Getting ready to head East for Clasp, and wondering who else is
attending. I’m looking forward to some wonderful hugs, etc.
Terrie
Charles, Ton and myself will be there, Looking forward to see old
and new friends.
Hanuman
Let’s try to find each other at the Friday night networking/happy
hour. We could wear an extra nametag that says “Orchid member” or an
orchid-shaped piece of jewelry. I’ll be there!
Laurel Cavanaugh
Orange County, CA
Getting ready to head East for Clasp, and wondering who else is attending. I'm looking forward to some wonderful hugs, etc.
Count me in for the weekend, I wont be staying at the hotel, but
will be enjoying the festivities none the less.
P@
Terrie,
There will be several Local Orchidians at CLASP - I’m really looking
forward to becoming reacquainted with my Muse, who seems to have
been on permanent holiday for a while.
Also clamoring for our time that weekend is the Denver Gem and
Mineral Show (the largest outside Tucson, I think) so there may be
opportunities to go out to the Mart and several other great venues
for stones, tools, or other great stuff. I plan to do all my buying
before Friday so I can focus on the Missing Muse.
See you there,
Susan Bucknam
I will be there too. Am staying at the Marriott.
see you there
Joan Dulla
Hi Terri,
I am going too!!! Please say hello if you see me. I wish there were
name tags or some pin we could wear to identify ourselves…maybe we
could all wear one of Sumner’s orchid pins…anyway I have long red
curly hair and wear pretty wild clothes, that should make it easy in
my case.
See you in Denver,
Beth McElhiney
p.s. are you going to the Gem Show?
Hi all,
I’m headed out to Clasp next week and look forward to seeing you
there.
Karen Christians
Last year I was not able to attend the inaugural Clasp Convergence
due to a teaching engagement overlapping the same dates.
This year I will be at Clasp as a participant on the Saturday “75
Actionable Business Ideas in 75 Minutes” panel. I will also present a
breakfast with the experts session on promotion and publicity for the
studio artist, and private business salons on Sunday afternoon.
I’m looking forward to this year’s program.
Michael David Sturlin
www.goldcrochet.com
www.michaeldavidsturlin.com
I am going too!!! Please say hello if you see me. I wish there were name tags or some pin we could wear to identify ourselves...maybe we could all wear one of Sumner's orchid pins...
There is orchid jewelry for sale on the ganoksin site. And a few
years ago someone created an orchid sticker that was easy to print
out and wear.
Does anyone know if that is still available?
http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/orchid-pin.jpg
It would be easy to create a button using Cafe Press for this
purpose.
If you haven’t tried Cafe Press, it’s pretty easy. I’ve created some
metalsmithing/beading/metal clay shirts.
Elaine
http://www.CreativeTextureTools.com ™
Hard to Find Tools for Metal Clay
I’m really looking forward to Clasp '07!
At the inaugural Clasp last year, the registration area in the lobby
gradually filled with fellow Orchidians as well as attendees from
the jewelry world outside of Orchid. It was an adventure discovering
who we already “knew” from Orchid and actually meeting them face to
face. Re-connecting with old friends and making new ones is a real
pleasure - as is attending Clasp.
See you soon!
Pam Chott
www.songofthephoenix.com
I will be at Clasp. I plan to wear a small Lady’s Slipper orchid tac
pin. See ya!
M’lou
Of course there will be a few folks from Rio including three from
the technical support team. The three of us will be in our element
setting up and helping out in the “Jewelers Playground”. It’s gonna
be a lot of fun so please stop by say “hi” and play for a while.
See ya there!
Thackeray Taylor
Rio Grande Technical Support
800-545-6566
505-839-3000 ex 13903
technicalsupport@tbg.riogrande.com
Last minute here but I was just informed that Rio will be providing
little orchid stickers for all those going to Clasp that want to
identify themselves as Orchidians.
See ya soon!
Thackeray Taylor
Rio Grande Technical Support
800-545-6566
505-839-3000 ex 13903
technicalsupport@tbg.riogrande.com
Hello all Orchidians,
For my own peace of mind I have stayed away from reading the posts on
Orchid for a little over a month now. I was afraid that any opinion
or past experience I might post would be misinterpreted and attacked,
causing damage to the free exchange of that this forum is
founded on.
I missed all of the posts by Orchid members about attending CLASP
’07. But, I am here and want to say THANK YOU to all the wonderful,
supportive and truely beautiful spirited members of this forum and at
Rio who made me feel welcome and appreciated at CLASP '07!
Hanuman, Teresa Masters, M’lou Brubaker, Charles L-B, Chris Ploof,
Beth McElhiney (who gave me images to use in my CAD/CAM
presentation) James Binnion, Tim McCreight, Dana Singer, the tool
guys in the Molly Brown room Thackeray Taylor and Mark Nelson, And
especially Gail Philippi!
You are all wonderful, wonderful people and I gained so much more
from attending CLASP '07 than just business advise, I gained a deeper
appreciation for the members of this forum and for our shared
community of metalsmiths.
Thank you one and all,
Nanz Aalund
Hello to all of my new non-virtual Orchid friends! I just got home
after the weekend.
It is wonderful to say that this year was as good as last year was!
I am the “girl” who Teresa mentioned entered the Saul Bell
competition during last year’s Clasp due to the encouragement of
many and to my amazement won the 1st place for silver. I suggested
to others to come to this year because I learned so much and was so
inspired by the people and that I recieved and has
assisted me in being a better designer, business person, and
networker.
Last year was a catalyst for me to develope a line of jewelry to
wholesale and it built my confidence to move out into the national
market. This year is giving me better skills to niche market myself
and really get out there and build my business. I have piles of
to assimilate and people to email. I even have a huge
adventure planned to explore and educate myself and others about the
advances in technology/tools and industry that have occured since my
traditional training 20 years ago that formed itself from the
weekend and will be posting about that soon. The weekend is worth
every penny and considering what we come away with would in any
other industry be three times what it costs. My only dissappointment
is that we now have to wait 2 years to see everyone again, although
I will be seeing alot of new friends on my winter road trip around
the country.
Big thanks and hugs to Nanz, Chris P., Amy, Alan R., Teresa, Jim,
Bill, Charles, Hanuman, Cindy, Donna, Kathy, Pat, Cody, Robin,
Peter, Chris N, Michael, Marlene… & Mark, Emily, Thackerey,
Audrey, Alan, and everyone else from Rio.
Cheers,
Beth McElhiney
(settling back into the island this weekend after being out in America)
www.bethmcelhiney.com
Although my remarks are late in coming, I must chime in to say that
Clasp, Denver was another wonderful success!
This year I tried a little bit from each track and came away with
useful from every session. So many speakers and so many
options! It was again difficult to choose which sessions to attend as
there were so many great choices. The expert panels were outstanding,
sharing a wealth of tips and ideas in a continuous
stream. The dynamic and enthusiastic keynote speakers provided great
insights for building positive attitudes and developing effective
communication - even with yourself! 
It was exciting to see that so many came this year because of the
reports from last year’s event. Each one I spoke with assured me that
their decision to attend Clasp had been a good one for them.
Seeing so-o many familiar faces from last year (many from Orchid!)
and catching up with everyone was a delight as was having the
opportunity to make new friends.
I’m making plans now for Albuquerque '09.
Pam Chott
www.songofthephoenix.com