Beads, Beads, and more Beads!

 

It's that time!  Time for the folks at Rings & Things to hit town with their bead show!  They're here twice a year and it's an event you don't want to miss.  It's such a well run event, the staff keeps smiling ( hey Dave!) even with a roomfull of women with glazed over eyes, grabbing & fondling strand after strand of beads, occasionally hauling out a calculator to see how bad it is, others just heaping tray after tray of beads.  My rule of thumb is if I can't fit it on one tray it can't come home with me.  But then I do that with drying dishes too, and it's amazing how well you can learn to stack 'em up:)   

They're the ones that got me started on trade beads, and I love them!  Last year that was the first table I headed for and the last one on my way out the door, just to make sure I didn't miss something.  But like I said, they only come to town twice a year, so if a trade bead fix is needed in between, you can either order from them (quick delivery!) or head over to my other favorite place for those special kind of beads, Africa Direct to make sure you're getting everything you need, including good service.  You could spend days on that site & not see everything, it's crazy-actually I'm the crazy one because I've tried!  Once again nice folks to deal with, I swear bead people are the nicest lot of vendors to deal with.     

But the real danger (for the wallet) is my favorite local bead shop, The Mother Bead.  She has, hands down, the best pearls, all the time.  But she also has a ton of other stones to choose from, as well as a lot of jewelry made up to show what can be done and to show what's being taught.  And once again, a super friendly staff to work with.  If I lived right in town, I'd have to get a job to support my habit!  See those chunky purple stones in the middle of the above picture?  They're amethyst, but big and rough cut, very organic looking and they're going to be a lot of fun to work with.  That's the other thing I like about shopping there, I always find something that I've never seen before and finding something outside the norm is always more interesting, don't you think? 

Considering that this is only part of one wall, it's hard to hold back & not break the bank.  Can't be doing that everytime I walk in there, or I'll be banned from the place-by Gary!  The funny thing is, he's getting as bad as I am about beads-hard to believe, but true. 

Don't you just love this necklace?  I'm hoping that it's a class that they're teaching so I can go learn how to do that.  Tara, the owner, was wearing one like this that she had made, and it was fabulous!  I've never learned anything about stringing at all, and now I think it's time.  There's a lot of news to catch up on from this past week or more, so keep checking back this week.  I finally have a lot to chat about and show you! 

Comments

[amanda]

Oh I love this post! Slightly evil of you to tempt us with such beautiful eye candy. I can't wait to see what you create with those trade beads. I know it will be fabulous!

[tammy vitale]

Oh, yum! Trade beads - that little cross woman in the lower left is gorgeous! and the amethyst in the 2nd photo - are they stung nuggets? Prettiest rocks I've seen! The necklace is stunning. Lucky, lucky you! Lots of potential sitting on one tray, huh? Wondeful! Thanks for sharing. It's always great vicatious fun. =]

[Dave at Rings & Things]

I see you got your invitation postcard ;)
...love that remark about dishes! You've got some great images in this post, really showing off the trade beads to great advantage. Thanks for being a regular at our shows :)

--"Smilin'" Dave
at Rings & Things

[cheesehead with sticks]

I was really looking forward to attending this for the first time this year, but sadly - I can't get off work ;(. Maybe in September - I hope! Have fun, and stack well! :)