Alaska Bead Society

This past weekend was the 14th annual Alaska Bead Society "Bead Arts Gala", held at the Anchorage Museum.  This show is always fun, even though sales are usually pretty mediocre.  This year was no exception.  Imagine trying to sell bead jewelry in a venue with about 50 other artists selling bead jewelry.  It's a delight (or a nightmare!) for the shoppers.

Here's a photo of my booth.  This show is so limiting for me because we are each only allowed one table.

My neighbor was the ever-friendly and cheerful Jeanne Wooderson.  Here's her booth/table.

The good news is that I probably don't have to make very much jewelry to be ready for my next show,  Bad Girls of the North in Anchorage!

Alaska Bead Society

The annual Bead Arts Gala organized by the Alaska Bead Society is fast approaching.  It will be held at the Anchorage Museum of History and Art this coming Saturday and Sunday.  The hours are 10am to 6pm on Saturday and noon to 5pm on Sunday.  Here's a photo of my booth from last year, when the show was held at the Conoco-Phillips Atrium.

I think I'll just use one of those shelf units and make a longer riser for the earring racks, but it will be basically the same this year.  With all new jewelry, of course!  I'll take some photos and share them with you next week.

Alaska Bead Society Meeting

This past Tuesday evening was Techniques Night at the Alaska Bead Society meeting. Each time we have a techniques night, there are several tables set up with volunteer demonstrators. Members can select which techniques they would like to learn. I was asked to be one of the demonstrators and I agreed. I've done this before and really enjoyed it.

I taught several members how to make their own sterling silver earwires. Everyone had their own tools, but I supplied the materials, hammer, bench block and Dremel.

This is the first session. Left to right: Kim, me, Linda and Stetson.

During the next session, we did a different style of earwire. Left to right: Linda (hands only), Stetson, JoEllen, Kim, me.
We had some overlap in our sessions, so everyone could make both styles. All in all, it was a really fun evening. Especially when Julie came by with a bucket of those delicious bite-sized cream puffs!

Alaska Bead Society Show

This past weekend was the annual show organized by the Alaska Bead Society. After many years of doing this show at the Anchorage Museum, we relocated to a new location. The ConocoPhillips building in downtown Anchorage has a beautiful atrium and they were kind enough to allow us to use this space.

It was bright and spacious. The general consensus was that the space was superior in all ways to the space we used to use at the museum.

Here is a photo (bad photo alert) of my table:


This year, I was fortunate enough to be located next to Jessica Stephens, a completely delightful young woman with extraordinary beading talent. While she did not want her photo taken, I did convince her to allow a photo of her spectacular beaded neck piece "We Are All Connected".

Alaska Bead Society Show

This past weekend was the annual show of beads and beaded wonders from the Alaska Bead Society. The show was held once again at the Anchorage Museum of History and Art. The turnout was excellent on both Saturday and Sunday. Our community offers such great support for our organization -- it's amazing. It was nice to see so many return customers and meet plenty of new ones.

Being surrounded by 45 of one's best competitors/friends can be a challenge, but somehow we all manage to sell some jewelry. It always amazes me to see the wide variety of styles our group has to offer.