Lapidary Journal's Bead Fest: A Festival for Beaders!

October 5-10, 2006

The Fifth Annual Bead Fest presented by Lapidary Journal was held the weekend of October 6-8, with classes offered beginning the preceding Wednesday.

Classes and Meet the Teachers

I took Kate McKinnon's and Anne Mitchell's Cold Connections class, which involved hands-on use of a Blazer torch to fuse fine silver, and the use of various hammers to make a riveted bail, also out of fine silver. In addition, we received all kinds of useful tips regarding tools, many of which were available for purchase. All of the tools were provided for use in class, so it was not necessary to purchase them to learn the techniques. Everyone in the class received personal attention from the teachers when needed.

I also took the Spacer Madness class, taught by Charlene Abrams. Charlene provided a bracelet kit in a choice of colors, which included a variety of seed beads, stones and the instructions. During class we had time to make five different beaded beads, and there were several more beads and variations in the instructions. Since the class was small, after the first couple of beads, Charlene was gracious enough to let us make whichever bead we wanted to, so each of us got individual instruction as we worked up our beads. The resulting beads were gorgeous, with plenty of seed beads left in the kit to make additional beads at home.

On Friday night, the show hosted a Meet-the-Teachers reception. Eat before you go; food was available for sale, but there was not much of a selection. (I never ate in the cafeteria, but from what I heard, that was the case there also). The reception was a great opportunity to meet and talk to teachers, and most of the teachers had kits or products available for sale.

Saturday morning's entertainment was a class with well-known wire worker Connie Fox. In this class I learned to make some fun wire dangles for use on a charm bracelet or even for earrings. Connie demonstrated each charm and then walked around the class to make sure everyone was able to do it.

From all reports, classes were wonderful. The really hot ticket was Carol Cypher's Wired and Felted Beaded Bracelet. Everyone was talking about it and I spotted a few samples from people who took the class and were proudly wearing their creations.

About the Expo, where classes were held...plenty of bathrooms, comfortable chairs, tons of plugs (but bring an extension cord) and ample space. We complained about being too cold one day and they turned up the heat! In all my years of seminar attendance that has never happened once, until now.

The Bead Show

Admission to the show all three days is included if you take a class, but you must wear your badge to get in. Because the Expo Center is larger than the previous venue, there was ample room to move around between booths, and I didn't have to worry about my rolling bag getting in people's way. While I can't name all the vendors, I recall Jane's Fibers and Beads and Beyond Beadery (all seed beads). Soft Flex was there with their tools and a selection of gemstones and had a demo of the Wig-jig at their booth. Mega-Jewels had a large display of Swarovski crystal in a variety of shapes and sizes. Whole Lotta Whimsy had polymer and metal clay supplies, including such items as kiln feet. (Who knew kilns had feet? I found out what they were for from one of the teachers I met at dinner one night). Thoedora's Beautiful Beads had tables of glass beads in every color. If you wanted clasps, Star's Clasps and Handfast were there — Handfast had some amazing clasps in brass.

Probably my biggest thrill was finding Glass Art Works, a new business supplying fabulous cane glass in so many luscious mixes, I wanted them all. But I had to content myself with a selection of Christmas, autumn and pastel mixes. And of course, I had to stop by Melek Karacan's booth to buy my winter's supply of glass dot beads! I also purchased some interesting cabochons for my latest obsession from some of the lapidaries present.

In between all these great vendors were numerous lamp workers, kit sellers and purveyors of all things beady. I highly recommend taking in the show over two days. If you try it in one day, you will probably get tired before you see everything there is to see, and kick yourself later when your friend shows you something fabulous she found that you missed.

Also, if you are taking classes, buy yourself something with wheels to tote your stuff around in. I guarantee you will get tired of carrying it around the show long before you are tired of checking out the show, and there isn't any place to leave your bags, unless you are shopping on a lunch break from class. (Usually someone stays in the room to watch everyone's goodies.)

Accommodations

This was the first year the show was held in Reading, and it is my understanding that the Expo Center was recently turned into a convention center (it used to be a factory). Apparently, the surrounding hotels have not got with the program. I stayed at the Ramada, which was the closest to the convention center, and although my room was okay, I heard from so many people who were dissatisfied that I could not recommend it to anyone. The biggest disappointment from my perspective was that the only place to eat in the hotel was a bar, and it was so smoke-filled as to make it impossible for many of us to eat there. We ended up ordering and taking it back to our rooms. The food was pretty good, though.

If you are hesitating to go to Bead Fest because you don't have anyone to go with, hesitate no more. I went by myself this year, and I met so many wonderful people, I needed to take notes to remember all their names. You meet people in class, you meet them waiting for the shuttle, you meet them in the restaurant. (Yes, the first night I braved the smoke, and scored a kiln at a discount from a teacher who had a new one delivered to the venue and didn't want to have to take it home.)

Shuttle service was sponsored this year by Beadalon, which was very generous of them. The first few days, service was sporadic and unreliable, but by Friday they had sorted things out. The drivers could not have been more friendly and helpful.

In short, despite some bumps along the way, Bead Fest was as fun and fabulous as it always is. Whether you want to take classes or just shop, there is something there for everyone.

-- Contributed by Carole Carlson