The Business Chat - August slow season

There's a slow and lazy feeling about the last half of August. Humidity is high, cicadas are buzzing and kids are dragging their feet knowing this is the end of their freedom. No matter how long we've been out of school we all feel the laziness now. Add to this the traditionally slow sales of August and we're all tempted to let the business slide for the moment.
Wrong.
Now is the time to really put some muscle into your business. Yes sales are slow at this time of year. No we don't feel like working. Suck it up and do the work (remember last weeks post?). When September rolls around and things pick up again you'll be busy working IN the business, take this slow time of year to work ON the business.

Here's 5 thing to work on during a business slow season:

1. Vision time. Grab your notebook, your favourite pen, pencil or crayon and doodle and ponder. In an ideal world where do you want your business to be in 6 months? 12 months? What's your idea of a perfect work day? How much would you like to make? How can you make that money? What's the most awesome thing you'd like to happen in your business? Dream big and silly and write it down.
2. Work on your marketing message. Marketing is communicating what you do to your customers. Before you can tell them, you have to know yourself. What do you do? Now is the time to work on your elevator speech. Think about new marketing materials, do you have postcards yet? A new business card? A logo? Redesign your blog or plan on starting one. Create a Facebook business page.
3. If you haven't booked any Christmas craft shows now is the time to do so. Larger craft shows book 6 - 12 months in advance. If you haven't booked a show yet look for smaller shows. Why not decide to do a larger show next year and start researching them now?
4. Improve your photography skills. If you are sellling online, or plan on selling online soon you'll already be aware that the most important thing you need is brilliant photography. Online shoppers can't touch your work so your photos are what sells an item. If you create one product that is reproduced 100's of times then you can afford to hire a professional to take amazing photos. Most of the time it si not financially viable to pay someone to shoot images so you will need to do them yourself. Photography is a skill, that means practise, practise, practise. There are great tips and tutorials online to help you (check the Etsy forums). Go for it.
5. Build up your online community. A lot of creative people work at home, especially if you are doing this part time, and it's hard sometimes to remember that we're not alone. Your community is important not just for the moral support but for information. Your community will tell you how fabulous you and your work are, they'll let you know about craft shows, deal on supplies, important blogs to read and advertise on and which online venues are good for selling on. Your community can be the key to success. Take some time now to find your online community. Make friends on Facebook, read blogs (and leave comments!!!), when you find a blog you like check out who they read. Cruise around Etsy, Artfire and DaWanda. Where ever you visit online send emails to people who's work you like and make connections. The world is a big place.

Dreaming, scheming, reading and pondering are just as imporant to your success as making a fabulous necklace or knitting a gorgeous sweater. This is one of those times when spending a few hours cruising the internet isn't time wasting, it's research.

Inspiration Fridays

For once I actually have something for this week - not quite ready, as it needs some finishing touches - so I'll update the post tomorrow with my pic for the week.

Here is your pic for next week - Come play!

More playing with resin

I've been (very slowly) working on some projects that will allow us to teach a resin class this fall. As I think I've mentioned a few times already - with the kids home for the summer, I'm really not getting too much done.  :-)

The other day I was experimenting with painting the resin on paper. It could be the humidity, but it just isn't hardening up like I thought it would. I want to make some teeny/tiny little book necklaces out of actual paper, and bound with  a hinged metal clay cover. I can see these in both silver, and copper or bronze. Could be a lot of fun!  I think I'll have to wait a few more days and see how the paper hardens up.

Pics to come once I have time to actually make it! (don't hold your breath for this one) ;-)

Online Tutorials

Now that my first tutorial is out - and I really had quite a bit of fun working on it! Is this something you'd like to see more of at beadfx?  A number of classes I offered in the past could be made into tutorials - some more complex than others.

I'd love to hear any comments you have about tutorials in general.

Do you purchase online tutorials?
What price range are you willing to pay?
1) up to $5.00
2) 6 - 10
3) 11-15
4) 16 and up

If you have purchased online tutorials before - are you generally happy with the quality of information and instruction provided?

What topics of tutorials would you like to see?

I know, a million questions - but now that I've got one under my belt, I'm quite excited about the possibilities!

Lazee-Daizee

Next week is jam-packed with classes at Beadfx. The topics range from metal clay to lampworking to basic bead stringing earrings. So take your pick, and have fun!

