Rings 'N Things Rocks!

Thanks, everyone, for the nice comments on the “Boys vs. Girls” blog entry. I’m glad you liked it. But, since it’s Friday, it’s time for some beady eye-candy, don’t you think?

Yeah, I think so, too. So, without further ado, let me share with you the trouble I got into at the Rings ‘N Things traveling bead show that hit town a couple of weeks ago…

The first couple of tables closest to the door were piled high with freshwater pearls of every size, shape and color. My own stash also has pearls of nearly every size, shape and color, but the one kind I didn’t have was stick pearls:






So, I bought some :-)

There are two major advantages to this particular show. One is, of course, the great prices – 50% off retail and then another 15% off that. You really can’t get much better. The other is the incredible variety of stones available. I find things at this show that I’ve never seen anywhere else.



Like “Dragonblood Jasper.” I mean, how can you NOT want to make something fabulous with this stone? Even the name is inspiring.

And then I found this “Firework Jasper”:




Which, I have to say, doesn’t really look like fireworks to me, but I loved the deep blue color swirled with the black. I think I can make something really dramatic with this. Especially if I mix it with some of this:




I know this jade is dyed, but the color was so luscious, I couldn't resist it.

So, after that, I had to live up to my one "show rule" which is to try to get stuff that goes against my natural inclinations (because if I don’t I’ll just have one overflowing room full of blue beads and nothing else). At least one strand of something at every show has to be different than what I would normally buy.

In this case, it was a couple of strands of “Mexican Crazy Lace Agate” in different shapes. I thought the creams, browns and grays in this stone would work well with some clay and porcelain beads I picked up earlier this year. There are also some darker pink and red areas that would look great with rose quartz or garnet. Pearls too, maybe.

And now we come to my two favorite things that I got at the show:




These beads are labeled as “Fired Agate,” but after some research I believe they are actually “Spiderweb Carnelian.” This is carnelian that has been heat treated to cause a crackled effect in the stone.

Here it is in another shape and color:





This version has been dyed to get the aqua color in addition to the heat treatment/crackle effect. It is also known as “Crab Fired Agate,” but I think “Spiderweb Carnelian” is a more accurate name. Either way, I just love how it looks and can’t wait to work with it. I would’ve bought more of it, but another shopper grabbed all the remaining strands out of the bin before I could get any more. :-(

Bead shows can be war, man! LOL!

KJ