Bead Show Shopping Suggestions

It's almost that time of year again when everyone starts looking at for their favorite bead shows. You look at inventory and what you might possibly be making this year and then you start making a list, checking it two or three times, or more, and cross check it with your current inventory and future needs and of course the dreaded budget. Ok, maybe not everyone is as detail oriented as me. So, how does one try to keep their budget under control. I know it’s hard to resist buying from all the national and international vendors that bring direct to you their beads, findings, pendants, wire, tools, and even finished products. So ask yourself what to do, how to be a smart shopper and avoid the ‘impulse buys’ by getting prepared.

Here is list of a few suggestions that I follow for ever bead show I attend....ok, so not everyone is as detailed as me!

1) So when will bead shows be in your area? Check the sites of your favorite venders, they will often list what shows they will be attending through-out the year. Also, you might check with your local bead and lapidary shops for additional shows in your area.

2) Set a budget as to what you will spend; this may be determined by stock you are out of and some left over for purchases of specialty items. This is where “impulse buying comes into play”.

3) Bring a couple of checks, plenty of cash and your credit cards just in case you run into someone who doesn’t take one or the other.

4) Be sure to bring a copy of your Tax ID certificate and plenty of business cards. Some shows are known as wholesale only and will require these items for entrance. If it is a public show, don’t be afraid to ask the vendors for a wholesale discount and provide both these items to them to get a discount.  Note:  When asking for discounts be prepared to purchase in large volumes in order to get a better deal.  Many vendors are looknig for volume sales verses smaller purchase to give a buyer any type of discount.

5) Make a list of items you are out of; these will be the first things to look for at the show. If I know that I’ll be buying from previous vendors, I’ll group those items together on the list for ease.

6) I also make a list of items I am looking for and want; it could be stones or pendants I’ve seen online or a combination of colors in another design. This helps to keep the ‘impulse’ buying down by knowing what you are looking for and can afford.

7) Wear comfortable shoes and bring a bag or small rolling suitcase to load all your goodies into.

8) Include in your shopping bag several sizes of zip lock bags; as you find things that go together, put them in the little baggies, this makes it easy to determine why you purchased these little gems when you get home.

9) Paper and pen; I bring paper and pen to mark bead names if they are not already marked. This makes identifying much easier than guessing or having to go through the process to identify each unknown stone or pendant.

10) If you are looking to match a pendant, beads or color combination you already have; bring a few of these on a string or in a baggie to match-up at the bead show. This takes the guess work out of ‘thinking’ something matched and finding out later it wasn’t even close.

11) Bring baby wipes for easy cleanup; looking through tons of strands of beads and boxes of findings can get a little messy and dusty.

12) Look for suppliers whose ads you’ve seen for products you’re interested in. Bring the ad if possible and look for those products; this is the perfect place to handle these items before purchasing to determine if this is what you really wanted.

13) Take breaks and rest, get something to eat, drink plenty of fluids and take time to review your shopping list and bag; typically it takes an entire day to attend a bead show.

14) Last but not least; this takes willpower but walk the entire show first to see what is available, check out pricing and watch what others are buying. Many vendors have the same products and offer different discounts; look for the best quality and prices available. Make note as to vendors you want to return to for purchases of those goodies after you have finished walking the whole show.

15) Above all --- be a smart shopper and have fun!

Now start your shopping list, get going and Good Luck!

Fossilized Sea Creature - Crinoids

Crinoids appeared in the oceans in the Early Ordovician Period, 480 million years ago, and thrived throughout the Palaeozoic Era. Thy are an unusually beautiful and graceful kind of sea animal and are among the most ancient and primitive of ocean invertebrates.  The creature can resemble that of an underwater flower growing on thick stems with some parts that look and act like roots anchoring them to the ocean floor; sometimes they are called sea lilies. Other varieties have no stalks or root like parts and are commonly known as feather stars and move about on tiny hook like structures called cirri. Crinoids are echinoderms, with the flower part being the arms that catch its food; attaching themselves to the bottom of the sea floor or a rock or a piece of wood with the root-like hold fast.

Crinoids fossilize readily and so there is an abundance of them to be found, mostly stalk fragments, finding them as a whole creature is extremely rare and very uncommon. There are 2 reasons that they fossilize so easily; one, the ocean floor is a good environment for fossilization to occur; and two, their skeletons are made of calcareous plates. This is a hard rock like material. Almost all varieties of crinoids have been extinct since the end of the Triassic period, but a few species exist to this day, mostly in deep sea and there are more than 600 living species known to science.

Best of our Rock Yard - Fossils to Minerals to Rocks

Old earth comes to life using fossils, minerals and raw rocks in our Rock Yard Collection. Pendants from featuring millions year old fossils such as ammonites, orthoceras, gonitatites, sand dollars, amethyst, and more. So here's our Best of the Year from our Rock Yard Collection.....see if your favorite or the one you purchased made the list!

Our Rock Yard Collection is artisan crafted of designs that are classy, elegant, funky, and chic in necklaces sets and pendants in both single and sets. These designs feature free form wire work and wire working techniques. Here's the Best of 2011 from the Rock Yard Collection.....

 

Black ammonite fossils in matching pendant & earrings (to the right). Baby white ammonite fossil pendant (to the left) is the highlight of a black themed set.

Madagascar sand dollars featured in necklace set (to the right) or wear single with earrings (to the left).

Old gonitate fossil that has soft earthy colors paired with glass or freshwater cultured pearls and natural stones.

Red fire ammonite pendants that shimmer (to the right) or natural ammonite  (to the left) that have lovely soft colors.

Moroccan orthoceras fossils in black and white (to the left) hung as the focal to charms; but also in shades of olive and black (to the right) with natural stone and ceramic beads.

Stay tuned for the more of our 'Best of the Year' from each collection!

Best of our Wiry Legends Collection

All about the wire, metal, chain, wraps, cages, and everything in-between is our Wiry Legends Collection. The techniques used create bold and funky statements mixed with an array of natural stones, crystals and glass are much sought jewelry among our customers. These designs are a mix of different pendants wrapped and wired of minerals and fossils that collide with chains or hand forged links, wraps and cages. So here's our Best of the Year from our Wiry Legends Collection.....see if your favorite or the one you purchased made the list!

Our Wiry Legends Collection are funky, sassy and bold jewelry designs from necklaces to pendants to bracelets and earrings. The majority of these designs feature wire work and metal and wire working techniques. Here's the Best of 2011 from the Mystic Artisan Collection.....

 

Back by popular demand is our single pendant, wire wrapped agates and hand bailed stone pendants. To take some of them up a notch, we added in earrings for a complete set.  (Single amethyst chunk pendant to the right; agate slice & earrings to the left)

  

  

In this necklace (to the left) I've coiled and wired several of the hand-painted faceted agate stones with hand twisted coils as accents; the rest of the necklace is cultured freshwater pearls and crystals. I added the same to the earrings for dangles.

  

A stunning chunk of amethyst hand wire wrapped as a focal pendant in this necklace (to the right); finished with wire accented turquoise coins and carved red star jasper.

An unusal stone from Brazil is the Oco agate slice, (to the left) cut from a geode these beautiful pendants are all hand wire wrapped; this one is featured with cultured freshwater pearls, crystals and peach aventurine.

Another agate slice (to the right) all natural colored and hand wire wrapped; set with faceted crystals and navy blue faceted cracked agate.

Stay tuned for the more of our 'Best of the Year' from each collection!

More from the List - Mystic Artisan

One of our most sought after collections is the Mystic Artisan Collection. The mix and mingle of stones, pearls and crystals into elegant and classy designs is everyone's favorite. This is our biggest collection, so the competition was difficult to choice just a few 'best of the year'. So here's our Best of the Year from our Mystic Artisan Collection.....see if your favorite or the one you purchased made the list!

Our Mystic Artisan Collection are classic and high-end elegant styles. The majority of the stones used in this collection are crystals, dichroic glass, cloisonne beads, pearls, agates, jaspers, and more. The natural stones are combined with different metals and other natural stones. Here's the Best of 2011 from the Mystic Artisan Collection.....

 

Bracelets (to the left) made an appearance this year in our jewelry collections, the style is sleek and full of bling with a twist of wire sculpture. This one features my favorite color blue; all faceted crystal, cloisonne beads and hand twisted coils to finished the ends.

Bold tiger stripes in dichroic glass pendant and earrings (to the right) is featured of this necklace; soft colored lampwork coin beads and lots of crystal and cultured freshwater pearls complete this set lovely set.

A set of classy and sassy earrings (to the left) with a murano glass pendant at the center and lots of swarvoski crystals charmed above.

Full of spring and summer (to the right), the feature is a lovely ceramic pendant done with hand painted flowers; the strands are all faceted crystals in complimenting colors.

This set features a big doughnut pendant (to the left) in chalcedony blue and the bail is hand wire wrapped; the strands are all faceted onyx with a mix of lampwork and borosilicate beads.

Stay tuned for more of our 'Best of the Year' from each collection!

So Did Yours Make The List - Southwest Designs

Well...it's that time of year when I do a 'replay' and 'revisit' my favorite designs from the year. There were plenty this year and it's been really tough to determine which one to put as the Best of the Year. We'll start with the Southwest Flair Collection.....see if your favorite or the one you purchased made the list!

Our Southwest Flair Collection is a twisted mix of classic and modern styles. The majority of the stones used in this collection are turquoise, spiny oyster, coral, magnesite, jasper, agate, and onyx. The natural stones are combined with different metals, glass and crystals, lampwork and dichroic glass. 

Here's the Best of 2011 from the Southwest Flair Collection.....

This design (to the right) features a nice silver textured pendant, turquoise barrels, Arizona ivoryite, and a touch of faceted crystals.

This design (to the left) was a dip into a one-solid color theme featuring a nice ax shaped sponge coral pendant, red (dyed) coral disks, lampwork and cloisonne beads with long chain extenders.

In this design (to the right) we combined several techniques, wire work and charming. At the center drop is a beautiful turquoise doughnut pendant and tons of charms in faceted crystals and cultured freshwater pearls. A couple of lampwork beads on the ends and everything is strung onto a braided leather cord.

Earrings (to the left) were not to be forgotten and this pair is all about the dangle and charms of faceted crystals!

This is a custom order (to the right) for a customer that loves turquoise and I added in copper colored cultured freshwater pearls and copper metals. The set included a bracelet that was sized to the customer's wrist. 

Stay tuned for the rest of our 'Best of the Year' from each collection!

Metallic Tech Geek Element

It looks to be like a metallic tech geek something or other; but really it's Bismuth.  Bismuth; a cool, geek/tech, metallic, and strange, usually lab created element that is grown in all kinds of odd shapes and reflect very different metallic colors. This is a new find for me and one that is just striking and a very eclectic addition to our Fossil-Mineral-Rock Collection.

These are very heavy and fragile eggs in a purified form of bismuth, artificially grown and lab created. The crystals grow at a very rapid pace forming very unusual and interesting shapes. The colors are natural and form from an iridescent tarnish that shows many refractive colors upon exposure to air. The edges of the crystals are fully developed, but the interior spaces are hollowed, which causes the step lattice formation. Because of their rapid rate of growth and brilliant colors, no two are ever exactly alike.

Here's a little about Bismuth......Bismuth is very interesting and unusual, it is a metallic chemical element which is classified among the group of elements colloquially known as 'poor elements' in the periodic table. The element has a number of uses, making it common in industrial applications. In addition to occurring in various minerals, bismuth also can be found in pure form in nature, though very rarely.
 
 When it is pure, bismuth is white with a reddish tinge, and sometimes almost pink. It is a crystalline chemical structure which makes it extremely brittle, and it is rather unique among the elements for having a liquid state which is more dense than its solid state; water shares this interesting property. On the periodic table of elements, bismuth is identified as Bi, and has an atomic number of 83.

Bismuth, the name for the element comes from the German Wismuth, which means derived from webe Masse, which means “white mass”. The element was known in the ancient world, although it was sometimes confused with tin and lead. By the 1400s, people had begun to suspect that bismuth was a distinct chemical element, but it was not isolated until 1753; Claud Groffroy is typically given credit for the identification of bismuth as an element.


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