1. The Clintons (Laurie-Anne and Beth) are back teaching the Viking Knit class. This is an introductory class for all of you out there who have been dying to learn how to do the viking knit. Plus, you get to use the All-In-One "Lazee-Daizee" Viking Knit tool, which we also carry at the store. It makes a huge diffference with the tool.


2. Check out these beautiful earrings - made with pearls!

Let's Link Up is beginner class for those looking to learn how to make earrings. Plus, you'll learn how to wire wrap, and make wire loops. Both necessary skills for any beader.

3. Introduction to Art Clay Copper
Our very own finesilvergirl ( for those of you who read her weekly posts), aka Heather Bell Denison is tackling Art Clay Copper. She'll answer your many questions: such as how art clay copper is different from art clay silver, firing schedules etc. And most importantly, you get to get your hands dirty.


Adios Amigas!

I can see! I can SEE!

Ohmigawd! I can see!

I have been going multiple rounds with my - well - I was going to say "ophthalmologist and optician" - but I think I will call them "my vision care specialists" because really - I make them work for their living! They deserve a fancy title.

Because some people have glasses, but I have a vision system. My purse is half-full with glasses cases. The other half is electronics, btw. I go nowhere without my GPS and MP3 player. Mostly because I would never get there without the GPS, and I would be too bored without the MP3 player to go a second time. But I digress.

About 5 years ago - I capitulated on the battle of the aging eyes - the battle where you finally succumb to the realization that your arms are not, in fact, getting shorter, and that you are going to need the dreaded bifocals.

Now - both my parents wore glasses, and in fact - I've been wearing glasses since I was two. Yes - two! - and those of you with small children can just imagine the hell this must of been for my mother to get me to wear them. Apparently I spent the first year taking them off and she putting them back on, and the second year running to her with them every five minutes to get her to clean them.

So, I am comfortable with the idea of glasses - it's not like I'm resisting getting them, not now. But, I just could not face the idea of that hard line in the middle of the lens - carving up the face and looking like a ledge you could throw yourself off - the "bifocal" look. Progressives for me! Of course - that's when I discovered what a massive compromise glasses become. Because it used to be: eye test, prescription, glasses, better vision. Repeat in two years. Now, however - it's all about what am I prepared to give up. Argh.

And I have been shopping around for a great "vision care team" for a few years now - utterly dissatisfied with the ones I have, garnering recommendations - trying out new places - all with abysmal results. When you have to return the glasses for the third time because they got the wrong prescription in - well - time to move on!

Apparently - my eyes are complicated. Gosh - who would have guessed?

So - the latest pair of glasses are lovely - delightful. Light as a sigh and frameless - nearly invisible - as close as I will get without going to contacts or surgery, neither of which I am ever likely to do. Contacts? Sorry - I've spent most of my life making sure stuff didn't get in my eyes - I'm not going to deliberately poke something into my eye. Too vain for bifocals, but not that vain. Surgery? Seriously? I don't think so. Mess that up and I might as well kill myself. Not even chancing that.

One issue with these new glasses - that area that I can read with is such a tiny and specific spot on my glasses that I'm giving myself whiplash trying to see an entire page at once.

For those of you who have not yet had to deal with progressive lenses - the idea is that instead of the entire lens changing your vision in one specific way like regular lenses, or like bifocals, which is functionally more or less like two separate lenses cut in half and glued together - the progressives have a series of different focal lengths - so you eventually learn to move your head up and down and side to side to find the spot that is appropriate to focus on whatever you are looking at. They do suffer from distortion in some places, and it takes a while to get to the point where you automatically adjust to look through the correct part of the lens.

Anyway - where I am going with this is - in my rather convoluted way - now you know why I need a GPS to find my destination! - is that while the new glasses were great - what they were NOT letting me do is see the entirety of the two monitors, the keyboard, the invoice, the beads and all the other stuff that I need to see, all in focus at once. In short - it was time to admit that I needed not just progressive lenses, but also a second pair of glasses. It used to be that you needed reading glasses. Now, I needed computer glasses.

Back to the optician, where we hauled out the catalogs of lenses - poured over diagrams of where the focal points where, reviewed the focal distances, and finally found a pair that seemed ideal. How long? A quick phone call to the lab - "oh, sorry - those are discontinued." ARGH! Not taking no for an answer - the optician called the lens manufacturer directly. "Yhey aren't discontinued at all." Aha!

