The Bead Fest Weekend Storm That Never Was

A possibly historic storm was expected to hit Washington State last weekend. It was predicted to be second only to the 1962 Columbus Day storm.  I was 9 years old in 1962 (do the math) and I still remember the tremendous winds (wind gusts to 160 mph!). There was widespread loss of electricity, lots of structural damage and the roads were carpeted with branches and trees. 46 people in CA, OR and WA lost their lives.

1962

No cell phones in 1962!

This was not a good forecast for the Fall Bead Fest weekend!  I was not surprised that many people chose caution and stayed home, (not surprised, but still disappointed). The biggest storm impact was supposed to hit on Saturday afternoon.  Anticipating periods of low shopper traffic, I brought jewelry making supplies with me, on Saturday.

Although the "storm" turned out to be no worse than gusty rain, I did have some time to create new earrings.  Kristi Bowman and I had tables next to each other, so I thought I'd start with a pair of Kristi's marvelous colored copper components.

I topped the copper with some dyed turquoise mother of pearl flowers.  At the last moment I decided to thread in some faceted AB coated hematite. It was the perfect finishing touch.

I was pleased with how these turned out and despite the non-storm turn-out, I had a lot of fun at Bead Fest.  What could be better than being surrounded by beautiful beads for 3 days (& buying bunches of them), hanging out with beady friends, meeting folks that I had only known online and even meeting fellow Earrings Everyday blogger Cindy Pack for the first time!  Cindy is a Washingtonian too.  We've talked about meeting before, but have just never pulled it off before this.  It was so great to spend time with her in person!  So I'll leave you with this picture of Kristi, Cindy & I.

Left to right:  Kristi Bowman, Linda Landig, Cindy Pack

Linda Landig Jewelry

Sutherland Earrings

I've had these earrings in my head for about a month now.  I intended to make them for the Art Jewelry Elements Components January Challenge, but I ran out of time.  So I am happy that I finished them and can share them here, finally.

The earrings proved difficult to photograph.  If you lay them on a horizontal surface (as in the picture below) then the dangly chain slinks off to the side.  When worn, they hang as in the picture above.

The lampwork glass beads, by Genea Beads, have swirling colors of jade green, tan and blue, with cream colored tops and bottoms.  The ceramic, dagger shaped dangles, by Suburban Girl Studio, have a gradient of colors from, light blue-green to jade, to a deep green-teal color on the tips. I added a little bit of decorative chain just for fun.

As I was admiring the colors in these earrings, I realized that they were the same blue and greens of Lake Sutherland, where my family used to vacation when I was in elementary school.  Its an alpine lake on the Olympic Peninsula, in Washington State.  If you woke up early in the morning, before the boats were out, the water was as smooth as glass and emerald green.  I was always my happiest and most peaceful self when I was at Lake Sutherland.

Isn't it cool that the colors can bring back such a flood of happy memories?  And its a great treasure to have memories that fill you with joy, even 50 years later.

 Maple Grove Resort on Lake Sutherland, in the 1950's, when my family vacationed here.  Found this vintage photo in a Google search.

Linda

Linda Landig Jewelry