Bead Fest in Valley Forge

Bead Fest in Valley Forge each year is the largest bead show on the east coast.  We left Thursday the 19th and arrived early in the evening.  Kirsten, one of Red Panda's customers wanted to meet me, so we met at California Pizza Kitchen and had a nice dinner and an even nicer visit.

She surprised me with this cute snowflake ornament.  She used Swarovski crystals to create this glittery treat!  Thanks Kirsten!  How can Bead Fest not be great when it starts out this nicely?

Their sign in the parking lot is low key ~ a banner affixed to the side of an empty semi trailer.

Once inside you see that they still have room in some of the  classes.  I did not take any this time, perhaps next time.

The sights were stunning!  There were 250 vendors!  I was able to make some very good contacts and in the weeks ahead, I'll be adding new products to my inventory.  As I add each one, I'll post a new blog detailing the items.  Stay tuned........

The weekend was not all beads, we went horse back riding. This is a beautiful horse that was there.  It was very pleasant weather and we really enjoyed the ride.

Since I've been full time Red Panda, I've been walking four miles a day.  I wear only Brooks shoes and have quite worn out my shoes in these four months.  I had no luck finding any locally.  Our hotel was right across from the largest mall on the east coast and believe it or not, I went 300+ miles to buy a new pair of walking shoes.  These were as exciting as the beads!

 Whenever we travel and leave Chewie behind, we always come home bringing him a new toy.  He is one very spoiled poodle!  LOL

You can see he loves his new toy!

Bead Fest was not only fun, but also a refreshing break and great inspiration for new things to come for Red Panda!

Happy Beading!

Betsy

Jessi

One of the newest Red Panda Beads customers is Jessi from Hong Kong.  

She does beautiful bead and needle work.  Below is a small purse that she made.

Look closely and you can see she added size 10/0 Delica Beads....

She used a pattern found in the Japanese book ISBN: 978-4-579-11292-0


Here is another view of the front of the purse

The beads added to the design really add texture

Here is a side view of the purse as it is opened

And finally the interior shot of the bag.  Look at the precise work that went into creating this cute bag!


Thanks Jessi for sharing.  I look forward to seeing the other things you make with all the beads you ordered.  Your business is appreciated!

Happy Beading!

Betsy

Unintended Consequences

Who knew that there'd be unintended consequences when I started my online bead business?  I guess there is the potential for unintended consequences in everything you do.  However, most times, these have a negative connotation.  I'm happy to report the exact opposite this time.  I've made many new friends all over the country and internationally.  One new friend, Ellie seems more like a long time friend than a new one.  She has been very supportive of my new endeavors and is always available for my emails.  She is also a very talented artist in many mediums. 

Here you see where she stitched together leather hide and incorporated a photograph to make a wedding gift for a very neat young couple.  She used a copy of a photo taken at the Pendleton Round-up in 2007 by Hubbell copied on to canvas photo paper.  The pillow is leather and all hand laced, no machine sewing at all!  If you look closely you can see that beads were added as an embellishment along the seams.... 

Here is the finished pillow.

Here is how it looks on the back side.  I'm sure this will remain a treasured gift for years to come....

Ellie is also an accomplished bead artist.  She made this bracelet. She used the Flaming Cuff pattern out of Bead & Button magazine for this one.

Below is some of her loom work in progress.  She used a pattern that I created using my Bead Creator software.  I just did this as an example of what the program could do and she loved the pattern.

And here is the finished bead work.  

She is leaning towards another pillow for the final resting place of this wonderful piece.  I especially like the shadow under the horse.

She also does wonderful off-loom work as well.  This Kokopelli amulet bag was made using a pattern by Theresa Flores Geary in her "Native American Beadwork" book.  It  features twisted fringe along the bottom.  Very nice!  

Here is an adorable Ladybug Amulet Bag!  She got the pattern from Dawn Dalto / Blue Bear Beads on the internet.  She made a change on the strap putting the ladybugs on every other diamond instead of a single red bead in the center of each diamond as shown in the original pattern.  This was a gift for her granddaughter who loves Lady Bugs.  I'm sure she loves the bag as well!

One of her upcoming projects is a beaded piece using this photo to create a pattern of this lovely rose.  She intends to apply this to a black leather purse.  I can't wait to see how it turns out!


Thanks so much Ellie for not only sharing, but also for being my friend!

Happy Beading!

Betsy