Lucky Me - Shopping the GL&W Show in Asheville

Have I dropped from heaven and having a good month, or what!!!

I love bead shows, art shows, bead shops, fossils, and on and on.  Back in Michigan there was the GL&W show and it was held near Detroit.  Over the years its dealers dwindled.  It was a shell of its former self and I wondered if the only way to get to see another great wholesale show was to attend the annual in Tuscon, AZ.  Something I'm sure I will never be able to afford.  By the time you paid for plane ticket and hotel - although I have a friend close by I could stay with - you could say a total goodbye to any funds to spend.  And then I'd still be paying off that plane ticket for awhile.

Anyway, I digress.  So we moved here to NC from Michigan.  I love the area - one set of children are fairly close by (although I miss the others) and low and behold...  There isn't only one wholesale show nearby - - - there are THREE.   And two sets a bi-yearly.  The ones in Franklin are by far the biggest but the ones in Spruce Pine are larger than the old one in Michigan.  The Asheville one is only the GL&W Show but considering the other two were early in the year, I'll take it.  

You're not supposed to take any photos in these shows so I snuck these.  I'm not quite sure what it is people were doing with the photos they took that made them ban them.  But, since I have no ulterior motives I hope no one will be too upset.

Attending these is entirely too much fun.  After we parked, in a parking garage instead of on the street somewhere, we found we were at the back of the Civic Center.  Around the center we went - - up the darn hill.  Really?  Does any place I need or want to be around here (Asheville) have to be a low incline?  Some how I figure it's heaven's way of forcing me to exercise.  Around we go and then - whammo, so not done yet - - - another block to the front of the Center and there are photocopied signs plastered in each and every door in the building.  OH TELL ME IT ISN'T SO!  Yup, the entrance is moved.  We must have had this really befuddled and pitiful look on our faces.  A sweet guard came to the door and said, "Oh my, I bet you walked around this building - Come on with me....I've an elevator and can take you right down to the show floor!"  Whew, and thank you southern hospitality.  

We still had to walk up a hill and back to the parking garage but the reprieve provided by that sweet lady certainly made my day. 

The Antique Tobacco Barn

While our son Bob was here visiting after the trip from Michigan we decided to do a little antique shopping.  We only made one stop - The Antique Tobacco Barn in Asheville.  It was huge.  Here are a few shots.  I will go back - - - - again, and again, and again.   And, of course, we will go to others in the area - but after a thorough look through this one we were pooped.

What fun stuff - It seems liked miles of it.  I love the glove molds/ white gates/ and so much more.



Look at the wonderful textile bobbins.  A great nod to NC's fiber history.

Mellow Mushroom = Mellow Artist

Tonight we drove to look at some houses in Hendersonville and then drove into Asheville for dinner.  We chose to have a pizza and a great pizza it was.  And such a plus for me - a completely interesting restaurant called Mellow Mushroom.  The décor is like Outsider Art but not as outsider - funky and mixed throughout the restaurant both inside and out   My eyes were on "eye candy" overtime and I didn't calm until the pizza was delivered.  I loved the fennel flavor of the sauce for dipping the French bread.  It was outstanding and probably the best I've ever tasted.  And then, later, when the pizza arrived it's crust was sublime - yeasty and chewy.  I got the biggest kick out of the old bowling balls that were cemented into the stone walls around the restaurant and the leg lamp tickled me.  Fun to look around and eat great pizza - I'm in! Food for soul and body --- -- --- - you simply can not go wrong.


The view from out booth was as fun as it gets -

 

Great color inside the restaurant - you now what a freak I am about a color wheel.  And the light bulb changed colors too.

 

This is the outside of the restaurant - See the bowling balls mixed into the stone walls - genius!

 



 

And the inside gets an A+ for casual funky and especially nice servers.

 

Tomorrow we'll be checking out Hendersonville, it's below Asheville but my friend reassures me that it is totally artsy and fun.  Our realtor found a house we'd like to look at down there so hopefully it will happen.  Gosh, I never knew what a possible move might entail - it's both exciting and exasperating.  And then my head occasionally goes haywire.  In truth I look like the guy in the AT&T commercial who puts his hands up to his to indicate an explosion.....yup, that is how it feels.  Whoa, and that doesn't even begin to cover the emotions all of this cover.  Crap. 

 

This is the point where I need a magic wand to wave after my Fairy Godmother, Buddha, the heavens and maybe the good Lord step right down and say, "Hey lookie here Sharon - it's the right thing to do - just wave the wand and everything is going to be A-Ok from this point on.  No worries, just art and success, and a happy family - but spread apart family."  So good Lord if you are reading this blog and you'd like to step up between all the big things you have to do and give me some reassuring signs I think I could handle it.  Oh hell - I'd most certainly welcome it.

Restoration for body and soul...

                      On a little vacation so I'm absent from the blog but here is what I've seen:

The view from our kids porch into the farm they just bought - that's their barn and soon they'll move the horses and the chickens there too.

A cute little house we saw while looking at property in Asheville - I love the musical notes!

One of the many streets in Black Mountain - what a cool town.  We ran into Gabby Gifford who was also in town and walking with friends (my side door to fame moment).

The Folk Art Center on the Blue Ridge Parkway

One of the many areas of the Western North Carolina Farmers Market

 

Well, that's it for now.  Just wanted to clue you in as to what I've been up to for a while.  Am I thinking about jewelry?  YOU BET!  I've seen jewelry everywhere....and lots of it.  There were at least four galleries in Black Mountain and I haven't even begun to dig in on the Asheville trips but I will.  And, of course, I'm gathering lots of info to share with everyone.  Hugs to everyone.

 

 

Fun in North Carolina

One of the fun things we did while in North Carolina was to pan for semi-precious gems. We didn't know what to think about going to Emerald Village for the day - our preconceived notions and expectations were not terribly high. Much to our surprise we were joyously surprised. It was a riot and we spent hours sifting through our buckets for goodies. We found moonstones, garnets, little bitty emeralds, odd rubies, mica, aquamarine, and on and on. As you can plainly see by the photos it was wet, wild, and fun.

I even think I have a few pieces I can set into rustic jewelry pieces. You could have left them at the village for a genuinely nice lapidary person to make them into cabochons, but we decided to keep them "as is". Kate is going to use many of them in her water garden and everyone else is still deciding the fate of their gems.

Today I loaded up the kiln with clay and went to town to have my hair cut. Goodbye long locks! I also finally got to the mail and am pondering the glass conference information. It's the twentieth anniversary for the ISGB's Gathering. Tomorrow it's off to Traverse City to the dentist...gosh those appointments seem to come close together. I need torch time. Hopefully my schedule will be clearer after tomorrow.