Bead Fest Spring 2014

 Bead Fest Spring came to town again this weekend, and I was very excited to attend this year! Bead Fest is a HUGE bead show that comes to the Philly area two times a year and only hits up a select other number of cities throughout the year.  The very best part is that I live only 20 minutes away from the expo center it's held in so I easily zipped over this weekend to get some shopping on!

To see some recaps of past shows and the goodies I bought you can check out these past posts:Bead Fest 2011, Bead Fest 2012, Bead Fest 2013

 

Bead shows can be overwhelming.  There are SOOO many beads and SOOO many shoppers.  It's way too easy to spend WAY too much time there and also spend WAY too much money!!! As I am not made of unlimited funds I tend to stick to the cheap strand sections.  You can get some really cool beads for $1-$3 a strand and not break the bank while doing so.

At some tables there are just literally PILES of bead strands to dig through.  I kind of wanted to jump up on the table and have someone bury me under the beads - THAT'S how many there are.  I don't think the vendors would have really appreciated that thought so I refrained haha :)

 



I stopped to say hello to some of the vendors this year such as the Beadalon booth.  I found out recently that Beadalon is actually based out of Eastern PA, only about an hour away from where I live! Wyatt from the Beadalon team was there demonstrating some of their new finding creation tools.  They really have some neat new products out! (Shout out- you can find many of the Beadalon products online at Prima Bead with no shipping!)

I also stopped by the Jesse James Bead Booth to got to meet Candie Cooper! It was great to connect with another jewelry maker in the industry to actually makes her living making jewelry and teaching others.  Jealous much??? :) She was also insanely nice and let me interupt her lunch to chat a bit!

One of her necklaces was on display at the Jesse James booth that she had recently posted on her blog. It's pretty cool to follow a blog and see a project posted one week like this Statement Necklace and then show up the next week at bead fest and see it in person!  

Here's the haul that I took away this year:

A good amount of strands and some metal accent findings and components. I just love this close-up shot of my beads. These are the things that make my heart go pitter patter....  

I probably spent about $110 on everything.  Beads are little but they sure do get expensive real quick!!!

Lastly, I thought I would do a round up of some of the tutorials I've posted over the last year that were made with supplies I grabbed at Bead Fest in the past:

DIY Beaded Dangle Necklace

DIY Square Bead and Chain Necklace

 

DIY Silver Sparkle Necklace

  

DIY Beaded Bib Teal Necklace

 

DIY Chain & Charm Necklace

So many pretty necklaces! Hopefully I'm able to make lots more of pretties and post about them over the next couple months with the new supplies I got.  If I'm still lacking for inspiration, Bead Fest Summer is coming back to town in August and I mayyyyy just have to go again for another visit!

Bead Fest Finds 2013

I've blogged about what Bead Fest is here and some past finds here and so I just had to share what I bought this year as well :)

Basically Bead Fest is a HUGE bead show that comes to the Philadelphia area twice a year and is SUPER close to where I live.  And the show is KIND OF a big deal. Like people fly in and rent hotels to go to it. And it's only like 20 minutes from my house! awesome sauce

The show itself can be kind of overwhelming. The are always TONS of ladies milling around all the booths and fighting for space to dig through beads. I mean just look at this pile of heaven: $1 bead strands just piled and piled on tables!!!

Here's what I walked away with this year!

You could EASILY drop a couple hundred dollars at a show like this so I try to be responsible in my spending. I only dig through bead strands that are $4 or under a strand and I won't spend all afternoon at the show. Longer you're in there = more money you'll spend :) 

I'm happy with what I took home with this year though: I got some fun bright color beads (already have something made and ready for a tutorial with those turquoise beads!) and some nice neutrals and metal beads as well. I probably spent about $100 between the entrance cost and all the beads I got. Beads are not cheap I tell you! But Bead Fest only comes around every so often so I let myself splurge just a bit when it does :)

Here are some of the projects I made from my Bead Fest finds from last year:

FOUND:

 

MADE: Top Set of Red Beads- DIY Red Statement Necklace

MADE: Bottom Set of Blue Beads- Cobalt Blue Cluster Necklace 

 

FOUND:

 

 MADE: Right Set of Black Beads- Black & Gold Statement Bib Necklace

 

FOUND:

 

MADE: Black Briolettes on Left- Chunky Black Statement Necklace

Well that was fun to look back on :) Not too shabby! Although I still have a bunch of beads leftover from last year. Adding to my stash! Hopefully I use up more of this years beads and come up with TONS of great tutorials for you all in the process! Sounds like a plan? Ok :)

Bead Fest Finds

I've blogged about Bead Fest before...but I just have to come back and share again.  Bead Fest comes to my town once every summer for a HUGE bead show, but they also do a slightly smaller version in the spring.  In the past I've never been able to go to the spring version because I was away at college....but now I can!! And the best part...now that hubby and I moved the fest is literally only 20 minutes from my house.

So.many.beads.so.close.must.go.

So I did this weekend :) 

Here's what I came home with!!!

I got a lot of neutral colors this time around, as big chunky beads.  I can't wait to make them into chunky statement necklaces!!

I'm going to use these black pendants to make a chunky collar necklace, and the clear ones in a smaller version. 

I've seen a lot of cobalt blue and coral this spring as being "in" colors. So I snatched up some beads in those colors too :)

I'm picturing a big statement necklace with these red beads

All of my goodies again :)

I love bead fest because you can get such good deals! I didn't pay more than $3 for any of these strands. Of course it adds up quick though haha.  

I'm so excited to get beading!! I might have to wait until I get my craft room a littttle more organized first...but hopefully I'll have some fun new jewelry tutorials soon :)