Yesterday afternoon, as I read in the ICO about Art in the Redwoods, I saw the notice about the special bead prize. Then it dawned on me that by writing "First Place" on the ribbon I had made, I was totally wrong. The name of the prize was Beading Excellence! In a flurry of panic I decided to make a new ribbon even if it meant staying up all night. Thank goodness I had over-stocked up on the Lacy Stiff Stuff so I still had a couple of pristine sheets. All my failures in transferring the graphics on to it paid off so I could rather quickly and easily make the words in photoshop, print out the new ribbon, rub chalk on the back and trace down the lines. I had to make a mistake. I wrote "Bead" instead of "beading." But I do like the looks of the smaller word. I should have made the letters all in caps - they are easier to bead, but I felt I had no time to go back and redo it all.

I was surprised how quickly I was able to embroider the logo and words. That is a sure sign to me that it was a wise decision to redo the ribbon. I knew it would take all night to remake the gold seal and blue ribbons. I could have gone to GAC, gotten to old ribbon, tore it apart and sewed the seal and ribbon on this new one, but the idea of driving over an hour in the dark was more than I thought I could do. Suddenly, like a light appearing in my brain, I thought of a bag of examples, starts and stops of beading that I had saved. Sure enough in the sack were several badge-like round brooch or focal points. As I dug deeper I found this flower and dangles I had made in an idle moment of not knowing what to do. Even Werner agreed it was perfect. All I had to do was sew it down and add the hanging strip. Done! And I had time to go back to beading on the dog to settle my happy nerves.
Now this morning Rhoda, bless her heart, is stopping by to pick up the new ribbon and will take it to GAC so I do not have to make that trip! Good luck with your vendor booth, Rhoda. May you have many sales!