Tucson Report II

DONE SHOPPING .... for another year I've finished my two weeks of Tucson Gem & Mineral Shows.... my feet hurt and I'm tired - I'm in sensory overload with all I've looked at. The knitted felt bag you see on the chair went with me every day and was the hit of the shows. I got stopped numerous times by people admiring it. Two people asked if they could take photos to show to friends with the cry, "I want them to do one for me!" Thanks Jen, it's a big hit and I love it.

At the Holidome I took several breaks just to listen to the Andean Nation play. I love listening to the music of the high Altiplano pan pipes.

I did the Holidome with my sister Tina, Cherie and Annette - 3 tents, 10 hours and very full bags of neat things. The one thing about the shows that impressed me was the attitude of all of the shuttle and transport drivers: all cheerful, usually funny, and very helpful.

Going on a Wednesday meant that it was not as crowded as on other days.

The next day Annette and I went to the Palo Verde Show to have fun and to look at the rocks & mineral specimens. We admired what Mother Nature offered up. Rutilated quartz was everywhere and when it was back lit you could see what looked like fine hairs within the specimens.

I found one fluorite sphere that had my Daughter-in-law's name on it. I can enjoy holding it and looking into it until I return to NH and hand it over to it's owner.

LOOT......

Here is a selection of things that I found interesting and which came home with me. The turquoise and coral will become a "Snazzy Chain" necklace.

Other than the 11/0 1-cut marcasite beads, I didn't add any seed beads to my collection. I was fascinated with the matte black onyx that I saw here and there. I bought myself a few strands of 6 mm rondells. I'm not sure what I will be doing with these stone accent beads, but they will go into my collection waiting for that creative urge to use them.

My very last stop was at Gary Wilson's booth for a selection of his unusual beads and cabs. This year I brought home drilled rocks - no fancy, polished minerals.... just rather neat rocks. They contrast so well with the delicacy of seed beads.

Six Weird Things About Me

I've been tagged by Bev. The rules are: Each person who gets tagged needs to write a blog post telling 6 weird things about themselves... as well as clearly state the rules. After you state your 6 weird things, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Don't forget to leave a comment that says "you're tagged" in their comments and tell them to read your blog for information as to what it means."Go to my blog to see the instructions".


1.- I wear flip-flops year round, and socks only when the snow gets deep.

2.- I bead in bed.

3.- I have two studios; one in the East & one in the West.

4.- A favorite treat is sauteed chicken livers.

5.- I am guaranteed to wrinkle... and I have a beaded pin that I wear that says so!

6.- I collect old kitchen things and have about 100
returnable tin pie plates that say something.

I have not tagged anyone else as everyone I would consider tagging has already been asked to play along.

Tucson Report

Spending the winters in Tombstone AZ allows me the fun of attending the Tucson Gem & Mineral Shows on my own schedule and sleep in my own bed every night. I'm half way through what I need to do and want to see. Doing just a small portion of the 43 listed shows can be physically and mentally exhausting.

I spent several days at the Best Bead Show with Judy Kintner, the Bead Spinner Lady, signing my books, talking to other bead crocheters and demonstrating bead crocheted ropes. Judy and I have fun once a year catching up with each other's lives and I get to meet a wide range of people who want to learn the technique or talk about what they've done.


I spent one day at the Manning House Show catching up with people I knew. After years of corresponding, I finally got to meet Sig Wynne-Evans in person. She is as delightful in person as in email and we had a nice long visit. I was accompanied by a friend and it was interesting to view the beading world through the eyes of a non-beading male, computer oriented person. He was interested in how patterns are done and the variations of ways they get listed out. I guess you could say that beading patterns could be computer code for a beaded project.

While I was at the Manning House, I treated myself to a set of John Winter's unusual glass beads in a beautiful floral, black matte color. So far I just seem to be collecting and haven't used any of the beads I've bought from him. One of these days I'm going to have to actually use some of them instead of just admiring them.


This next week will be working trips to several wholesale shows to see the direct importers. I'll be looking for what's different this year, stocking up on sterling, findings and probably stone beads. So far I haven't seen anything really new and "Oh Wow" things. I may skip the Rodeway show that I usually go to as my sister went this past week and said she was really disappointed in what was there. The only reason to go would be to visit Wild Things and see if they have re-stocked their 11/0 marcasite seed beads. However, if I don't go, I won't be tempted to splurge on their large selection of Czech pressed glass accent beads.

It's been an interesting week that culminated in a misunderstanding of just where one could and could not park in Tucson and a $150 parking ticket..... Oh, the beads I could have bought for the price of a parking ticket!

Payson AZ Bead Cave

This past weekend I made a trip to Payson AZ, nestled below the Mogollon Rim. It is five hours north of Tombstone and I chuckled to think that I had to go north to get warm. It was 30 degrees and snowing as I left Tombstone, 60 degrees in Tucson and 70 degrees in Phoenix. This was a spur of the moment bead road trip that culminated in a bead cave. I stopped in Sun City and toured the new, beautifully organized studio of my long time friend, Crystal . Then we packed her beads in the car and headed out for Payson. I had never been in that part of Arizona and only knew it as a colored road line on a map. What a gorgeous surprise as we climbed into high country and rounded curves to see valleys laid out below us. It was breathtaking country.

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We arrived at Jo's home and were warmly greeted by her and the bead group already there. We beaded, looked at bead eye candy, shopped for beads, and laughed a lot as we got to know each other. And then we ate.... oh did we eat well at this cave.
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Jo's studio is all windows that look out at the mountains. It was hard to keep my eyes on my beadwork and not just look out the windows. I'm terrible with names the first time I meet a group of people and - some I remember, but don't know how to spell - some I can spell, but don't remember - so I won't embarrass myself by putting wrong names to the faces in these photos. I can claim age-related memory problems - right? They are all a great group of talented people and we shared beading techniques, supplies, beads and lots & lots of raucous laughter. Jo's hospitality was unsurpassed and it was one of the most elegant and comfortable bead caves I've attended in a long time. I can't wait to go back for another round of laughter and good company. Jo, many thanks for being the hostess for this great time.

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~Creativity Notes

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I finally had the time to try out Robin Adkins' "Finger Weaving" and for the first time in a long while actually finished a complete piece at a bead cave.

What a fun way to use up an eclectic mix of odd beads and charms. Somehow, people kept adding odd colored green beads to my mix and my bracelet came out looking like a forest in early Summer. C-Lon cording was the perfect base for this project; stiff enough to weave with crispness; and supple enough to give the finished bracelet a nice hand. Robin's instructions and photos are quite clear and easy to follow. I'm very pleased with the results and see many other possibilities.