DCCon.  Far from the final frontier, but these are the voyages of Jodi and her son, Jaden.  It all started out on a Thursday morning on Amtrak, trekking it down from Jersey to DC.

This trip to DCCon was not only another leg of my traveling jewelry tour, it was a chance to try to give my son, Jaden a decent memory from 2014.

Jaden went through quite a lot from 2013 up until recently. He was bullied all throughout last year of school.  We were not aware of exactly what was happening, but we knew something was wrong.  Finally, during the summer, we were able to figure it out – another child was brutally bullying Jaden.  Psychologically.  This kid had Jaden terrorized and afraid to speak up for himself.

Long story short, we pressed charges, the bully got what amounted to a slap on the wrist, but the act of standing up to this bully really empowered him.

But it wasn’t enough. Jaden has spent the past school year guarded, defensive, suspicious, and hurt. He was withdrawn.  We basically lost the outgoing, chatty, vibrant young man we once knew.

I thought taking him to DCCon would be a welcome distraction for him, especially because he truly loves Supernatural, devours the novels, and finds a welcome escape watching the episodes.

Upon arrival in DC, we rushed to our hotel.  Unfortunately we were staying in the spillover hotel, not the actual event hotel, but it wasn’t far away.

We settled in, unpacked, ate, and then went to the Con to start setting up Eldwenne’s Fantasy and Clifhangers tables.

Thursday was a loooong day for us and by the time the vendor room closed for the night it was after 10:45pm – we had been on the go since 3am!

Friday was going to be a cinch – the vendor’s room was going to be open from 9:30 – 6:30.  Not bad.

When I did VegasCon, I had a raffle to vote for your fave – Crowley vs. Abaddon.  It was wildly successful and the fans had a blast voting for their favorite. Will there be a King of Hell or a Queen of Hell?  The fans chose Crowley (as did Supernatural, as per this past episode!)
I wanted to give the fans some more fun so I held a raffle to win the companion bracelet to Castiel’s Grace necklace:

 

In addition to trying to win the bracelet, it was also a chance to vote for your favorite version of Cas – Angel or Human!

Most importantly – half of the proceeds from the raffle were donated to Random Acts of Kindness! Everyone wins!

 

What were the results?  You’ll find out at the end of this post!

So what makes Fridays special at any Salute to Supernatural Con?  KARAOKE PARTY!!!  Jaden was up to going.  So we went.  And oh.  My.  GOD!  This event really solidified to me how wonderful Supernatural fans are.

I can’t count how many lovely people saw Jaden and me and shooed us up to the front of the crowd so that he could see.  We didn’t ask anyone, we didn’t complain, people just went out of their way to give Jaden an amazing experience.  I cannot thank all of you enough for that!  It really epitomizes the generous and giving spirit Supernatural fans have.  I’m so proud to be a part of the SPN Family.

Here are some pics from the evening:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The true highlight of the evening for Jaden:

 

We stayed until the lights went on – and the next day was going to be a long one for us in the vendor’s room – 11 hours!!  Jaden decided to ease into his morning:

 

Saturday is always the long day for us vendors – it’s usually an 11 hour day.  Jaden slept under the Clifhanger table for a bit, lol! Then he went off to some panels.

Saturday was the big day where a lot of people began to notice my Supernatural Inspired necklaces – it was quite an amazing reaction and I’m so pleased with how many of you came by to admire my work!

I always say that the biggest compliment I could ever receive is to see someone wearing a piece of mine.  I was floored for the entire weekend!!
ALL seventeen of my designs were snatched up by you guys – THANK YOU!!  It was such an amazing response to my work that I decided to mark down the necklace in my online shop: http://www.eldwenne.etsy.com – from now through midnight May 12, you can buy these necklaces at the same low prices I was offering at the convention!  You can get the following:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Castiel’s Grace is still the all-time favorite!

 

 

 

 

 

ALL of these pieces are currently at their low convention prices at http://www.eldwenne.etsy.com

 

If you happened to buy a piece from me at the convention – send me a pic!! I’d love to feature you – like these beautiful ladies!

 

 

This young lady bought my pride and joy – The Winchester Family Tree necklace!

 

 

Some other amazing people strolled into the vendor’s room:

 

 

This whole weekend was so incredible for both Jaden and me.  I finally saw Jaden smile for the first time in months.  And who put that smile there?  Not just the amazing cast of Supernatural, but YOU!  The fans treated him so well and restored his faith that there are genuine, good people out there!

Kim Rhodes was super amazing and tweeted this pic of her beautiful daughter wearing a necklace I made for her!

So without further ado, I’d be remiss in not including my Wormstache Brigade!

And I also want to highight some pretty frigging amazing cosplay by Mel!

And lastly – the memories my son will have for a lifetime!

 

The results of the vote: Human Cas got 14% of the vote.  Angel Cas received a whopping 84%!

Thank you Creation, Kim Rhodes, Chad Lindberg, Gil McKinney, Rob Benedict, Osric Chau, Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles, Misha Collins, and all of you amazing human beings who made DCCon the best experience for Jaden!

Remember to stop by online at http://www.eldwenne.etsy.com and come say hi to Clif at http://www.facebook.com/Clifhangers

The next few weeks will be intense as I prepare for a six week stint in Nashville, preparing for my Teach for America training.  Wish me luck and I’ll talk to ya’ll soon!