beads.

I also invite everyone listed below to leave a comment with their website address, Etsy shop name, or what have you, and I'll edit this post to include a link.

Aren't these all absolutely gorgeous beads?!

Beth Eliason

Bethany Burch

Carlos Bazan

Crystal Clark

Diane Peterson

Diane Sepanski

Diane Woodall

Dream Fire Glass

Duane McCormick

Elaine Rusk

Elise Swope

Elizabeth Bunn

Elizabeth Ward

Ellen Gaimari

Evelyn Duberry

Gayle Wolfe-Himes

Glenda Long

Helen of Red Sheep Beads

Joy Munshower

Judy Carlson

Julie Levitt

Kandice Seeber

Karla Klein

Kathy Lowe

Kathy Spignese

Kerri Fuhr

Lara Lutrick

Laura Bowker

Lori Bergmann

Marcy Lamberson

Marlene Minhas

Mary Tarara

Melody Spence

Morgan Campbell

Nicole Valentine

Pam Spencer

Patrice Tobolowsky

Penny Dickinson

Rene Perez

Roger Child

Sally Wood

Shannon Vickers

Susan Shahinian

Tammy Osczepinski Kerber

Packing for vacation...

Next Tuesday we board a plane to fly to Portland for two weeks and I am really excited!  Two whole weeks to spend with family, seeing the sights of the Pacific Northwest, and, most awesome-est, going to the International Society of Glass Beadmakers Gathering in Bellevue, Washington for a day.  I'm not gonna get to go to the Gathering for the whole week, but I will get a taste of the fun on Saturday the 29th by attending the open-to-the-public Bead Bazaar and then the Gathering Banquet that evening.  I just hope I'm bringing enough "trade beads" to share with all the friends from the lampworking internet community I'll meet in person and all the new friends I'll make while I'm there.

My blogging calendar tells me today is TGIF Treasury! day, but I'm a little busy packing and getting my day job ready for my absence, and just so excited about the trip that I can't concentrate on any one thing for longer than 30 seconds.  The rest of my regular blog features will also be put on hold - did you notice I never got around to posting pictures of the beads I made with this week's palette (CRAZY BUSY).  But, never fear!  For the next two and a half weeks I'm going to convert this Lampworking Blog into a Vacation Blog and take everyone on my vacation with me.  I've got my camera, my data cable, and my netbook and charger, and my goal is to post at least once a day with tons of pictures.  Yay for unattainable goals! :^)

So, keep your eyes open for the posts, 'cause this is gonna be a WILD ADVENTURE! (Cue Wild America theme music.)

New Beads on Etsy and Planning for Vacation

New Listings on Etsy:

I put up a couple more items on my Etsy store.

Pink Beads with Pink Flowers and Pink Scrollwork

Blue Beads with Blue Flowers and Blue Scrollwork

And the companion set to a listing I already had up on Etsy:

Red and Blue Beads with Flowers and Scrollwork

So that brings us up to a total of 8 items up on Etsy, and my goal is to maintain over 50 items. I'm almost a fifth of the way there!

The thing I like the most about listing on Etsy is that you can copy previous listings, and once you do that it's just a matter of changing a few key words, and then changing a few keywords. I hope whatever shopping cart software I eventually get for my own website is as easy to work as Etsy is.

And since I've said what I like most, I will now share what I like least! Taking the $^#&!! pictures! I know that is something I will always have to do, whether I'm using Etsy or not, but it is such a chore, and sadly, mostly because I feel like I could be getting better pictures out of my camera if I just knew *the trick* to it. Right now, my pictures are coming out all grainy, and I have no idea what I'm doing wrong. ISO is low, I'm shining two 40 watt bulbs directly on my subject, I have stabilization turned off, I'm using a tripod, I set the 2 second timer to reduce shaking, and I'm using macro and only zooming in so far as the auto-focus will allow.

The only thing I know is that the light might still be the issue, so I'm going to try taking pictures outside in direct sunlight today at lunch to see if I can get any photos without the graininess. If anyone has any recommendations, I would love to hear them. I just hope the solution isn't, "Get a new camera!" LOL

Planning for Vacation:
In 4 and a half weeks Jon, Emma and I will be winging our way to Portland for two whole weeks of fun in the cold, cloudy gloominess. I'm really looking forward to it, both for the chance to see Emma's Grandpa and family again, AND for the chance to spend 2 weeks in COLD WEATHER. Hawaii's great! Really it is. But 90% humidity and 85 degrees, with no tradewinds is ... sweaty. And I really don't like sweating.

We have all sorts of cool activities on the list of "Things to Do": science museum, zoo, drives up mountains, visits with little cousins, shopping, and, last but not least, and most related to this blog: Driving up to Belleview, Washington on Saturday the 28th to attend the (open to the public) Bead Bazaar at the International Society of Glass Beadmakers annual Gathering.

I just hope I can fit all the stuff I want to buy into my suitcase for the trip home!