2008 Tucson Show Report

First impressions... GAUDY, oh so gaudy with dyed gemstones everywhere in colors Mother Nature never thought of. Dyed pinks in shades from neon to pale baby pink; bright oranges, neon greens, and eye-blinding purples! Well, I forgot the camera and since I wouldn't consider buying any of those colors, the visual will have to wait.

The strands that caught my eye were the matte onyx beads that you wanted to just fondle and run through your fingers. Next were the matte agates and some of which were added to my collection. Somehow, matte has had more of an appeal than the bright shiney, glitzy faceted beads.


Then there was copper, lots of copper findings at a reasonable wholesale price of 15 cents/gram. I finally found cones that will finish a crocheted turquoise and coral necklace that has been waiting for a year now.


One of my favorite vendors, Wild Things, is at the shows with 2 booths. I always end up spending more than I expected on their Czech pressed glass beads and buttons. Here are some of my finds at Wild Things:

On the back cover of my first book, "Bead Crochet Ropes" is a bracelet that Cathy Lee did with old vintage curled petals in the only color she had (orange). I was excited to see that Wild Things had new stock of the old shape in a selection of lucious colors. I got a great mossy green and sort of a purple iris color. Now to figure out once again how to string a caterpiller bracelet so the petals all curl up over one side.










While at their booth I picked up a bunch of daggers and quickly realized that they were 2-hole daggers! I asked if they had any in other colors and was told that they didn't have any 2-hole daggers. What a hoot.... I had something in my hand that the vendors didn't even know they had. The color really doesn't speak to me, but I bought them anyway because they were so different and had new design possibilities. Hopefully Wild Things will realize what a unique product they have and get some in other colors.


oh, oh.... Blogger's spell check isn't working and I'm one of the world's worst spellers.... guess I'll post anyway and go back and spell check later on... sorry!

Tucson Gem Shows

I'll be at The Best Bead Show

....at Judy Kintner's booth.

Just look for "The Bead Spinner Lady"

It's booth MH-59

on:

Wednesday, Feb 6th - afternoon

Saturday, Feb 9th - afternoon

COPPER

The other day I was at Lowe's looking for nails and screws when I came across rolls of copper flashing. What a beautiful craft medium. Lowe's carried "Top Cop" in 20' rolls, but in several different widths. The 10" wide roll I bought coat me $26.






It's a paper backed copper foil that is quite heavy but very flexible. It cuts beautifully with scissors.





It does have some sort of coating that keeps it shiny. You have to work at it with a scotch bright pad or sandpaper if you want to age it.



I found it easy to punch with a simple hole punch.




I also found that it embossed quite readily with a hard-tipped pen.






This solves my on-going problem of how to back and display my Bead Journal pages. I can now see all 12 pieces with a copper tab at the top with small copper rivets. I'd use handmade "S" hooks over a thin copper or brass rod. Simple, elegant and exactly what I wanted.


As an aside... I used most of the roll to cover the top of a bedside table and the scraps will undoubtedly show up in other projects in the future.

Only in Tombstone

I was sitting waiting for my Doctor's appointment today, doing a bit of bead crochet, when it occurred to me that maybe I had fallen into a time warp. The waiting room was the audience portion of Schefflin Hall with a stage and hard wooden benches. It's the oldest 2 story adobe building in AZ, built in 1881. There was one couple sitting a few rows up from me talking and I could understand only two thirds of what they were saying - they were speaking a mix of English, Spanish and Papago. Then there were the two aging cowboys in front of me ... dusty, down-at-the heel boots, white hair in ponytails and cowboy hats that looked like they hadn't been off their heads for 40 years (or more) ... talking about what I thought were their girlfriends (or wives). It took me more than a few minutes to figure out that they were really talking about their horses! When they called my name, I got up, walked through the theatrical-style lobby, outside to the Chiricahua Clinic's Mobile Medical van parked on Fremont St. The van comes to Tombstone on the first Monday of the month. I sat inside the modern van, talking with the Doctor while 20-30 mph gusts of wind made the vehicle shudder. What a trip back in time and then quickly forward again to modern medicine!

The broad street that you see in the photo, goes through the center of town and dates from the 1880's when that width was needed to turn a 20-mule wagon team around for the silver mines.