One week later, the lenses came directly from Zeiss, and before being mounted in the frames, we lined them up to ensure that I will be able to focus on the things I need to see. Oh, and while we were at it - we slipped a little magnification into the prescription as well. Woohoo!

And I have to say - these new computer glasses are awesome! The first pair, for distance vision are so light and airy - I feel naked - like I'm not wearing any glasses at all. The second pair make everything that I need to work with sharp and focused. Between the two - I can see, and be seen! I'm sooo happy!

And for those of you who want to know who these wonder workers are:

The Goldberg Eye Centre: Dr. Goldber is an excellent ophthalmologist that really cares enough to get it right.

and in the same building on the ground floor: Eye Wear for You. Awesome, awesome service. So nice to find these days.

So - if you are straining to see your beads, or worse still - have put aside doing the beading that you love because you get a headache from trying to see - don't suffer or give up - go get some glasses that work!

We won't talk about the prescription sunglasses right now - that will be another story. I wonder if I can get them to make the protective glasses for flameworking . . . hmmm . . . .

Metal Clay Pastes: Overlay Paste

There are numerous versions of paste which you can use when working with silver metal clay; this can make things confusing.

The types of pastes are:

• Paste (watered down clay used for attachments, repairs and to coat organic materials)
• Syringe paste (a thickened paste that comes in a syringe - I discussed this one several weeks ago).
• Overlay Paste (I will explain this one today)
• Oil Paste (I will discuss this one next week)

The most common and essential paste is the regular paste that is used to fill cracks, attach pieces and to cover organic shapes (such as leaves) with layers. It can be purchased or you can make your own with your reclaimed pieces of clay by adding water and allowing them to sit. I have a series of paste jars in varying consistencies on hand on my work bench.

Today I want to discuss Overlay Paste. It is a product unique to the Art Clay Brand.

Overlay Paste
Overlay paste originally made to bond to ceramics in order to paint on ceramics. It has since been recognized that it can to bond to glass as well and be used for repairs and attachments on fired metal clay. One of the features that makes it unique from Oil Paste is that its minimum firing temperature is lower, at 1200F; therefore allowing low fire repairs.

I have used the Overlay paste both on ceramics and glass and to make repairs. Here is what I have found:


In order to bond Overlay paste to ceramic or glass be sure to clean the surface of all oils. (I have found that using rubbing alcohol works fine for this purpose). The other important trick is to apply a thin layer to the surface. (In one of my early experiments I have been misinformed and was was told to put on two thin layers - this did not work and the layer ended up being too thick and I was able to flake some of it off.) I have found that a thin layer (the consistency of milk works best).

In regards to repairs I have had mixed success. I am of the mind to fire most of my metal clay at around 1600F for 2 hours but there are times that this isn't possible as in the case of adding sterling to your metal clay. I recently made brooches with sterling findings on them and decided to fire the piece first at 1600F without the findings then add the findings to the already fire pieces with overlay paste. Sadly, I had mixed success. I have three findings attached with a fourth one that still won't adhere properly. I am not certain as to why (kiln temperature, oil on the findings, product, or user error????). I am still figuring it out. (If I do figure it out I will let you know)

There are other uses for Overlay Paste. One is to use it to add silver accents to fired copper clay. I have done this only once and it worked quite well.

Another use is to add overlay paste onto fired silver to prep the surface to add the Gold Paste. I was unable to find my specific notes on how to do this to add. My recollection is that you add a thin (milk consistency) layer of overlay past where you want to add gold (on an unpolished but fired piece of silver clay). You let this layer dry then you add your gold paste. (Sorry I don't have more details, if I find the info, I will post it later).

Overlay Paste can be a useful addition to your metal clay products you use, especially if you want to add silver to glass or ceramics. Of course, I should note that regular paste will often stick to glass or stones as well, especially when you don't want them too. Overlay Paste is made to be that much stickier and will work better than just plain paste.

Next week, I will be talking about Oil Paste both homemade and Art Clay Oil Paste.

Stay tuned.

Heather

The Business Chat - Do the work.

Lately I’ve been feeling a bit like a war-wounded veteran. I’ve been in business for 8 years now and I’ve done 150 craft shows. Over these 8 years I’ve seen dozens of people come and go, some last a couple of years, some don’t even make a whole season. I mentioned this at my last business workshop and someone asked me why do so many people not make it?

This is a hard business and most people who fail do so because they fail to realize they are running a business.

