Working at Best Bead!

Please pardon my quietness, it's GEM SHOW TIME!!! I'm working at Best Bead and amassing a pile of new beads, too. If you want to come see me at work and also buy some awesome crystals and seed beads, you can find me at the Beyond Beadery booth, conveniently located in the dance and aerobics room.

September Best Bead Purchases

You'd think with how many tribal necklaces I already have, I wouldn't even think about buying more... but I had to have this one. I love those green dangles, and in fact, I'll probably eventually cut the necklace apart and use the dangles in a new necklace, or attach them to a bra.
And yes, the title says purchases, plural! After spending the weekend working next to Janice Evert Opals, I had to have an opal. The only reason that I didn't get one during my shopping on Friday is that when I walked by the booth, my eyes were naturally drawn to the nicest, flashiest, most expensive opals which were way out of my budget, so I assumed that they were all out of the budget. But this one was very beautiful, and very affordable... and you'll hopefully get to see what it gets made into in a month or so!

I had a nice time at the show, working for Anne Mitchell. I don't like having to run an entire booth by myself during the February show, but the September show is laid back enough that I was able to handle everything myself without feeling overwhelmed. Besides, I got to spend the entire time looking at Anne's gorgeous jewelry.

But the most interesting thing about the show was definitely watching a shoplifter get apprehended... and not a small-timer, either. The police found $10,000 worth of beads and supplies in her purse and in her car. Bravo to the vendors who caught and detained her and called the cops.

Sad about the bead show

I went to the Best Bead Show yesterday... and I didn't buy any beads. I did spend $20, but it was on an Afghani necklace that caught my eye because it was made with some sort of green stone (maybe serpentine?) instead of lapis.

I feel like the September show is shrinking every year, and the vendor quality is definitely going down hill. There are less and less artists, and more and more importers. This is fine for people who want Chinese lampwork or Indian stone briolites, but I am not one of those people. I want artist beads! And unfortunately, while the few artists who are left are in fact nice and talented people, I either have enough of their beads, don't like their style, or get their beads by working for them.

So I'm actually coming out of this show ahead of the game, because I got called in at the last minute to booth-sit for a friend. This is my first time working a September show -- I haven't bothered seeking out work for it before, because I don't do a lot of shopping so I don't feel the need to make spending money. But if you're in Tucson and want to say Hi, you can find me at Anne Mitchell's booth in the afternoons.

A Bounty of Beautiful Beads

The colors are a little off on this picture... but look! Beautiful beads (and one cab)! From gem show! Clockwise from the top:

A coil/spring bead from JC Herrell. Not only is JC fun and awesome, but her team won the Flame Off this year! GO JC! And teammates! WOOO! I have no idea how I'll use this coil, but it's really fun and called to me.

Brand-new butterfly wings from Margaret Zinser. I saw this pair on Facebook and called "dibs." Clearly the bead gods were listening to me, because even though I didn't get out to the MZ booth until 8 hours into the show, and even though the wings were hot sellers, both of them were waiting for me :) I also picked up a little set of spacers that looks nice with them.

Raised floral cab by Dolly Ahles. I liked the flatter floral cabs that I bought in September so much that I had to get one with a raised clover flower this year. Isn't that green just luscious? Dolly is doing some amazing floral beads, too, some even have tiny 3d butterflies on them.

Greek Math Bead, a gift from my friend Deborah Gray-Wurz. Deb is addicted to making Barb Switzer's complicated little beaded beads, and she made me one in beautiful shades of green and brown. I love it!

Keep your eyes open for more gem show goodies and some actual stories as the week progresses!

I'm the worst blogger ever

Cool bloggers take pictures during gem show, and post frequently about their adventures. I am not a cool blogger! I never thought to bring my camera with me to the show, or the party, or last night's dinner. I was too busy and tired to pop in here and update you guys about my various exploits. Shame on me!

It's hard to even gather my thoughts up to do a list of highlights. I'll probably have to wait a day or two, get photos of my swag, and do up an official report.

Best Bead ended today, so I now have a paycheck to go spend tomorrow.

Bead-moving muscles

Today I put my hard-earned muscles to use and moved beads and tables and things for 6 hours as part of the set-up process for Best Bead Show. It was actually less exhausting than the 1-hour workout that I skipped to be there ;)

Because my boss is sick, we did not go to the Beadwork party tonight. I could have gone by myself, but that would have been weird. I know a lot of the people who would have been there, but only by sight/because I've sold beads to them. I'm a shy little elf (unless I'm dancing), so I would have felt very awkward. Instead, I went out for Japanese with Chris, then worked on my necklace, which is almost done! And I strung some crystals, because that's how I roll.

Tomorrow is my least-favorite day of the show. Staying open until 8 is nice for people who don't get out of work until 5 or 6, but it's hard on us vendors! I know I will be dragging by the end of the day. Still, I hope I'll see some of you there! Come look for me at the Beyond Beadery booth.

Best Bead Today!

It was a small show today, and not very crowded at all. There were no cheap Afghani coins (I really should have bought several strands last year!), the cab guy from last year wasn't there, and Jane's Fiber and Beads did not have the seeds I need for Cthulhu.

That said, I still had fun! Chris talked me into buying a glass ring as my first purchase. Then I purchased the beads on the right, a mini-focal and four spacers in black and raku. Lousy picture, so you can't see the beautiful rainbow colors. They'll make a nice goes-with-everything necklace. In the center, some new beads from Green Girl Studio (well, the Medusa coin isn't a new design, but I like mine so much I decided I should make one up for sale, too). On the left, three gorgeous lampworked cabs from Dolly Ahles. The top two are for me, hopefully I'll have time to make them into something before Tahoe, because I have the perfect dress to go with. The bottom one is for the brooch swap at Tahoe.

