CINDI"S BRACELETS

Hey everyone, please go and check out my friend Cindi's 2 bracelets that are featured in this month's issue of Beadwork on page 54. They are these cool, off-loom woven, beaded bracelets with these cool potato chip-shaped copper pieces stitched to the top. The copper pieces are topped by the most amazing sequins you've ever seen. They're very pretty and I was lucky enough to be gifted one by her. Thanks Cindi!

Kits for her lovely bracelets are available in her online store at: www.beadhavenbeads.com.

SHOWS

My table at Bead Fest in Santa Fe.

My dear friend Gail, who I don't see nearly enough.

Karen at dinner looking either blissful or exhausted.

Stacey, trying on a $9000 dollar coat (hey, it was marked down from $18,000!)

I didn't have much time for shopping, but the booth facing me had some of my favorite kinds of things. Vintage lapis beads and a silver pendant (on the right) from Afghanistan, a vintage silver chain from Nepal and a vintage silver pendant from India. I held out until the last day. I also bought some cool lampwork by a woman named Joanne Zekowski, which I will show you as soon as I can photograph it.

Here's how I felt when I got home from Santa Fe.

I had a good show in Santa Fe. The show traffic was slower than last year, but still good. I met lots of nice folks and saw some that I met last year, like dear sweet Jane. Thank you for your wise, kind words, Jane.

I had some major drama when United Airlines once again lost one of my bags on the way to Albuquerque. It had my displays and all of my clothes and didn't show up until an hour before the show opened. I was without clean clothes for more than 24 hours and United didn't offer me so much as a tooth brush (thankfully, I always carry on in my purse). United's customer service is located in Mumbai, India (I'm not kidding.) and I had to make several calls before it finally showed up. I guess I shouldn't have said bad things about them on this blog before I flew, huh? I don't have as much choice of who I fly with because I travel out of a small, regional airport, but I think I'm going to have to make other arrangements next time I travel west. This is the 3rd time in 4 flights that they have lost my bags. American crushed some of Karen's well-packed displays, so I don't know if any of them are above the rest.

I was able to spend time with friends, which was great. I briefly saw Anne Mitchell, Terri Caspery-Schmidt and Gail Moore (I got to have dinner with Gail and Anne on my first night). They were at the convention center, while Karen and I were showing at the La Fonda Hotel. I got to spend lots of time with friends Stacey Peterson, Karen Elmquist and Gail Lannum. All three of these women make their own special variety of jewelry and I admire all three. I especially admire them though, for their friendship. I'm sure I wasn't as much fun as I normally would be, due to the recent loss of my Mom, but they all three were there to spend time with me and I really appreciate it.

I came home and had to make sure I was ready for another show right away. Bead Haven had their spring open house and trunk show last weekend. It was such a great time. Cindi always works so hard to make sure that it is as fun as possible. Thank you to all of the many folks who stopped by to shop and chat. It was great to see you all. I don't have any shows for a while now, soon new work and new classes coming soon!

SANTA FE BEAD FEST

Bronze clasps that I've been making to go on necklaces for Bead Fest.

Well, I'm off to Santa Fe tomorrow for the Interweave Bead Fest. I don't know if going right now is the right thing to do or not, but I know that my Mom would want me to go and make the best of it, so there you have it. I am looking forward to seeing friends like Gail, Karen, Stacey and Anne and meeting some new ones and of course selling a lot of jewelry! I am at the La Fonda Hotel location at booth #25, so if you are headed for the show please stop by and see me.

I will try to blog while I'm there, but because of United Airlines restrictive luggage policy I won't have room for my lap top. I guess they aren't fed up with people saying bad things about them (check this out). I'll see how annoying it is to blog from my Iphone. Since I'm easily annoyed, don't count on it until I get home. I promise to take lots of pictures.

To get more information on Bead Fest, click here.

MY MOM

My family lost our beloved Mom a couple of days ago. She was only 73 years old. She passed away peacefully after a month long struggle. Actually my Mom had struggled with her health for years, surviving illnesses that should have taken her many times over. I know that I should be grateful for that, but right now I'm not, I just want her back. She was the strongest, funniest, most generous person that you could imagine. I know that all of our lives will go on, it's just that right now, it's hard to imagine life without her in it.

One thing that I know for sure is that I have the most amazing friends that anyone could possibly have. You are all scattered near and far, but you are all in my heart and I hope you know how much your love and support means to me. "Thank you" is simply inadequate, but it's all I can think to say, so thank you.