You. The person who is trying to sell just one pair of earrings, you are in business. If you don't take your business seriously, who will? As a business you have the same goal and problems as Starbucks, McDonalds and Nike. Your problems are on a different scale however as a business your goal is to persuade one customer to buy one product. As a business you need to market, advertise and sell your product. Simply making the work is not good enough. And this is why most businesses fail, they fail to put in the time to sell the work.

A chimpanzee with a pair of pliers can make earrings. That chimp may even be able to sell those earrings to her sister. What that chimp can't do is put those earrings on a nice card, book into a craft show, source wholesale materials, use a calculator to accurately price those earrings, write and create the necessary marketing materials, set up an online store and Facebook business page, and sell enough earrings to actually pay herself. If you think that running your own jewelry business means sitting around and making pretty shiny things, then click away right now. If all you want to do is make nice things then by all means make them and give them to your friends. Making and selling are two different animals. You are here to run a business, full-time or part-time. And that means making sales.

The bottom line is that less than 20% of my time is spent actually making beads or jewellery.

80% of my time is spent running a business. This means shopping for supplies, booking shows, answering emails, going to the post office, coding websites, writing blog posts (http://www.sailorgirljewelry.blogspot.com/), designing my booth, standing in my booth, updating my Facebook page (www.facebook.com/sailorgirljewelry), engaging in shameless self-promotion, and doing each and every thing necessary to drive people to my website or booth to buy a pair of earrings.

Etsy, the online handmade market of choice, has 218,000 registered sellers. As beautiful and unique as your work is, if you don't spend time promoting it and you, your shop will be lost in this crowd. Same with craft shows, you can hope for random sales but success comes by getting your name known. Regardless of how large or small your company is, be it Starbucks or Sailorgirl, without the time put in to market and promote your work, your business will not thrive.

Success is 90% perspiration, 10% inspiration. What does this mean for you, the inspired jewellery designer? Creating pretty coloured things is easy, creating a business to sell them is work.

Do the work.

Inspiration Friday

We're starting fresh this week. Here's a new picture to hopefully inspire you to create something fabulous. Go forth and create!

Yay! The tutorial is done

I have to say, what started with Marg ordering a few glass tiles - turned into quite the full little process for Dwyn and I. You may have noticed on our front page this morning - Dwyn mentions creating the collage sheets - These are so much fun to make - Dwyn being the incredible artist that she is - I cannot wait to see the dragons, and fairies, and other things she comes up with!

The tutorial, and collage sheets are free this week only with purchase. Starting with next wee's update the Tutorial will be $15.00 - which will include 2 collage sheets, which is a great value - as collage sheets alone usually sell for between $3 to 4 each.
For those of you who have purchased our free tutorial and collage sheets this week - we would love to hear feedback - positive or negative.

I did run into one little snag last night, that I'm trying to fix up today. The collage sheets are supposed to be actually included in the tutorial - however, my pdf creator is not being very user friendly, and it's trying to resize the collage sheets - which is really not good, and won't do at all. Until I get this fixed, anyone who orders the free version will get three separate files.  I tried fixing it last night, but both Dwyn and I were far too exhausted to even consider fixing it.

Now that I have slept, and my brain has returned - I'll have a fresh look it it today.

I do hope you all enjoy our collage sheets, and the tutorial!

Sign Fail

A little humorous post for you this hump day.






Our fabulous Dixon Chick took this pic at North York General last night :-)

Did any of you happen to get a view of the northern lights last night? If you missed it, there is a chance they can be viewed again tonight.

 http://spaceweather.com/

Knots...Knots...Knots

Snake Knot and Phoenix Knot Cords
Sat August 14

This week Angela Peace is teaching the Snake Knot and Phoenix Knot Cords. These two versatile knots, when combined with beads, make simple and elegant jewelery. The best part is you can use whatever type of cord suits your fancy - satin, leather, and cotton... depending on how you want your jewelery to look.





Next week?
Well, do your jumprings tend to open up? Do you want to learn how to solder your own jumprings? Then, you should take the Basics of Soldering class on Sun August 15. You'll learn a lot more than keeping your jumprings closed!


Adios Amigas!

The very late inspiration friday post!

Yes, I know it's Tuesday - and two weeks late....This is why there is no way I could ever do a ring a day project!

I still haven't made my little fairy door inspired by the mushroom pic - but it is on my to do list one of these days.

