Making Friends and Learning at the NBM Show : Lemonade Day

. I'm taking the opportunity of this unplanned time off to connect with the many artists and creators in this wonderful city that I love. Come with me on my 100-day odyssey of art and creativity in Long Beach. I call it .

The NBM Show is happening through Saturday.  I've been talking to people about Makerspaces and Making.  One sort of makerspace would provide access to CNC machines, milling equipment and laser cutters.  I wanted to get an idea of some offerings of this type of equipment.  I'm especially interested in equipment to use in fabric embellishment.  Today I visited the show, learned a few things and made some friends.

Admission to the show is $10.00 per person.  Children under the age of 12 are not admitted on the showroom floor.

A little of the show's background from their website: "The NBM Show* is brought to you by Awards & Engraving, Printwear and Sign & Digital Graphics magazines and is the place where these three business publications come to life."  NBM is National Business Media, the company which produces these magazines.

August 16th was Day 46.  I visited the NBM Show at the Long Beach Convention Center.

I love to just wander around a trade show and chat a bit.  It's funny how many friends you will make if you're interested in what the vendors and others have to say.  I tried to keep it local, but with this sort of show, Los Angeles, City of Commerce and Garden Grove are local.  Some of the folks I talk of today are from as far away as Texas and Minnesota.

Ikonics Imaging

My favorite display today?  Ikonics Imaging!  The five finalists for their Ugly Blaster contest were on display.  They're awesome hacks!  Bill was patient enough to not only tell me what a blaster was, but to show me too!  Bill gave me a glass that he etched to show me!

A blaster is used to etch glass by striking the glass with particles at high pressure and some temperature.  Apparently in some studios the blaster is home made, hand made, hacked up and loved accordingly.  The winner with the most votes at the end of the show will win their very own Ikonics Imaging blaster.  I had to vote.  You will too, when you see the displays and read the stories. You can find the candidates here, but there are more photos and displays at the booth.

There are places for you to put your hands and hold the glass product you are blasting.  I was confused... How would the artist control where the blasting happened?  With what precision?  Bill walked me through the process.  If you don't know how and you want to see, watch the video.

Foam Linx

Foam Linx is a company that makes foam cutters and foam CNC routers.  They also make custom props for trade shows, TV and movie companies.  Tal spent a fair amount of time explaining some of the equipment and he gave me a foam T that was cut and coated.  (I commented that it's the first letter of my last name!  How cool is that!  Shall I say it?  Karmic, even!)

Image Microsystems

This is a company that recycles computer casings to make signs.  The signs are substantial and attractive.  Liz showed the results of a test where two signs, one aluminum and one Microstrate, were shot with bullets.  Microstrate won!  Liz gave me a trivet that is made of the sign material.

Richee Lighting

Catering to the sign makers, Richee Lighting has a variety of strip LEDs, power supplies and other light sign materials.  Jeffrey was kind enough to explain their offerings to me, and their store on Western in LA has these and more.  I asked about some of the strip LEDs, as I think it would be cool to sew some of it onto a garment of some sort.  I did like the 'light display in a box' setup!

Digital Heat FX

This company offers a low-cost option to the startup garment decorating business.  I didn't stay long enough to find out all the costs associated with owning their printer/cutter combination (ink, materials, software), but the equipment itself was very reasonable.

There I also met a few folks who were asking questions of their own.  Jamul of KJ's Designs offered to show us the setup in his shop.

My visit today was open ended.  I saw some interesting equipment, some as big as a room!  On my next visit, I will look at pricing of various equipment.  The range is huge!

Tidbits, Things, Trails

• I came away from the fair with several goodies.
• A foam T
• An etched glass
• A Microstrate trivet
• Some new friends

Want more lemonade?       

And Tomorrow...

I will be making Lemonade with my child as we prepare for school by shopping for school supplies.  Yes, I know it will involve spending, but I believe this warrants an exception, don't you?

The NBM show continues at the Long Beach Convention Center through Saturday.   So much opportunity to learn in such a short time!

Need to contact me?  info@handmadepenguin.com

Trish Tsoiasue writes as herself about creative and maker topics for and as Handmade Penguin for the Handmade Penguin Blog.