UMBS Anniversary

I attended the Upper Midwest Bead Society's 20th Anniversary on Sunday. It was a proper tea party and everyone was encouraged to wear their Sunday best, including a decorated tea bonnet that would be entered into a contest. Look at these beautiful entries! (The one on the mannequin head took first place--it's very lovely, isn't it?)

The party was a proper tea with sandwiches and cakes boxed up in this cute tin:


And I wasn't there for more than 10 minutes when I won this very cool kumihimo kit from The Satin Cord Store:


It was quite a lovely afternoon. There were about 70 attendees, and door prizes from local and not-so-local shops and businesses were being given away left and right. The Board of Directors really went all-out for this one. I know it must have been a lot of work, because the details, from the lace tablecloths to the hand-stickered tins to the beautiful flower vases on the tables, where just fantastic. What a beautiful example of volunteerism! I was lucky and ended up sitting at President Cindy Hlavka and Vice President Iris Von Bargen's table:


It was great to see so many friends there, including Nancy Burgett and Gina Crow (who is still in town! hurray!):


How lucky we are to have bead societies, you know? People from all walks of life who share a love of beading all in the same room, talking freely about something that most of us don't get to talk about in-depth to the other people in our lives. It's a really special community.

Speaking of communities and friends with like addictions, I heard from my buddy Andrew Thornton, who said he's doing a bit of an archeological dig in his studio. He's going to "lighten the load" by selling his cache on his new online shop. Says Andrew: "I'll be posting all kinds of stuff from vintage Avon bottles, to art beads, finished jewelry, collages, handmade fabric-covered sketchbooks, beads, baubles, and MORE. I'll be adding stuff daily!" Dang--that's going to be one cool sale. Check it out!