Beads in a Box has been changing in leaps and bounds. We attended the national conference in San Francisco last August, and our regulars were happy to see us! We came back to the Alzheimer’s project that went amazingly well with many towns participating in the sales of the exclusive bracelet we created for their fundraising. The time spent by our volunteers was greatly appreciated as they made most of the bracelets needed for these events.
The Holiday Splendor Craft and Trade Show made its first appearance in the Expo Building and was very well received. We had huge crowds, a large vendor count and our first bead trunk show for Beads in a Box. We are so thankful for all the volunteers and the YRTC boys, for without them the execution of the show would be even more tremendous.
Last February on our way home from our Tucson, AZ, buying trip to market, Karen started a new art process called Zentangle. It’s as old as time and we all do it; just now someone put a name to it. It’s doodling to create a state of zen or relaxation. She came up with the idea to take Zentangle to the next level and create a line of wearable art for Beads in a Box. Bazangles was born. We’ve been creating designs and experimenting with materials trying to perfect the process. It’s been a joy to see the volunteers coloring and tangling our Whootrz line of owls.
On January 19, Bazangles made its grand debut into the wholesale world in Orlando, FL, at the American Crafters Retail Expo (ACRE) show. We could only be in that show after jumping through a lot of hoops in the jurying process created by Wholesalecrafts.com. Bazangles is now a member and was finally accepted to be an emerging artist in the ACRE show. Hundreds of retailers came to “market” to seek out the perfect items for their stores, galleries, museums, shops, etc. It was gratifying to experience their response to our new product, to hear their excitement when they heard our story and mission, and then finally place an order!! We hope the success of this new venture could cut down on the number of shows we have to travel to, help us to utilize more volunteers in the creation and eventually be able to employ those whom we are serving to help them reach self-sufficiency. Even if someone working several jobs could let one of those jobs go to do this in the evening, our success would be proven in giving them more time with their family. At the moment we are sending thank you cards to businesses interested in Bazangles, creating the products to fill the orders we got, photographing the new items created for our Wholesalecrafts.com website presence and doing all the bookwork that it takes to organize a project like this. It’s crane season soon, and we need to be cranking out the Sandhill crane creations that Janice has drawn.
Special Events is hard at work taking care of craft show applications coming in for the Signs of Spring Craft and Trade Show on April 14. We’d love to have your help in the Beads in a Box booth or in the set up and tear down of the show. Please let me know if you’re interested.
Tootles for now, Kyla
