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

On the ground in Portland...

I woke up several times Monday night worried that I'd woken up late and missed our flight, and by the time seven o'clock rolled around I was wide awake and already getting dressed.  A couple hours later, our awesome friends, Dick and Wendy, drove us to the airport.  Coincidentally, Wendy was taking a flight out just half an hour after our flight and it worked out great for all of us.  We chatted in the airport with some nice people from Cleveland and after I offered my condolences we made our way to our gate to wait for our flight to board.

The Kauai to Oahu leg was a bumpier than normal ride, and Jon lost all sensation in one of his legs as we were landing. I wonder how THAT happened. :^)

In the Oahu airport we had an hour layover, but by the time we got out of the first plane they were already calling preboarding for the second.  The walk between the two gates passed through a neat open air concrete passage from which we could see the planes at their gates.  Zoom in on my glasses and you can see a plane in the reflection.

On the Oahu to Portland flight we got the luckiest of breaks.  Emma fell asleep within a half hour of take-off and we had peace and quiet for a whole hour and a half.

She woke up just as they were serving the meal.  I have to say that Hawaiian Airlines in-flight meals suck.  The free meal was a ham (bologna, really) and white American cheese sandwich on a bun with nothing else.  Jon bought the sushi, I bought a cheeseburger, we got Emma the free sandwich, and gave her our sides.  And Emma watched Jane and the Dragon and Thomas and Friends quietly for the next three hours.  It would have been absolutely blissful if not for the occasional turbulence.

About half hour before the plane landed, all hell broke loose, in a manner of speaking.  Emma became bored with her shows, spilled a cup of orange juice on  herself, and started bouncing around and hitting Jon with a stuffie.  I guess it wasn't all Emma's fault.  Jon wouldn't stop tickling her. Finally, the videos regained Emma's attention and there was peace in the world once more.

Another bumpy landing and we touched down in Portland.  In an ironic twist, it was about 80 degrees with high humidity at 11pm.

We found Jon's dad, Garland, and after a very pleasant interchange with a PDX traffic cop we drove to Garland's house where we unpacked, plugged in all our devices, and went. To. Bed.  Ah, to sleep, perchance to dream.