Winter/Spring Bead Shows in Review

As the summer season is just about here, I usually take a few moments to look back and review the various bead shows that I’ve attended. I have not been paid or compensated in anyway by vendors or show promoters. The review is based solely on my opinion and experiences of the shows that I’ve attended. Without further ado, here’s my review!

Tucson (February)
The ‘Big Daddy’ of them all and if you get the opportunity to attend just one or two shows, you’ve probably become addicted and overwhelmed!
Pros: The freeway construction had been completed way in advance of the big event. This made for getting around quickly and easily. Most shows were full of vendors, large selection of beads, pendants, findings, finished goods, etc. Prices from what I purchased and saw at several shows about the same or slightly higher than last year.
Cons: The free shuttle service that was previously funded by the state was no longer available. A few shows had shuttle services between their shows (GL&W, JOGS, AGTA); however to get to the majority of the shows one had to rent a car and park. I missed the unique cuts, styles, and stones that Tucson is particularly known for and many of the vendors carried the same items from booth to booth.
Overall: You be the judge, like I said, if you get the opportunity to attend the shows then do so, it’s well worth the trip!

San Antonio Bead Market (February); Rings & Things Traveling Show (March)
Because of my Tucson trip, I skipped both of these shows early in the year here in San Antonio.

Southwest Gem & Mineral Society Show (March)
This is a mixture of lapidary, beads, teaching/instructional, and demo/displays.
Pros: I really like this show, to experience a mixture of lapidary, instructional/teaching, and displays makes it worth attending. There is a good selection of slabs, raw materials, fossils, minerals, and a lot of displays.
Cons: The show had more finished jewelry than usual and I would like to have seen more vendors in the area of tools and machinery, more slabs and raw materials and a lot less jewelry
Overall: Not a bad show in my opinion, but could use more in the way of teaching and classes from the area universities.

Parker Trade Show (March & May)
This is a quarterly wholesale only show held in San Antonio. The venue has changed for this show starting this year. It is now held across town from me at the San Antonio Convention Center.
Cons: Smaller venue, crowded smaller isles, less parking and most of the big vendors were noticeable absent from this show. I experienced less bead/finding vendors than normal and more in the finished jewelry and household goods; this is becoming a disappointing show in my opinion, one that I’m not sure I will keep on my list to continue driving across town to attend.
Overall: Unless this show changes venues, less finished product and return of the high-end quality vendors back, this is one I’m not sure I’ll keep on my list for the future.

San Antonio Bead & Ornament Society (May)
This is the SABO annual show for beads and some finished product.
Cons: What used to be a very good show is now about half of is previous year shows. It lacked quality and high-end vendors, too many vendors repeat at every single show with the same product. It also lacked a selection of finding vendors.
Overall: This show is not up to my expectations from previous years. It lacks the quality, selection and elite it was once known.

Overall assessment of the Winter/Spring bead show season:
These are just a few of the shows I attended, but there were at least 8 more shows that I did not attend also held here in the San Antonio area from February to May. Usually San Antonio only sees about 4-6 shows in this same time period; with this large influx of shows and the same vendors, same inventory at every show it is spreading both sellers and buyers quite thin. What I did see is that many are choosing to come to the bigger shows rather than opting for the smaller multi-single shows.

Many vendors that I talked to at several shows stated the same thing; little buying and what buying going on was in small quantities, gone are the large multi-purchases. Many indicated that sells are way down and getting less with each passing show; several stated they didn’t know if they would be re-turning to the San Antonio area for any shows. At this point, only time will tell what is in the future for bead shows.

Turquoise in Mosaic

I love the colors of these beads; bit shades of green with a hint of rust or blue among them, known at mosaic Turquoise. Though not entirely a natural stone, these beads are made from composites of crushed Turquoise bits. They make beautiful matrix beads and great additions to any piece of jewelry; rather the center of attention or as an accent to natural stones, crystals, metals or ceramics.

This set is made from the small more dominate green mosaic Turquoise beads, then mixed with toffee colored ceramic beads, gold spacer disks and light gold-lined glass seed beads; the highlight is button Ammonite handcrafted in brass non-tarinish wire.

Visit our collections for available designs from an array of stones and raw materials.

Yummy Yellow Calcite

Sweet summery shade of yellow Calcite in graduated rounds and then accented with creamy pearls and golden saucers. A beautiful set from Gayle, available in our collections with many other distant designs.

