Bead Show Swag

The Whole Bead Show came to Vancouver this weekend. I wasn't going to go, having in mind a weekend of intense "good girl" knitting, with TNNA coming up straightaway and a new trunk show to fill.

It didn't take much to sway me from my straight and narrow path. One little email from my friend Cathalynn, fellow beader and designer, and I was gone. Yesterday we toured the shop displays and took a class on wire working.

Swag was purchased - almost none of which is destined for knitting projects. No, a new obsession has been born... making wire and bead jewelry. Here are some of the not-so-ill-gotten gains:


The priciest gems I bought (although not nearly as expensive as I thought they were going to be) were strings of faceted garnets and faceted hematite rondelles, which seemed to go very well with some beautiful handmade glass beads and sterling silver chain. I love garnets, which are not only my birth stone, but are my favorite color. These will become something very special...


Then there were some lovely rosy-gray freshwater coin pearls which begged for some zebra rose quartz to go with. Not shown are some almost transparent gray phantom quartz beads which will almost certainly be included in the piece. Such a sophisticated mix of textures and subtle color.


I could not pass up some more "show specials" - multicolored freshwater pearl strands that had broken from the original threads and sold for an astonishingly low price, and some lovely semi precious beads made from amazonite and jasper, all in greens and other earthy colors.


In the class, I did a freeform wire bracelet adorned with magenta freshwater pearls and small silver beads, courtesy of Cathalynn who shared them from her stash. I think I like it better today than I did at the class yesterday. Maybe we will make friends yet...

I actually do not wear a lot of jewelry, preferring knitwear as a quieter form of embellishment, but that may change soon if the earrings, neckpieces and other playful ornaments dancing in my head ever come forth into creation. Here's to creative play in all of its forms...