aBeesCreations at OZ Con West Plains

Me in my Tardis dress and custom made blue and black circlet.

This last weekend I was invited by Michelle of Remember Me Jewelry to attend Oz Con in West Plains, Missouri. 

We were vendors for this event. It was so much fun and I meet some amazing people. 

Oz Con is still in its infancy, being its 2 year.

It was small but I will be attending again next year!

Of course there was a lot of gaming, LARPing, and cosplaying going on. 

Check out there Facebook page:

www.facebook.com/OzCon

Here was our shared booth!

Masks, hats and accessories by aBeesCreations
Bottle Cap jewelry by Remember Me Jewelry

I had some very HAPPY customers! Most of them purchased their own circlets!

Hope to see everyone next year!

To order your own custom circlet please contact me at

 www.facbook.com/ABeesCreations 

or on Etsy at 

www.etsy.com/aBeesCreations

The beginning of a new journey dedicated to my mom.

Last year on this day my world changed forever. I had spent the last 14 years being the full time care giver for my momma. Then on Father's Day 2014 she passed away from CHF.  Her heart put up a long fight but finally could not go on. She asked to be at home to for her final days and we brought her home to spend her last days. The week before she passed we spent a lot of time talking about the human soul. The fight that we all go through to find our balance and our salvation. We talked about religion, culture, history, mythology and legends. This was not something new, we have always been so open with this deep discussions. Our family always had such an unique open mindness and we talked about all types of what some families considered taboo.

But this conversation was different because we both knew that this was going to be our last conversation about these deep and personal about our beliefs, our souls and what we hoped would happen to each of us after we pass away. 

My mom was my best friend. I never imagined my life without being able to just talk to her every day. I never imagined the world, my world, without hearing her call me angel. When I was scared, when my social anxiety kicked in, when my worrisome nature felt overwhelming she was the one who knew what to say. She would stroke my hair and tell me how proud of me she was. Yes, even when I was an adult she did this. 
I have spent this last year working and helping others create their own visions and projects. This month alone I have been working on several productions, photo shoots, cons and private client creations. But my heart and my mind keep going back to the last deep discussion mommy and I had. The discussion about our souls, our fight to save the humanity in each of very own life, the meaning of it all. 

We talked on her last good day... Friday. Saturday she was incoherent, unable to speak except for the occasional cries for help. We lost her on Sunday morning at 2am. I have spent the last year trying to close my eyes without seeing her that Saturday. I know that unless you have been through it, you can not imagine how hard it was and still is. 

A few months ago I began my journey to try to not forget that Saturday but to overcome its saddness. I started focusing on our last talk. The talk that questioned and answered so many things. Her words still echo in my heart and the feelings of true friendship can still move me to tears..... Yes I am crying as I write this.

I have decided that our existence, our fight to save our humanity, to discover the secrets of our souls, and to overcome all the world throws at us will be inspiration for my next year. I am going to develop a series of photos to capture these themes. I want to tell these stories NOT just from one point of view, one cultural aspect, one point of history. Instead I want to explore these themes from mutiple cultures, myths, legends, and religions. I want to tell the story of the fight for humanity and the fight for our souls.

So I am working on getting my plans in order, anyone who knows me knows I have to have a plan. My goal to complete this series with the help and support of my group of talented friends by June 14, 2016 and then I want to produce a calendar with these images.

I will be journaling the experience here.

(Special note: I found this post difficult to write let alone publish. So for a while it will be saved as a draft. I have every intention to publish it, I just dont know if I can yet.)

Etsy Craft Party : aBeesCreations Team Captain

Our Southwest Missouri Etsy Team joined in on the worldwide fun Etsy Craft Party weekend. We were hosted by our team member Plum Bazaar Bead Shop in downtown Branson. The weather was a little warm... (okay it was HOT!) but we held our party on their patio. 

Have you ever been to their shop? It is the oldest commercial building in Branson. You can't miss it! It is the purple building right next to Starbucks. 

Not only is the building amazing but it has a great outside space.

We were hosted by the lovely ladies of Plum Bazaar. You were all awesome! They were taking turns running the store and helping our guests create fantastic make and take wire wrap jewelry. 

THANKS Ladies!

Plum Bazaar donated a great hand painted necklace and earring set and a $10 gift certificate. 

THANKS to Sandy, one of the owners, who also provided some of the food. LOVED the watermelon! 

A part of the Plum Bazaar team includes jewelry artist,  Joan Williams, of Lil' Ruby Jewelry and Design. Joan has been a member of our team for years now and was one of our demonstrators. She spent time teaching our guests how to make painted metal jewelry. Our guests were allowed to make and take these wonderful creations. 

Joan's painted bracelets were recently featured in Belle Armoire Jewelry Magazine.

Joan also donated amazing earring in our raffle. 

Joan and Sandy also helped AJ with set up before the party. THANKS Joan!

This event wasn't just about our team but about our community. We had a few awesome businesses donate to our goodie bags, our event activites, and our raffle! 

 Handprint Massage Therapy of Branson.

Ginelle Macklin was on hand to give party goers chair massages. It was such a great treat. 

She also donated a 30 minute massage session for our raffle. 
THANKS Ginelle.

Springfield has a new business that added to our Goodie Bags. If you are in Springfield check out Sew & Design Studio. 

THANKS!

One of Branson's Avon reps, AJ, added to our goodie bags and also donated to our raffle. 

THANKS Avon with AJ 

Local photographer, Dakota Friend of Friendly Fire Fotography, donated to our goodie bags and graciously gave a FREE Photo session to the raffle. 

THANKS Dakota.

Talented local artist and tinker, Rondi Stagg Miller of UnVintaged in Kimberling City donated to our goodie bags and 2 clay art pieces for our Raffle! 

THANKS Rondi

More of our Southwest Missouri Team members donated time, goodies, and samples. 

Rita from Sticks & Stones Gifts couldn't attend but did donated wonderful items for our goodie bags. 

THANKS Rita!

One of our leaders, Casey July, of The July Studio, demonstrated hand embroidering after teaching sewing all day in Springfield. She also gave items and helped gather items for our Goodie Bags. 

THANKS Casey!

Antoinette from Antoinette Emporio Trading Company gave to our goodie bags, helped during the party and even contributed her artistic talents in our sidewalk art. All during her break from work.

THANKS Toni! 

I am the Team Captain, and worked for the last 6 months on this event and with the Etsy Fellowship quarter 1 and 2. I provided goodies for our goodie bag, snacks and water for the guests, all the paper crafts, a crown for the raffle, facepainting for the kids, and etsy help to anyone who wanted to learn more about selling online.

 3 local photographers come out and take photos during the event. Thanks Kelly Trimble, Joan Williams ..... yes the same Joan that is the jewelry artist! and Brian Martin. Cant wait to see some more of the photos. 

Some fun shots taken by Joan Williams.

I snapped some photos on her iphone during the event. 

 

 

 

 

Everyone who attended had a great time. Congratulations to all the raffle winners.... 10 Raffle Winners!

THANKS EVERYONE! I can't wait to do it again next year!