Tucson 2011 - Day 2

In the rush to find a hat, gloves, heavy socks and my winter coat, I forgot my camera. Low temperature records were broken all over southern Arizona. Wednesday night posted 5 degrees here in Tombstone and I lost most of my huge Nopal cactus. The poor thing looks very sad today. Water pipes were frozen & burst all over the place. Add to this interrupted natural gas supplies and daytime temps that hardly got out of the 20's. The Mayor of Tucson declared a sever weather emergency and closed all non-essential services & schools. Outside Gem Show vendors were either closed or wrapped in blankets or anything warm they could scare up.

I spent an hour at To Bead True Blue and it was a frustrating show as their vendor list didn't match the map and they couldn't tell me where people I wanted to see were. The layout was not good either as you couldn't flow from one place to another. Booths were tucked behind large plants, in odd corners and other out of the way places. I saw who I needed to see and left.

I was after some more 8/0 Toho nickel seed beads. Funny thing happened as a whole 4.5 lbs of seed beads got into my basket. They just jumped right in and said, "I'm going with you!" I picked up a couple of the newer Hybrid colors - luscious little things. Crystal AB - what the heck was I thinking? I don't do much with whites, but oh the sparkle. Must have been that AB sparkle.



I spent the afternoon at The Best Bead Show, meeting people and signing the new book, Triangular Bead Crochet Ropes". Which is now available in paper format from Amazon.

I've now restocked my stash of daggers and lentils. The Czech's are doing a glass that looks like a cross between moss agate and opal. So I now have daggers to go with some other shapes I bought Monday.

I saw slices everywhere at both shows. Sliced and tumbled glass bottle rings; slices of geodes, slices of other rocks and glass with large center holes. Large lamp worked glass rings as well as the same in resin. I'm wondering if some of those might work along with my black wire work experiments. I may have to get a few when I go back to Best Bead on Saturday and see what works. Or I need to figure out how to slice a bottle up and throw the rounds in my tumbler.

The weatherman promises that it will warm up now. I sure hope so as this area is ill equipped to handle sub-freezing temps. I guess I shouldn't complain as it happens about once in a hundred years. It could have held off in my lifetime.

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.

Before the Lights Went Out

An accident 9 blocks away left me without power most of the afternoon into the evening. It's been a long time since I've read by candle light. It makes one realize just how much technology has become ingrained in day-to-day life.

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Before the lights went out I had been doing some wire work. I'm still exploring black steel wire in conjunction with a bit of found objects, gemstones and crystals. I like the idea of the contrast between the materials. Somehow the crudeness of the wrought iron looking wire sets off the fineness of blue opals and faceted crystals.

The worst of this whole process is having to unlearn things. Some 35 years ago I was trained as a silversmith and spent a lot of time learning how to make perfect wire wrapped loops. Things were round, polished, buffed to a fine shine and everything had to be dead even. Now I'm trying to achieve a loose, semi-crude, casual effect with the black wire. I have to stop my hands from settling into old habits of controlled even wire wraps. It's been a lot of fun exploring with materials that are inexpensive. My old adage of, "it's not the materials but what you do with them" holds true here. I'm quite pleased with the end results.
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The funny thing about yesterday is that I went from a technology overload to reading by candle light in the same day. My business partner had been over with his collection of Android tablets to sort through which ones would really work for a portable beading tablet. We had tablets spread out all over the bead room. There were all sizes: 7", 8", 10" and different versions of the Droid systems. I'm strongly leaning towards an 8" tablet as it's big enough to see things on, yet small enough to put in a purse or stand on a beading table. I like the size and configuration of it. It's pleasing in the hands.

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Now he just needs to quit taking tablets apart to see what makes then run and concentrate on finishing up the program. Some men just never seem to grow up and can't resist opening things up to see what's inside.

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So far, I'm very pleased with what he's developed. Things like being able to touch a line of the string table and have it move up. That makes keeping your place so much easier.

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Most weeks here in the Arizona winter are nice and dull quiet .... then along comes a day when so many things happen that it leaves your head spinning. A batch of quiet hours to do nothing but read or bead was a gift that finished off the day quite nicely.

Tucson Gem Show 2011

It's that time again! I have a budget, I've made a list and am ready to attend several of the Tucson Gem Shows. I'm looking for polka dotted daggers, funky, ethnic metal charms, finished jewelery for my Daughter-in-Law and anything unusual and interesting. Oh and maybe a fossil specimen to hang on the wall.

Despite it's name, the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show is not a single show, but rather a large group of shows and exhibitions appearing in Tucson over a two week time frame. This year there are over 40 separate shows. Every self-respecting jewelry lover, beader and rock hound should make it a point to make the pilgrimage at least once during their lifetime.

Vendors descend on this sleepy town in huge numbers to peddle their wares to a crowd of hobbyists, retailers, rockhounds, wholesalers, and deal-seekers. Hotel rooms and rental cars are as scarce as hen's teeth.

Characters abound.....

Competition is fierce in terms of both price and quality. With tight margins and lots of products, the market is often skewed in the buyer's favor. What's at the Tucson Gem Show? Everything from "rough" minerals (unpolished rocks) to finished jewelry. Beads are in abundance, including glass, semiprecious, precious metals and obscure cuts and species of stone. There are wholesale shows and retail shows, shows for high-end stones, bead shows, shows that focus on rough, and everything in between.

Vendors come from all over the world, just to sell at this once-a-year extravaganza called the Tucson Gem Show. It's mind boggling......