The following were inspired by the bubble pic of a couple weeks ago.

 

Sorry for the 'greenness' of the photos...It was quite late last night when I finally managed to take the pics, and it was the only background handy.

We'll start anew on Friday with a new inspiration pic.

Happy Holiday Monday

Happy Simcoe Day. Just who the heck was Simcoe, and why does he get a day? I didn't grow up in Ontario - so I truly have no idea. Sure, I can google it, but can anyone tell me off the top of their heads? Cuz certainly no one I have asked in passing has any idea. Sure - it's nice to get a commemorative day and be remembered, but surely it would be nice to be remembered for something. We're celebrating Dwyn Day. We've no idea who she was or what she did - but it's a great excuse to stay home, bbq a steak and drink some brews. Which, btw, you are welcome to do in my name any day. But it's even better if you invite me along.

Anyway - how about a little eye candy? With Heather writing about the Metal Clay on Sunday - I haven't shown you some of the treasures I've found online in a while.

How about that cake, eh? Is that not divine. And aren't those flowers stunning? And the lace? And that artfully arranged ribbon. Wait a minute. What do you mean - they're not real. Those are sugar flowers? Even the ribbon is sugar? oh.mi.gawd.

Close your mouth - the flies will get in. Check out more at Elegantly Iced.

From the sublime to the ridiculous - it's food - it's fun - it's marshmallows with faces. And hair. Don't forget the stylishly coiffed hair!

And finally - on a more serious note - is the blog of Jinx Garza. Jinx became well-known for her lampwork beads with realistic eyes on them some years ago - and then she sort of ... disappeared. But not forgotten. When I finally found her blog, it detailed her struggle to claw her way back from a brain tumor. She writes about the experience and shares the heartbreak, the horror, and the frustration, along with a dash of humor. This is not a lightweight read, but provides a real insight. Nothing fluffy here.

Cheers! Have a good one!

ooh, ooh, late-breaking update. Here's a fun site I found this morning. "I write like ... " - which analyzes your deathless prose and tells you which famous author your writing most resembles. Check it out! Oh, and fwiw - I tried it three times and got two hits as Cory Doctorow (who?) and one as Isaac Asimov. I can die happy now. :-P

What's up in Metal Clay

PMC CONFERENCE 2010
Well as I write this the PMC conference in Layfayette Indianna, at Purdue University is wraping up. I am so sad to have missed it but there will be another one in two years (carpool from Toronto anyone, in 2012?).

For any of you who have attended, tell us what you learned and what you loved. Please share.

In my search on what I might be missing I discovered there is access to some of the handouts from previous conferences on the PMC Guild Website. It is not substitute for attending but it may inspire you.



FAST FIRE BRONZCLAY Just Released!
On another news front there is a new version of BronzClay!!!
Metal Adventures has just released a new version of Bronzclay called Fast Fire BronzClay!!!

I have yet to try it but I am looking forward to experimenting with it as soon as I can get my hands on some. As soon as I heard, I let the ever so awesome BeadFX Buyer know and it sounds like she is ordering some soon!!!! (actually maybe it is already ordered...fingers crossed!)

Qualities about this FastFire BronzClay are:

• fires in two hours
• easier to make joins
• richer yellow colour
• less cracking
• shrinkage of 10%
• easier to file and drill after firing

In comparison to the Metal Adventures "original" BronzClay which takes approximately nine hours to fire and is tricky to join and very hard if fired correctly. (sadly not everyone has had success with firing the original version). NOTE: both these versions of BronzClay require kiln firing in activated carbon.

I cannot comment on whether this new Fast Fire BronzClay is more successul to fire but the reviews I have read so far are favourable. Stay tuned and I will let you know what I think.


Other Base Metal Clay Resource
If you have interest in base metal clays (which are less expensive but can be trickier in their firing and sometimes handling). Check out Hadar Jacobson, who is a pioneer in the metallurgy of base metal clay and has created her own bronze, copper and even steel clays. Check out her Blog!

The Business Chat - HST Part Two

There seems to be some confusion about this HST stuff so I thought today that I’d take another kick at it. The government has several websites with all the appropriate information on them. They are clear as mud. I have had very good luck with the people manning the phones at 1-800-959-5525. Just press buttons until you find a human, they know what they’re talking about.

