Showing posts with label Beads. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Beads. Show all posts

My First Bead Soup!

I'm getting excited for my first "Bead Soup Blog Party"!! And no, you don't exchange soup recipes on your blog. Although that would be rather yummy - this is probably a bit more colorful!

Lori Anderson's having a Bead Soup Blog Party over on her blog "Pretty Things" and there's a BA-Zillion people signed up! (Well, almost!)

I've peeked in on some of the past Bead Soup Blog Parties and have completely drooled over the beautiful pieces folks have put together out of the beads they were sent. There are some talented people out there, that's for sure!

I've got my focal bead, my clasp and my other beads all put together and am waiting to see who my soup partner is so I can send them off this week. I hope they like what I've picked out. I'd love to post a pic of what I'm sending, but I'm not sure that's allowed!!

I must say though, that they're pretty 'safe' - color wise - and not too risky or anything. I know I'd love to get them and create something beautiful out of them, so I'm guessing it'll be okay! But, you want to know what's totally freaky?  I didn't include one single pearl - NOT ONE!  That's the most unusual thing I've done all week - so out of character for me. But, I'm not going back and 're-doing' my bead soup mix that I'm giving away because I love the focal bead and the clasp too much and the beads I picked go quite well with them - pearls just didn't make the mix this time! Oh my,...pearls not making the mix,...that just hurts to say! 
"Pearl Stash" from one of my trips
to the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show


Any Hoo,.....Go ahead and hop on over to Lori's blog - "Pretty Things" - and check out the details of the Bead Soup so that next time around, you can participate too!

Have a great week everyone!!

Until Next Time,
Peace, Love and Here's to a Cup of Bead Soup!
Cheers,
~Shel~
"Peace Baby"
Labrodorite and Kyanite Bead "Sculpture"

Tucson Gem/Bead Show Finds!!



Wow! The 2010 Tucson Gem and Mineral Show (and, Bead Shows, too!) were fantastic this year - as usual.
Each year we try to find some super "fun" things to bring back and play with like these super-cool multi-colored stones pictured above and the mod peace signs you see at the bottom of this post - how fun are these!?!
We had a great time walking around and drooling over all the beautiful gemstones, beads, carvings, fossils and everything in between!

We met some new people and swapped stories of "Who's got the best,......and what show are they at this year?" We chatted with some familiar faces and trusted vendors, watched cool demonstrations on Kumihimo Braiding, Stamping, Metal Etching, Pearl Knotting and much more!

We've returned from Tucson and have finally 'cataloged' all our our items and wanted to share some of our cool treasures and also some of our "Just for the fun of it" finds with you as well.


We visited so many vendors and places and here are just a few:
Majestic Pearl - Pearls, Pearls, and MORE Pearls!!
Pearl Concepts - Your guessed it - Pearls!
Anil Kumar - Beautiful gemstones, silver and vermeil findings. (510-498-855)
The Realm of the Goddess - 24k gold dipped leaves, chain galore, pendants, and more.
Cargo Hold - Wonderful selection of pendants, chain and findings.
Beaducation - Geat supplier for metal stamping tools, online classes and jewelry supplies.
Hip Chick Beads - Charms, clasps, stamping tools, connectors, etc.
Object and Elements - Cool findings, great designs.
The Fiber Goddess - Exotic, hand-dyed fibers, kits for weaving/braiding cords, etc.
Rio Grande - Catalog in Motion - way cool tools!
Swarovski Crystal - Crystals, Crystals and more Crystals!!
Bokamo Designs - Boro Glass Beads - Beauitufl!!
Kent's Tools - Tools, tools, and more cool tools!
1239 Corp - Semi-Precious Stones and Pearls (212-889-0555)
Evergreen Trading Co - Freshwater Pearls (626-279-2723)
Shivam Imports - Precious and Semi-Precious Gemstones and Diamonds
Prominent Gems and Rough - Gemstone Beads and Loose Gem Stones (212-730-1562)
The Bead Palce - Beads, Beads, and more Beads!
Queenly Global Trading - Beads, Crystals, Pendants and More!




We've got some spring jewelry designs we'll be putting up on the website and our MiShel Designs Facebook Fan page in the next couple of weeks - so be on the look out!



Until Next Time,

Peace, Love and Pearls, Baby!!

(And all kinds of fun finds from the Tucson Gem/Mineral and Bead Shows!!)

Cheers!
~Shel~