I'm very happy that Best Bead has moved the September show to the same location that the February show is held in. It's more convenient, the perfect size, and the vendors who I spoke to all seemed to be happier with it. Now if they could just attract a few more awesome vendors for my shopping pleasure!

Best Bead Tomorrow!

Tomorrow I'm going to the Best Bead Show for a little shopping. Only a little, because the Tahoe retreat is less than 3 weeks away, so I really need to save my money for kits, souveniers, oh yeah, and food. I guess I'll need some of that.

I'm looking forward to the show, not only because I'll hopefully score more Cthulhu-green beads, but because Green Girl Studios will be there, and of course, awesome local lampwork artist Margaret Zinser. I'm sure there will also be lots of other great vendors to tempt me with their wares. After all, last year I came home with gorgeous cabochons and a strand of Afghani coins (most of which went into my bra, so if I get the chance to replenish my stash, I will).

I'm tired just thinking about it...

Gem Show starts in the morning! Here's my schedule for the next week and a half:

Saturday: Go to Gem Mall, stand in line, register, buy crystals that I need, Czech glass that I want, other things that I'm inspired by.

Sunday: Take dogs to class. Take dogs home. Go to To Bead True Blue. Get steampunk bead from Christi Friesen, steampunk beads from Green Girl, and look around for other things of interest. Go grocery shopping.

Monday and Tuesday: Get things done around the house, finish planning out what I'll wear, find insulated lunchbox, put away weekend purchases.

Tuesday evening: Crafting time with Mom, if neither one of us is too tired or busy.

Wednesday: Get up at 8am to get into work (Beyond Beadery at Best Bead) at 9am, so I can be prepared for the opening-day rush this time. Work until 8pm. Come home, eat food, game for a bit, probably be snappish at the group because I'm tired. Make sure to apologize beforehand.

Thursday: Work from 10-6, then head out for a nice dinner with my employers, fellow employees, and interesting bead people who I don't already know but am looking forward to meeting. Chris gets to come along, too, as he is marginally beady ;)

Friday: Work from 10-6, then go to the Swarovski party. Oooh! I hear that it is quite swanky there. I don't normally get to go, but my wonderful boss Betcey wrangled an extra invitation, which she extended to me. A chance to dress up and spend the evening making small talk about beads? Who would turn that down?

Saturday: Another 10-6 day, followed by another dinner, this time with people from my on-line bead forum.

Sunday: Working 10-5, with a break for dog class. May get together with my friend Deb of Bead Indulgences, if her schedule allows.

Monday: No work! Taking a dragonfly class from Christi Friesen in the afternoon. Mom is also taking the class. Much fun will be had. Possible get-together with Deb if Sunday doesn't pan out.

Tuesday: I collapse from sheer exhaustion.

I'm going to go get some sleep now while I still can.

A couple of hours at the bead show

This was the weekend of the September bead shows. It used to just be one G&LW show, but people are trying (in vain) to turn it into a miniature version of February. There are now two G&LW shows, a Best Bead Show, and a Beaucoup Conge show (actually, I don't know if they had that one this year, their shows are so small that I don't pay attention to them).

Although I had pre-registered for the G&LW show back when I registered for the February shows, I decided to skip it. I would have been too tempted to spend lots of money stocking up on crystals, and other than said crystals, there wasn't much I wanted at that show. The one I went to a couple of years ago was mostly finished jewelry and stone beads.

I enjoy the Best Bead show, however, as it's very laid-back and there's always lots of eye candy. It's a very small show, though, and this year a lot of the vendors who were there last year were absent. I'm not sure if the show was smaller, I think they may have replaced all of the missing vendors.

The main reason that I went to the show was to see local lampworker Margaret Zinser, who is a great beadmaker and a fun person. In fact, I feel pretty lucky to have such a talented artist in my hometown, because it means she's always at the shows! I love her beetle beads, and I was excited to see that she's now making large beads decorated with lots of tiny beetles. Way out of my budget for this particular show, but fun to drool over. I ended up buying a pretty set of barrel-shaped beads from her (which I already have a plan for) and some little spacers to put in earrings.

I intended to just window shop the rest of the show, but Chris did his usual arm-twisting to make me buy a few more things. Well, actually, he didn't have to twist me at all to get me to buy the strand of coins. Do you know how hard it is to find those things? Every belly dance costume supply place that I've seen only carries the cheap stamped ones. In fact, I really should have bought 2 or 3 strands, so I'd have plenty to make a bra some day, but oh well. I got the imitation dZi bead from the same vendor. I know the different designs have different meanings, I'll have to research what mine means. I just liked the colors. I have some Afghani jade that will go perfectly with it.

The cabs were my real splurge, however. They were just so pretty and Chris insisted that I should buy them, even though they were way more than I usually spend on cabs. The black-looking one is fire obsidian, and it has beautiful flashes of browns and oranges and hints of green. The greyish looking one is a pyritized ammonite, which has a nice spiral pattern from the shell. And the triangle one is actually drilled, so I can use it as a bead or a cab, and I think the receipt says that it's Binghamite. It looks kind of like quartz with tiger's eye or some other chatoyant golden stone through it.

I also bought some thread, but that was too boring to photograph ;) I got a great deal on Nymo, the primary thread that I use for my woven work, and I bought another spool of the cord that I used to make that notted necklace, this time in black. I wanted some green, too, but I didn't like any of the greens available. Well, correction. I liked them, but they wouldn't have coordinated very well with many beads.

And just for fun, here's a picture of what I bought in Flagstaff: