Saturday, April 19, 2008

MJSA Manufacturing Jewlers & Suppliers of America




What a fun experience!

One of my students who is a member of the Bead Society of Greater New York gave me a VIP invite and some cash to have fun at the show.

And fun I did have!

I saw a few new things and some familiar faces, including a woman who I met on the subway one day in 2007 who is a jewelry artisan. Regina was also at the art clay booth right after I got there.

My wallet got a bit of exercise. I bought a bunch of goodies at the ART CLAY WORLD USA booth. My first time purchasing PMC.
It was only a matter of time before I finally bought some.
Someone named Jackie Truty was demoing and explaining the process of working with the products.
I was in a bit of a rush and she was pretty patient with me and my many questions. I am a bit nutty when it comes to buying new things and when I don't know about what I am buying, I LOVE to ask questions!
My one complaint- THE PACKAGING IS SO DECEPTIVE!
I bought 50 grams of the silver clay and it was EXPENSIVE... I bought 24Kt gold for use with the clay... it is like a TEENY bit and I could have ground up my own dust and saved $$$.
The clay paste was 10 grams in a large bottle.
and the clay part was a slight coating on the bottle!

OK that was a rant... I also bought a few photopolymer plates to play with. And overlay paste to use on fused glass.
.
((I made a few pieces from the PMC that I will be firing this weekend at some point.
I have NO idea what I am doing- But I love to experiment!))

I ran off to see a few sellers that I buy from who were showing.

Then I made a few rounds to some sellers who I heard would be there.

My FAVORITE booths were those that had the natural stones and FUN layouts. I met Lenny Quintana from Mexico at one of the mineral booths.
Seeing her tray full of stones and specimens inspired me to purchase a slice of something sweet.
I also bought a DELICIOUS drusy leaf with opal coating. WOW!!!
The price was NOT wholesale but I HAD to have it.
Eye candy beyond belief!!! My DH will be paying for the items when I get the bill. (a very nice birthday gift!)

There was an offer from a company rep for me to design something for their website... I am thinking on it...

I wore a few pieces of jewelry constructed from charms from the International Charms Exchange group. The pieces got a LOT of attention.

Speaking of which- I am hosting *17* new charm swaps!
Pretty cool themes! I decided to host them all at once to save members on shipping,

I digress- Rio Grande also had a booth there and so I had fun with one of the reps who with the patience of a saint answered my rapid fire questions.
I ordered two specialty tools and sampled a flex shaft with optional HAMMER mode! That was pretty interesting.

DH picked me up after the show was over, and we met another jewelry artist (who had been at the show) in Herald Square. I learned a LOT and am pretty excited about the connections she shared with me.

All in all, the people were VERY VERY NICE!
I learned a LOT and met a few new friends.

2 comments:

Kelly Snelling said...

it sounds like an exciting, fun-filled day! i am excited to see what you are doing with the art clay.

Nancy Lynn said...

Hi Amber....it was so much fun to read about your day at the Jewelry Show. I am anxious to see what you create. I hope you have a great birthday this week. Your friend in Tucson........Nancy