You’re Invited!

So, what are you doing on November 28? It’s a Saturday and Susan (my teaching assistant) and I are hosting the first annual Christmas Meet & Greet at her place in Chilliwack from Noon to 3pm!! There will be coffee, tea, a few goodies and snacks (feel free to bring a treat if you want to share!). We’re hoping people will bring some show and tell (what have you made lately? any new tools? Whatever!!). I’ll have some used magazines, books, and general ’stuff’ from my studio cleanout that I’m hoping to re-home as well as a few tools for sale. I’ll also have my gemstones available for sale for those that are not currently taking one of my classes but want to shop. Matt of Just Screwing Around will probably be joining us with his texturing hammers, bracelet bending pliers, etc (we’re going to demonstrate how to make a hammered cuff in less than 15 minutes!!). I’m going to show everyone how to use Sue’s brand new rolling mill. I’ll have a few texture samples to share so students can have an idea of what’s possible. We’re also hoping Melanie Rowe will join us with her dichroic glass cabochons for sale (she makes AMAZING cast glass faces as well). And anyone else that would like to have a little space to sell stuff should contact me so we can set something up!! Mostly though, we’re hoping to get together with former students, jewelry designers and others interested in what we’re doing for a great time and to network, share and have FUN!! Wanna come?? Send me an email at bedwards at aebc dot com (you know how to fix that!) and I’ll sign you up!! A fun time is in store for everyone!! Hey, I think we could even come up with some door prizes!! I have a couple of ideas!! YAY! It will be wonderful to see all of you – and for those of you who can’t make it because flying in from across the planet is a bit far, we’ll make sure we take pics and share with you too!

No new jewelry – yet!!

Nope, I guess I’m still recuperating from the show. Turns out I have a million classes right now, so that’s not helping the creative juices flow. Okay, maybe not a million, but there’s my Tuesday night beginner’s class in Chilliwack, my home beginner’s class on Wednesday afternoons, and my Wednesday night drop in class. Can’t forget the upcoming Surface Textures class (full details on my website! That’s coming up on November 1 & 8th (two Sundays). There’s still room for one or two more people, so sign up now if you’re interested! And of course there’s my Beginner’s Saturday intensive coming up November 14 &21, only one space left in that one. And a special announcement coming soon. I’m also working on setting up a regular newsletter for my jewelry friends. Kind of a way to let people that might be interested know about upcoming classes, sales, deals, etc. I figure I always know about this stuff, might as well pass it on!

Hopefully next week, I’ll have some jewelry to show you – it’s been altogether too long since I’ve spent any quality time in my studio!! I miss it! Cheers!

Bead Show Mania!!

Whew!! It’s done for another year!! A successful show, lots of fun and so many memories!! Check out my Flikr pagewith lots of pictures from the show. We had SO much fun!! And no, there are no pictures of me, pretty tricky, huh!?!

I would like to thank each and every volunteer, vendor, teacher, student, shopper and visitor for helping to make this the best show ever! There are so many special people that deserve a very special thank you – and you all know who you are!

On another note of thanks, Capilano Rock & Gem really stepped up and made sure the classes and students had everything they needed with no fuss and plenty of wonderful customer service!! Two thumbs up!!

Now, back to my real life. I have a new class this week, a couple of weekend workshops starting in early November, and so much more. For full class details, check out my jewelry website! There are still a few spaces left in most of my classes.

Hopefully I’ll have some jewelry to show off soon. I’m feeling the call of my workbench. Hmmm, speaking of which, I must get back into renovation mode too – that room needs to be finished soon! It’s going to be great!! Hope you check back soon, and hope I have some jewelry to show you! Cheers!!

I have the BEST friends!!

I want to thank each and every one of you guys that responded to my little drama in the previous post. Your overwhelming support is so much appreciated. I do agree with all of you, by declining my application they are the ones that lose. And I’m the winner because I have the BEST friends, even the ones I haven’t met in real life. I did send her an email that was honest, to the point and very diplomatic – let’s just say that I probably won’t be hearing back from them. The main point I made was that word of mouth (good or bad) is a fantastic marketing tool for any event and that she could rest assured that I would not say anything negative about her event at my show, in fact I wouldn’t discuss her event at my show at all.

Speaking of the show, things are rolling along very well. I think I’m on target, though I’m sure I’m forgetting something. But with the wonderful support of my amazing friends and volunteers, I think it will all come together yet again! YAY! I have a new camera this year, and it is getting a serious workout at the shpw – I want to share as much of the show as I can with everyone! At this time next week, we will be in the middle of it all – WOOHOO!!