Convention is sadly over . . .

Well, the 31st annual CopperCon Convention is now over.  We had a great time this year!  My DH won the short story contest and received a nice plaque, a ribbon and $40.00 in certificates for a local bookstore.  How nice!
Also, just chatting with all the other vendors and the attendees is always a lot of fun.  And they have so many interesting lectures, readings and discussions at these events, there is almost always something for everyone to enjoy.  My DH loves to attend all the writing based lectures and I enjoy the more interactive, fun groupings.  I attended a really interesting presentation by Debe Branning, an MVD Ghostchaser, about graveyards of Arizona.  Very interesting stories were told and also some nice gravestone pictures of many of the famous people who are buried around Arizona.  I love the paranormal and just wish they would have more programming of this sort at these conventions.  I think it would be cool just to have an open forum Ghost Story hour at the event - - that would be cool, and everyone could participate (who had a nice ghost story to tell!).
As always, there were some really great vendors at the event, too.  Lynn and Rich from OctoberArt - - they have almost everything - from jewelry to skulls.  If you want something strange or whimsical, they probably have it (I am amazed at their display - always!).  Then there is Mike from the Peculiar Magpie - he is an artist who creates steampunk and mythos items for collections and costume wear.  He creates cool weapons, masks, watches, goggles, even has an old-time phone that really works, so cool!  And Jessica Feinberg from Artlair - she is an amazing artists who sells her prints in all forms - bookmarks, posters, buttons, etc.  She draws and paints neat dragons, Dr. Who items, Cthulus, characters, wolves, etc (I got a print of her Steampunk dragon head that's on her webpage - cool!).  She even will take on-the-spot orders at conventions.  There was also Stacia from Infinite Frequencies had some really nice fused glass pendants and earrings (she is a 5th grade teacher) and then a couple of guys with neat weaponry and chainmail items along with some lovely ladies selling beautiful stone jewelry and neat artwork and of course, books and books and books.
We were also lucky enough to have our booth right next to the author's signing table, so it was nice to interact with some of the wonderful authors that came to the convention.
Next year's theme will be Year of the Dragon - - can't wait!