Bead Fest Philly

Well, as usual, Bead Fest Philly was KNOCKED OUT!! Wow... two full floors of fabulous CANDY!! :D

I was fortunate enough to take two workshops this time around. The first one was with Doris Coghill. Her work is GORGEOUS! We made a "Stone Necklace" in her class, using a really interesting twisted wire technique. The cool thing about this workshop is that we could BYOB (bring our own beads.) Doris had Stone Necklace kits available for purchase, but I decided that I wanted to use what I already had in my stash. Of course, I had to buy more beads to match the beautiful Amazonite stones that I'd chosen for the project. It was fun hunting for precisely what I needed though. My necklace is not complete as yet. I'm actually going to start over from scratch, now that I understand the technique more clearly. I want to incorporate some different beads than I had originally planned in my design as well. I hope to finish my necklace soon. I'm sure it's going to be really lovely.

My second workshop was with well-known wire designer and author, Denise Peck. She taught her famous Viking Knit technique, and we had a lot of fun in her class! I was anxious to try the technique because I think the wire weave looks so beautiful. I'm so pleased that I was able to complete the project in the allotted time frame and I've gotten several compliments on the bracelet. There was a vendor at Bead Fest who created a special Viking Knit tool!! Stephanie Eddy is a genius! This all-in-one tool makes crafting a Viking Knit piece so much simpler, AND she also designed a way to craft the special size bead caps that are used exclusively with Viking Knit! Stephanie sold out of the tool at the show, so I was disappointed that I didn't get to bring one home with me. Now, I am patiently waiting for my tool to arrive via USPS. Apparently, UPS lost one of her boxes of inventory in transit to the show, so she didn't have enough supply on hand to meet her demand. I'm holding off on beginning any Viking Knit projects until I receive my new tool. I purchased one of Stephanie's Viking Knit kits at the show, so that's likely what I'll tackle when I get my hands on the tool. I'm excited to give the Viking Knit another whirl!