On a bead forum the other day there were several discussions about collecting tax. Let me say this loud and clear: artist made goods are NOT exempt from HST or in provinces without the HST, from the GST/PST. This is a silly rumour that can get you into trouble. The good fairy isn’t going to make your tax obligations go away. She’s on holiday.

The HST is governed by the same rules as the GST. For those in Ontario or BC where the HST has just been implemented, if you paid GST before July 1, 2010, now you pay HST. Items that were exempt from the GST before July 1 (such as certain foods), are now exempt from HST.

Where tax collection starts getting difficult is in the online world. For online sales, you collect the tax applicable for the province where the buyer takes possession of the goods. Keep in mind PST is a provincial sales tax, so if you are not in that province, then you cannot collect PST. You do collect GST from all provinces because it is a federal tax. If a province has HST then you collect HST. If a province does not have HST, and you are in the same province as the buyer, you collect GST and PST. If a province does not have HST, and you are in a different province than the buyer, you collect GST only.

Prov	HST	GST	PST
BC	12%	5%
AB		5%
MAN		5%	7%
SASK		5%	5%
ON	13%	5%
QC		5%	7.5%
NB	13%	5%
NS	15%	5%
NF	13%	5%
PEI		5%	10%
NWT		5%

For example, using the above chart, I am in Ontario and I sell a pendant online for $50 to someone in Ontario. I charge $50 + $6.50 (HST). I sell a $50 pendant to someone in BC. I charge $50 + $6 (BC HST). I sell a $50 pendant to someone in PEI. I charge $50 + $2.50 (GST). I sell a pendant to someone in Alberta. I charge $50 + $2.50 (GST).

All taxes collected are remitted on the GST/HST form. Don’t worry about when you need to remit, trust me, they will find you in plenty of time.

For more riveting information read the previous discussion HST Part One – What is it and do you have to deal with it? by clicking here. OK, so I don't get to blog about pretty shiny stuff however it's very useful.

Store Closed Monday

Just to remind you - the store is open regular hours Saturday and Sunday but closed Monday for Simcoe Day.

However, as usual, the ever vigilant computers will remain alert and attentive and await your shopping pleasure on the Monday.

Store closed, online open for the Holiday Monday. ;-)

Inspiration Fridays

I swear I haven't given up - really! I meant to work on the post last night, but with kids, and soccer, and that pesky little necessity called sleep - it just didn't happen.  Now, I'm off to take the kids to the Science Center for the day.

My post will be late again - But I DO have stuff to show! :-)

Widening the Bead Horizons - CHA

I've just come back from the Summer Craft & Hobby Association trade show in Rosemont IL. This is a 3-day exhibition which is not open to the general public, but only to designers, store owners, magazine publishers and professionals looking for the latest and greatest in the craft world.

There is nothing to buy here - it's strictly an exhibition. In fact there are rules against selling any item in the booth. It's also an enormous show. Probably at least double the size of the CreativFestival. The overwhelming impression that struck me was how much scrapbooking has taken over as the ascendant craft of the moment. Probably 90% of the very large booths here were dedicated to manufacturers and distributors of scrapbooking papers, stickers, stamps, pens, paints, and fancy cutters.

Since the exhibitors can't sell anything directly, they had to use more indirect methods of getting their products into the attendees' hands. "Make It and Take It" tables and free draws were the preferred methods here. Large colour catalogues and brochures were everywhere in spite of the prevalence of websites these days.

Nevertheless, it wasn't a total waste for a bead store buyer. It just meant that I had to look harder and look with an open mind. Stay tuned. You'll see the results of my searches in a few weeks when the products arrive from the manufacturers.

What I'm missing out on this week

There are two big industry conferences happening this week.  I'm really sorry to have had to miss the ISGB Gathering this year - mainly because it is for the first time so very, very close. Rochester!  Even if you're not a beadmaker - The Gathering hosts an open to the public bead bazaar. See up close and personal some of the best beads from your favourite artists. Road trip anyone? :-)

The other big happening is the CHA - Craft & Hobby Association conference. Anyone who owns a craft related retail business should be there. Lots of educational opportunities, plus you get a chance to see the latest and greatest from the manufacturers.

The first part of the conference is for industry members, but they also have an open to the public show this weekend in Rosemont, IL. Details here
This one is driveable as well - if you consider a 10 hour drive - driveable :-)  I've done it, and 10 hour road trips are not all they're cracked up to be...


And I think I forgot about one more- Beadfest Philly is around this time as well. How does one decide?