Beady Goodness

On Saturday my husband drove me to The Innovative Beads Expo in Fishkill, NY. This is a bead show I regularly attend since I started beading. I have come to know several of the vendors and I look forward to visiting with them every year. We walked into the show and I started to look around, within minutes my husband became overwhelmed and started yelling so he took the baby and I had 1 hour to shop and here are the goodies I bought:

J&M Gems 'n' Things jmbeads.com

I grabbed these matte pink fire agates as soon as I walked in the door. I know what I am going to make with them and can't wait to have time. I fell in love with the blond wood and faceted aquamarine and replaced a few other things I had run out of.

Eureka Crystal Beads eurekacrystalbeads.com

I must say I look forward to visiting this booth every year. The family that runs this booth are some of the nicest people I have ever met, they are so outgoing and helpful that it makes it a great experience. They have tutorials for their jewelry that is on display so you can visit their website and get the tutorials. They also had all the new Swarovski colors which were great to see in person. I also love their selection of glass flowers so I always grad those first. It's funny because that's when other shoppers gather because they want what you have. The flowers are loose in bowls near the register so I grab the bowl and start picking through for the colors I want. This year I bought almost all blue and purple which is strange because I almost never but blue anything.
I also grabbed these purple teardrops, new Swarovski crystals and more cream and white pearls.

Kabela

Kabela

Kabela

Kabela is another booth I love to visit! This couple is so sweet and I was so excited to have met them back before they started getting their items into Fusion and Artbeads because when they did I was super proud of them. Their products are beautiful and they are always willing to offer suggestions and tutorials. She even prodded me to try something I would have never picked up on my own and now I can wait to try! I cannot say enough nice things about them so if you get a chance please check them out.

Park Ave Beads

I walked by this booth a few times before a little bronzite round caught my eye. None of the other vendors had bronzite rounds and I love bronzite and have no rounds left in my stash. I grabbed up some more river stone strands in 3 different sizes and a strand of honey jasper.

Expo USA

I love these glass teardrops and needed some closed sterling jumprings. Hmmm, more blue.

2BeadSisters.com

2BeadSisters.com

Last stop, The 2 Bead Sisters. I first saw their beads at a bead store in Suffern, NY and fell in love. I then met them in person at The Innovative Bead Expo and liked their beads even more. I don't know about you but I support nice people and people I like or have a connection with. I have stopped buying beads from people who are rude, stuck up and have a bad attitude.
Anyway, the middle row of beads are the first thing at their booth I picked up along with the tube focal bead. I carried them around for a loooong time while other shoppers hovered over my find. These were the only ones like this. The loose beads at the top were only $2.00 each and tossed in a bowl. These are orphans and most do not have mates but I know exactly what I am going to do with them. The flat beads at the bottom were calling me from another bowl of beads $5.00 and up. These happened to be $6.00 each and are beautiful and um, blue.



I guess I am influenced by the seasons because this shopping trip was all about blue. I cannot wait to have time to make some things with these beads. I hope you enjoyed our bead shopping trip together. I look forward to showing you what I make with all these goodies!
~Shannon