Spring snowstorm in the mountains

Isn't it the first day of Spring? Skiers delight, but not so much for us. I understand that this weather went right across the country and hit home too. The difference here was that they close the mountain roads and Faron and Elaine got stuck on the other side. They weren't able to get to the bead show yesterday, but they had fun visiting with all the other guests stranded at their hotel. They will have to hit the bead show early this morning as this is the last day.

Mark and I had to really scurry about yesterday morning as there was ice under all that snow that had to be scraped. But we managed to get settled into our morning classes without being too late. I thought Mark did a wonderful job constructing this bracelet from pieces of various sizes silver wire. We will toss it in the tumbler when we get home and it will be beautiful. Even the teacher was amazed at how well it came out for him as he has only dabbled with the metalsmithing. Remember the Valentine earrings he made me? I think he's a natural. I spent he day with Beth Kraft and her cousin Mandy, from Rochester, Minnesota. Beth has a family run bead store there and does the most innovative fun designs. Can you tell how much I enjoyed them by how many kits I purchased to bring home. The class was so fun - what a great way to spend a snowy day. The only drawback was that the room was only about 50 degrees and we had a hard time picking up the beads as our fingers were so cold... brr... I continued darting around the show during stolen break, lunch times, finding yet more treasure to return home with. Mark and I met up to attend the evening class together. Our evening class involved learning all the tips and techniques of silver soldering. Lexi Erickson who has been a jewelry and teacher for 25 years was our instructor. Not only did she give us a wealth of knowledge sharing how she has honed her skills and achieved the perfect soldering techniques, but she was willing to answer all our question about those pesky little projects that you wondered, "how did they do that?"

We grabbed a quick sandwich on the way back to our hotel. Remember I'm spending all my lunch, dinner breaks shopping. Granola bars and nut clusters are carrying me through the days. Faron and Elaine finally made it in and we had a time of show and tell of all our projects and purchases. I did find a great new product today - wire lace. Not only will it be a fun addition to the jewelry projects, but I can see all kinds of uses for it in collage and mixed media. I snatched onto a collection of antique coins, fossils and African crystals to bring back and I'm going to be adding a line of "Ashes to Beauty" embellishments to the store. You know when I get home, I'm going to have to really clear out the classroom/studio space of all the extras to make room for all the fun new toys that we will be adding. Don't forget that we will be having "Show & Tell" at the store next Saturday after the class.