Mmm, Beads!
I met my buddy KJ today at the Santa Monica Civic Center, for the SM Bead Faire. :) It was a pretty good time. Not as much stuff as the LA Gift Show, but that's to be expected, and it made it less painful that I had no money to spend, though Kelly JEAN pointed out this one seller she likes, and they had some stuff I really, really wanted. We saw some cool dyed shell lentils that were really neat, and some stoneware beads and pendants that were unusual for a gift show vendor...usually you get the standards: Swarovski, semi-precious, glass, and pearls. I also saw some really awesome polymer clay pendants that were really neat. I shoulda snagged the vendor's card on the way by, so I could point you to the website, because they were really awesome. But I found them more suited to Christmas tree ornaments than actual pendants; they were really elaborate and sizable. Not to mention expensive. They had this really pretty and cool unicorn, but it was $125. I mean, *wow*.
I saw some killer larimar that I only WISH I could afford ($35 for a single pendant about 1 x 1.5" and 3/16" thick), great briolettes out of amazonite (for nothing; I really wanted to weep not to be able to buy any), gorgeous kyanite, abalone, and some really cool tourmaline that was 75% off, which I would normally have bought in a heartbeat. We also saw the aforementioned dyed shell lentils in the hugest range of color ever, some really pretty indigo-dyed shell beads in this cool triangular tube cut I have been looking for, and some also really pretty dyed shell pendants in ovals and rectangles. It truly killed me to have to pass on the abalone, amazonite, and tourmaline in particular. Alas. Hopefully that vendor will be in Costa Mesa in August, because passing on those beads was brutal, baby.
KJ got some lampwork beads while I looked at all the pretty, pretty colors and bemoaned the fact I am horrible with furnace glass. I really have no design sense whatsoever when it comes to that stuff, but she does neat stuff with it. :) I really wish I'd had money to spend, but it was good to go and compare prices and stock and just check it out, and it was way less crowded than the Gift Show, which is a huge plus, frankly. One of the vendors I bought from at the Gift Show in January was there, and she told me it's getting harder and more expensive to show, and they (it's a family company) don't know if they're going to keep doing it. While she was telling me that, the manager for the show today walked up and handed her a paper that said they had to go ahead and reserve their spot now for next year's Bead Faire, and she was flipping, because as it is the Gift Show started early and extended late this time around, and it caused problems for them to exhibit at two shows at the same time, and that both shows raised their rates. It's kinda nice to know that the big guys face the same issues small business owners like KJ and me do. Because I swear, when you run your own business, it can be a lot more trouble and cost than you might think. I went into shock the first time I had to do my taxes for this business, because I'd been a working actor paying taxes as a "small business" for years, and it had never occurred to me that actually having an inventory was going to amp up the complication factor, but boy, does it.
Anyway, after we looked around and KJ got her beads, we went to have lunch on the 3rd Street Promenade, and I have to say, I am shocked at how many restaurants down there have no air conditioning. I suppose it's usually not hot enough to warrant it down there, but it was pretty fricking humid today, and we needed it. We walked nearly the entire length of the Promenade before we found a place. It was sort of French, so we had grilled sandwiches and an evilly good chocolate crepe, which KJ said was not a genuinely made French crepe, but we didn't care so much, because it was darned good. Stupid chocolate. :)
Today was also the first time I got to hang out with KJ in person, and she is a lot of fun; I had a great time. :)
Jenie
I saw some killer larimar that I only WISH I could afford ($35 for a single pendant about 1 x 1.5" and 3/16" thick), great briolettes out of amazonite (for nothing; I really wanted to weep not to be able to buy any), gorgeous kyanite, abalone, and some really cool tourmaline that was 75% off, which I would normally have bought in a heartbeat. We also saw the aforementioned dyed shell lentils in the hugest range of color ever, some really pretty indigo-dyed shell beads in this cool triangular tube cut I have been looking for, and some also really pretty dyed shell pendants in ovals and rectangles. It truly killed me to have to pass on the abalone, amazonite, and tourmaline in particular. Alas. Hopefully that vendor will be in Costa Mesa in August, because passing on those beads was brutal, baby.
KJ got some lampwork beads while I looked at all the pretty, pretty colors and bemoaned the fact I am horrible with furnace glass. I really have no design sense whatsoever when it comes to that stuff, but she does neat stuff with it. :) I really wish I'd had money to spend, but it was good to go and compare prices and stock and just check it out, and it was way less crowded than the Gift Show, which is a huge plus, frankly. One of the vendors I bought from at the Gift Show in January was there, and she told me it's getting harder and more expensive to show, and they (it's a family company) don't know if they're going to keep doing it. While she was telling me that, the manager for the show today walked up and handed her a paper that said they had to go ahead and reserve their spot now for next year's Bead Faire, and she was flipping, because as it is the Gift Show started early and extended late this time around, and it caused problems for them to exhibit at two shows at the same time, and that both shows raised their rates. It's kinda nice to know that the big guys face the same issues small business owners like KJ and me do. Because I swear, when you run your own business, it can be a lot more trouble and cost than you might think. I went into shock the first time I had to do my taxes for this business, because I'd been a working actor paying taxes as a "small business" for years, and it had never occurred to me that actually having an inventory was going to amp up the complication factor, but boy, does it.
Anyway, after we looked around and KJ got her beads, we went to have lunch on the 3rd Street Promenade, and I have to say, I am shocked at how many restaurants down there have no air conditioning. I suppose it's usually not hot enough to warrant it down there, but it was pretty fricking humid today, and we needed it. We walked nearly the entire length of the Promenade before we found a place. It was sort of French, so we had grilled sandwiches and an evilly good chocolate crepe, which KJ said was not a genuinely made French crepe, but we didn't care so much, because it was darned good. Stupid chocolate. :)
Today was also the first time I got to hang out with KJ in person, and she is a lot of fun; I had a great time. :)
Jenie
posted by Jenie at 2:19 AM
1 Comments:
Awww...I feel so honored. I had a great time, too, although I also wish I'd had actual $ to spend. That's the least amount I've EVER spent at a bead show. Heck, at some shows, I've spent more than that just on food and parking LOL! Between my e-bay addiction and some non-paying customers, my bead income is all tied up right now. Costa Mesa in August will be better (I insist!) I really really really wanted those cool shell beads at SunLight Gems...all the pretty colors...wooh...I'm feeling faint!
See ya!
KJ
Post a Comment
<< Home