Since I am constantly saying “I have no beads to work with” I went over to Oakland today to shop at the annual Bead Society of Northern California‘s beadshow called “Bead Bazaar“.
The “Bead Bazaar” seemed a bit smaller than in the past, but it’s always a good place to buy and today was no exception. I didn’t buy a ton but got some goodies to play with and talk to some people.
From the top: African recycled record beads & chunky coral from my friend Carter at Bead Trust, yummy black tourmaline crystals, fat baroque pearl (a splurge! but I can’t find the receipt to see who the seller is), a few strands of mixed dark pearls, aquamarine nuggets, creamy freshwater pearls, amazonite beads and vintage glass all from Juliets Beads, and last but certainly not least is the colorful bunch of vintage Lucite from Baubles & Beads.
From the top: African recycled record beads & chunky coral from my friend Carter at Bead Trust, yummy black tourmaline crystals, fat baroque pearl (a splurge! but I can’t find the receipt to see who the seller is), a few strands of mixed dark pearls, aquamarine nuggets, creamy freshwater pearls, amazonite beads and vintage glass all from Juliets Beads, and last but certainly not least is the colorful bunch of vintage Lucite from Baubles & Beads.
All that lovely Lucite is for a project I am working on and I was THRILLED to find so much at one booth. I hadn’t been to their store in Berkeley, but needless to say I’ll be riding Bart across the bay alot more frequently now!
I also got to chat with Gail Crosman-Moore and see her new stuff. I wanted to find my solid colored beads then shop for myself, so I MEANT to get back and buy from her. But as luck would have it, I got busy talking with others, got super hungry and had to to find a place to eat and then didn’t make it back into the show. I am kicking myself!!! She had some crazy cool metal pieces and beadcaps I was oogling. I didn’t get to buy anything from Greengirl Studios either because the crowd was so big I couldn’t get close enough to look at anything. Thank God, these wonderful bead enablers are all online!
I got this lovely ring as a “party favor” from Miss Chili at Pico & Salsa. They sell alot of beaded jewelry pieces at affordable prices. I’m in love with the coral necklaces they have. I’m going to make it look even more amazing with a huge pendant attached!
There were so many wonderful artisan beadmakers there as well including Grace Lampwork Beads, Jileys, Wild Woods Art Glass, Gail Splavera and many others. The show is one day only, but sign up for the Bead Society newsletter so you don’t miss out next year!
