Sun Shine and Sparkle

So it's been a while! I've been looking forward to going to the infamous bead show for sometime now, and in its shadow nothing else seemed very blog-worthy. But I'm back and have so much to share. I flew down to sunny Arizona last Thursday where I had the pleasure of staying with my lovely eldest sister, Becky, AND was able to meet the latest edition to her family. What a beautiful boy! While there, I was treated to Barrow's Pizza (not once, but twice!) and a delicious lunch at the tasty (and famous) Chino Bandido. Mmmm, Jade Red chicken. Did you know that's where I took my husband for lunch on our wedding day? It's true.

Of course all these fun activities were just pre-cursors to the main event. Saturday I drove down to Tucson with my Mom and sister, Nancy. We heard on the radio that there were something like 45 different show locations all over town, and we only went to two! We're talking tents the size of football fields filled to the brim with beads, gemstones, jewelry, etc. Here's a little sampling a what I bought this year:

(clockwise from top left: moonstone, citrine, aquamarine, labradorite, pearls in various colors and sizes, moonstone, pink quartz, labradorite)

Clockwise from top left: (crystal, Venetian blown glass, glass, lemon quartz, and....I don't remember)

I also purchased some glass beads, and I'll post pictures of those later. I'll be using them at a church craft night class I'm teaching on the 20th. I'll be showing how to make simple earrings. Anyone in the area is welcome to attend, so contact me if you're interested. I also got some non-sparkly things like wire, crimps, ear wires, you know, the boring stuff. Monday morning my mom and I drove back to UT in the rain and snow. The drive itself wasn't so bad, but I was a little sad to leave the sunshine. Fortunately, we loaded up on oranges, grapefruits and lemons from my sister's trees. And it's a good thing I have all that vitamin C, because I also brought home a cold. Bummer. But the rock star had a little something for me at home to make me smile. What a nice boy he is!

Big Finds at the Bead Show

Last weekend I went down to sunny AZ (oh, it was beautiful!) to visit family and go to the International Gem and Bead Show in Tucson. It was awesome, as always. I spent all of Friday with my mom and two sisters perusing isle after isle of beads and gems. I make most of my bead purchases for the year at this show. There are thousands of booths literally piled high with strands of beads and gems. It's somewhat mind boggling. Here are pictures of some of my purchases:

(clockwise from the top left: dyed jade, dyed jade, opal, chalcedony, rose quartz)

(clockwise from the top left: dyed jade, dyed jade, pink peruvian opal)

(left to right: garnet, carnelian, citrine, apatite, moonstone, black garnet)

One of the purchases I'm most excited about was actually not beads, and was my least expensive purchase....

A neck!

I've re-taken pictures of the three necklaces I have for sale in my etsy shop because they look so much better hanging on the neck. What do you think?

Gems and Jewels

Madre and I went to a bead show in Salt Lake about two weekends ago. I even took some pictures of the beads I bought, but I failed to post them. I'm such a failure! So here they are, in their raw state:

apple turquoise pendant

aquamarine

garnet

coral

carnelian

These last two beads are topaz and citrine. I used them in my latest project:

I had never used citrine before, but I decided I really like it. It has an interesting luster with almost a bluish cast, a lot like labradorite or moonstone. I think I'll start using it more often. In case you're curious the other two beads used in this necklace are amazonite (which Brian pronounces "amazin-ite!") and pearl. It's a two strand necklace that sits just past the base of my neck when it's on. Let me know what you think!