Calcite: Purification, peace, calming, memory, awareness, appreciation of nature.
Pearl: Purity, faith, charity, innocence, integrity, focus, wisdom, spirituality, sincerity, fertility.

Red Explosion Coral

Explosions of red coral in chic jewelry fashions! Using the natural stone Coral as a focal, each design is created with imagination, depth and classic style; here’s how they are created and seen through the eyes of two different jewelry designers.



The first design to the right is designed by me, using tiny red and black Coral branches with additions of tiny white seed beads and silver spacers; highlighting a stunning handcrafted in non-tarnish silver wire natural Brazilian Oco Agate that displays a black background with wavy white veins and a hint of red.








The second to the left is designed by Gayle in a graduated combination of Coral and black Jet disks then accenting througout with faceted Onyx stones and fancy spacers. This special set includes all three pieces - necklace, bracelet and earrings.

Coral: Diplomacy, quieting emotions, visualization.
Agates: Balancing physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual energies; perceptiveness, strength, inspiration, awakening talents.
Onyx: Self-control, decision making, intuition, recognition of personal strengths.

See these and many other designs available for purchase in our collections.

Multi Colored Turquoise

Capturing the beauty within the Southwest, graduated all natural Chinese Turquoise in an array of exploding colors blue, green, rust, olive and black then accented with pewter spacers and toggle. This is a stunner for summer and fall or any time of year with jeans and a t-shirt or that little black dress; designed by Gayle. Look for this design and several others in our collections.

Turquoise: Spiritual attunement, cleansing, healing, protection, valor, soothing, peace of mind, guidance through the unknown, romantic spontaneity.

Sapphire Not Just for the Gemstone

Well, the name sapphire just doesn’t extend to the gemstone, it also in this case is the name of one of the most stunning beaches in the Caribbean --

Sapphire Beach located on St. Thomas. Yes, the clear waters are a crisp clear blue with creamy sandy beaches and it is just as beautiful as the gemstone itself.

Wire Working Tools

So we discussed working with wire, but what about the tools used for wire working. There are several different types of jewelry making tool. I started out with the most common of the type, beading; and grew into wire working and sculpting. As I learn each technique and put my own twist of creativity into the design, I move into other more advanced or new techniques and types of jewelry making.

Here are a few of the most common used wire working tools; at least from my studio. I would recommend first though, before investing into the tools and wire that you take a class from your local craft, hobby or beading store. This will give you the chance to really get your hands ‘dirty’ before putting out the money in the right tools and wire.

Wire working tool are some of the same ones that are used in every type of jewelry making; however there are a few specialty tools for working with heavy gauge wire and to make things like jump rings, connectors and findings. Here are some of the more common essential wire working tools. In future posts, I’ll be listing some specialty wire working tools and techniques.

Bent Nose Pliers(to the right): Use these to shape or straighten wire and to hold it in place while using other tools. I keep a pair of both large and small sizes to fit most projects. Inspect your pliers before purchase and avoid any with notches on the inside as that can scratch wire. Over time, your pliers will start to show wear and tear; to keep them around longer I wrap blue painters tape around the jaws to keep from marring the wire.

Round Nose Pliers(to the left): These are perfect for curving wire or making hooks and loops, which can be used as findings or for attachment pieces. Again here I have several different sizes ranging from small, medium and large depending on the design, stones and project.

Chain Nose Pliers (to the right): These pliers a are square on the outside, flat on the inside, with a tapered nose to reach small places. These are excellent for making angles in wire.

Wire Cutters (to the left): These are used to cut normal wire such as gold, sterling, and artistic wire. Do not confuse them with the specialty memory wire cutters that are only used to cut memory wire. The sharper the cutter, the better, as it will last longer.

Jeweler’s Files (to the right): These come in sets with several sizes and shapes which are used to smooth off the metal. Wooden handles make it more comfortable to hold than all metal files; but is not necessary. Whatever your choice, make sure to get a variety of sizes and shapes to fit any project.

Bench Block (to the left): This is one of my favorite wire working tools; it is used to flatten wire and metal. It gives you a nice, sturdy, solid surface to work from.

Chasing Hammer (to the right): This round tipped hammer is used with the bench block to hammer wire flat. You can also use it in more advanced techniques to give a more hammered or textured look to your wire or metals.

Thing-a-ma-jig Wire Jig (to the left): For making just about any loop, curve, link, or design, a wire jig makes it easy. If you can draw or move a string in any shape, then you can do the same thing with wire in a jig.