Tucson 2011 - Day 1

I didn't get too far today as it was only 40 degrees and raining. On the way home to Tombstone it also started snowing - Brrrrr! I did the Gem Mall and skipped the other 2 shows I had planned on visiting as they were outside tents. I wasn't going to wander around being wet, cold and miserable.

My first impression was . . . PINK . . . and a lot of that dyed pink. Yes, there were a lot of neat new slices of every kind of gemstone, including geodes. However, it just seems that every time I turned around I saw pink stones in rings, pink pearls, pink jewelry creations, pink shawls and dyed pink gemstone strands. I'm hoping it was only my impression on a cold wet day inside one huge tent.

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I found nice new shapes and colors in Czech pressed glass. See the medium & small daggers in the middle of my pile? Those are mine - a great mix of old fashioned pink with streaks of sage green. That combination of pink & green I can live with and is the color of a lot of my personal beadwork.

I'm not sure just what shape to call these Czech beads . . . bells, teardrops or? Most had a solid color overlay on the top that was then faceted away around the belly. I bought 4 strands of every color they had. What great fringe beads and color combinations that are very rich looking.

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These were more money than I really wanted to spend, but I had been kicking myself for not buying dotted daggers last year. The purple beads are a brand new-to-me shape. I'm wondering just how to use them in bead crochet. What would fit between them in a Caterpillar or Triangle rope?

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Chinese Crystals were also everywhere. The quality was about the same as last year - good. Bicones and faceted roundels were about the only shapes I saw. I bought a few, but now I need to check my crystal box as I think I already have a bunch of the red. I know I've done that when buying seed beads - buy more of a favorite color without remembering I already have them!

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This Czech chain was also something I found quite interesting. I think at least one piece of it is going into my current wire work. The wire links are black and the fire polish glass is in great color combinations.

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Hmmmm, looks like I bought Czech pressed glass today. Not a single strand of stone in the bunch.

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It's a good thing that the shows go on for 2 weeks. I'll have to go back for a day more than planned because I decided to come home early on account of the weather.