Holiday Trunk Show in Carlsbad - 1st weekend

Well, the first two days of this Holiday Trunk Show were COLD! Our spot was outside between the resort and the restaurant, and there was a cold breeze from the ocean whipping right through us. I had to get creative with some of my displays as gusts would topple them over from time to time, but figured it out in the end to put the plexiglass necklace stands sideways so the wind went past them.

Bonnie got a tank of helium and we added balloons to the posters I made. This was good because it indicated to folks on the other side of the parking lot that there was something going on over here. We had lots of foot traffic, thanks to the influx of resort guests and restaurant traffic, plus stragglers from the weekly art show that is held on the front lawn of the hotel. Also, being jewelry, 99.99% of the women who saw our tables stopped by to look. A woman can never have too many shoes or too much jewelry!

And because of the art show, one of the oil painters we met is going to join us at the home show on December 20th, too. Bonnie is probably going to move it from her house to her mom's house because there will be more room. It's now up to 4 of us: Bonnie (Silpada Designs), me (Elan Studios hand beaded jewelry), The Olde Bag Lady (knockoff designer bags), and Mary, the painter.

So ultimately Bonnie and I had a good time doing this and are looking forward to being here again next weekend. Let's hope the rain stays away (on the weekend) and that it is a little warmer too.

Update on Holiday Boutique

There has been a change to the dates for the Holiday Boutique that I will be participating in with my friend, Bonnie. We are reducing the dates from the first three Sundays in December to only December 20th. But for good reason!

The first two weekends in December, I will be displaying and selling my jewelry at the Carlsbad Inn, outside between the hotel and Fidel's Restaurant. I'll be there Saturdays and Sundays (hours to be determined). I am waiting for confirmation that Bonnie will be able to sell her Silpada jewelry as well, and will update this blog when I find out.

I am pretty excited about this opportunity. There is a long-standing art show that takes place on the hotel's front lawn every weekend, so there should be established traffic from that in addition to normal weekend foot traffic in the area.

Wish me well!

DC Bead Store

I was in Washington DC last week for business, and while there I visited a bead store I had been to a few times before. Bedazzled is located in Dupont Circle, very near the Metro. While it is convenient, it is not the best bead store in the world (sorry, Bedazzled), but it IS a bead store and I support any and all of them. (LOL)

I found some gold french boullion I had been looking for (I use it to protect the threads while attaching clasps) and some different toggle clasps in gold and silver, and even two $1 grab bags of assorted beads. I got those as a challenge to myself to make something from a hodge podge assortment.

Many of the bead magazines that I read often have Bead Challenges, where the same assortment of beads is given to three or four people, and they are to create something with them. Then the magazine publishes photos of the finished pieces to show everyone that there are many ways to use the same materials, just depending upon your taste, skill level, and preference of materials. (The designers are encouraged to use the beads from the initial assortment, but it is okay to fill out the design with materials from their own stash, too.)

Anyway, if I ever get around to making something with those grab bag beads, I'll post a picture of it.

Better Late Than Never

It's been way too long since I updated this blog. Life gets in the way sometimes.

Anyway, my friend Bonnie and I are going to hostess a Holiday Boutique at her home in Oceanside this season. She wants to hold it over three Sundays in December, from 11 to 4. My initial thoughts were that two would be enough, and another vendor that is participating thought the same thing. But I don't have anything to loose by doing it three weekends, so heck, I'm in.

Bonnie is a rep for Silpada Designs, which is a line of very nice sterling silver jewelry and accessories. She used to sell Cookie Lee Jewelry, but moved up a few notches with the new silver line. Bonnie also makes jewelry herself, so I hope she has some of her own work for sale too.

I have been on sort of a bracelet binge the past couple months. I like making them and they take less time than a full beaded necklace. (I am talking about beadweaving moreso than stringing.) I am addicted to tiny seed beads, in all shapes, colors and finishes, so I love to work with those more than any other type of bead. Which isn't to say that I don't adore semi precious beads, freshwater pearls or glass beads of any kind -- I Do!

Anyway, I will attempt to post the flyer that I am working on for the show. Tell me what you think, and by all means, come and visit!

They're Everywhere, They're Everywhere!

Bead Stores, that is...


I spent this past weekend in Morro Bay with my husband, celebrating his 55th birthday. We drove up early Friday morning (and I do mean early) and arrived around 9:30 am. While waiting for our hotel room to become available, we wandered around the town, looking at neighborhoods and tourist attractions. After poking around the shops by the waterfront, we checked out other downtown streets. And wouldn't you know, in this sleepy little town we found not one, but TWO bead stores!


Harvey noticed the first one, and immediately swerved into a parking spot a couple doors down. He said to take as long as I wanted, so I did. What fun.

This one was Beads By the Bay. It was a small, jam-packed little store, with two rooms up front, and a garden where they sold plants, and a little shed-like building with a table and clearance items. I imagine they held classes back in the little shed, and it looked cozy and inviting.


And they also had a sweet neighborhood yellow kitty with no tail who came up to me and nuzzled and talked to me. She let me pet her tummy and followed me back past the koi pond into the main rooms of the store. They had dishes with food and water for her, and said all the neighboring businesses got visits from her.

I found some fun seed beads, bugle beads, pearls and findings, and tore myself away before I dented my checking account much worse.

The lady who worked at that first store also told me about another one around the corner. Paula Radke, the dichroic glass beadmaker, had her store a mere block away.

So I checked her store out too, and had a pretty tough time choosing a strand of dichroic glass beads. She had a bunch of pre-strung beads with Swarovsky crystals and spacers, just itching to be finished into bracelets or taken apart to make earrings or necklaces.

I struggled and finally decided to go with a strand of black/orange/pink/fuscia round beads that came with light pink Swaro 6mm crystals and gold star-shaped spacers. I don't know what I will use them for, but I was pretty pleased with my purchase.


I behaved in that store (mostly because her beads were pretty expensive), and happily left with my one strand.

My husband earned LOTS of brownie points that day. He even stopped at a couple more stores just for me, but these two were the cream of the crop. I was in bead heaven for the rest of the weekend.

There really ARE more people out there like me...

Man, where did the time go? I have attended several bead-related functions since I last wrote in May, and started many new projects too, so I guess rather that try to play catch-up on everything, I'll just write about the biggest highlight of recent events.


Harvey and I went to a birthday party for a friend one Saturday evening in July (the best man at our wedding) and when we got there, we walked around the side of the house to their back yard. We made our way into their kitchen, as we had brought a bottle of Falkner wine and a card, and wished to give our gift to him in person.

There were just a handful of folks in the house at the time, as the crowd was mostly outside around the pool. We said hi to Dennis, and then his wife, Jamie introduced us to people there. As she got to one woman, I noticed this exquisite beaded necklace she was wearing, and almost sank to my knees. I asked her to open the collar of her shirt so I could see the necklace better, and mentioned that I was a beaded jewelry designer and had a deep appreciation of things like this!

Well, that was it. She said her name was Judy, and that SHE had made the necklace, and we ended up spending the rest of the party talking beads, beads, beads! I barely said hello to the other guests! Judy lives in Palm Springs, and spends a lot of time in Big Bear too, so we know that this friendship has great potential. She loves freeform peyote and bead embroidery, and loves making intricate necklaces with cabachons and freshwater pearls.

I told her I could hardly wait to see some of her work, and a few days later she oblidged with some stunning photos.


We shared all sorts of tips and information, and I turned her onto sites like Etsy.com, ShopHandmade.com, Meetup.com and some of my favorite online bead stores. I gave her the url to see some of my older photos of my work (http://www.flickr.com/photos/elan_studios/show/) and told her about this blog. (I warned her I would write about her too!)






I am thrilled to have a new bead buddy, and look forward to a long and rewarding friendship with you, Judy!