I took a day off yesterday to go to the Bead Expo show in Marlborough. I picked up Connie at 11:00 and had a nice time at Starbucks before we left. Connie likes the Starbucks cups, and she bought me a beautiful white one with a valentine on it. Ah! Connie is a sweet friend.
We moseyed onto the bead show in Marlborough, taking our wholesaler license and xeroxed copies to leave with the vendors so we don't have to fill out the sheet each time. It is a trick of the trade that I learned at Bead and Button in Milwaukee. I needed some sterling silver, to replenish the supply that I used at Christmastime. I found some beautiful silver rings, earring findings, and bead caps. The price of silver has gone up again from $.79 a gram to $1.25 a gram, so I spent almost $200 in silver alone. A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. Or, to put it another way, it is just the price of doing business.
We went through many of the bead shops and I found some beautiful copper filagree to put on turquoise pendants. I bought several colors of silk cord. I found beautiful silk to use for Kumihimo weaving and more silk for knotting pearls. I found square freshwater pearls, which have been hard to find, and paid a nice price of $20 per strand.
I bought some beautiful colors of Czech glass to make memory wire banded bracelets, and some lovely black Onyx. I happen to have a real fondness for black and beige and silver jewelry, and I also found some gorgeous bone beads to make several "tribal" necklaces.
All in all, going to a bead show is a lot about gathering inspiration. I learn by seeing what people are selling, and by talking to the people who are buying. We are a nice group, us jewelry people. The sales people are low key and helpful. They make friends with their customers, and are willing to answer questions. They give us the best prices they can, and let us know of the "specials". I bought some beautiful vintage black jet beads because a vendor pointed them out to me. Three strands of varied shapes and sizes, $3.00 each. Nice.
Connie and I had a great time, and we were happy!
Not bad, for a day off.
Have a great day.
