Friday, May 29, 2009

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

10 comments:

Almost Precious said...

Wow ! You really picked up some fantastic treasures. The fire agate or fired agate is gorgeous...or if you prefer "spiderweb carnelian". Carnelian starts out as an agate but becomes carnelian when heated (either by nature or by man)...so like a rose...under any name it's still as sweet. :)
Love, love, love the stick pearls ! Anna

Ruth Trowbridge said...

Am soooo green right now!! Can't wait to see what your magic makes of them. Thanks for sharing, peace for all.

Silver Parrot said...

Anna - glad you like what I got. Based on my research (which included e-mails with Russ, the owner of Rings 'N Things) I learned all about the agate-to-carnelian process. Because the crackle effect in these beads comes from an extension of that process (extra heating past the carnelian stage) I decided that the "Spiderweb Carnelian" term was the most accurate. Plus, it avoids the confusion between "Fire Agate," which is a much more valuable stone with a lot of internal flash, and "FireD Agate." But as you said, either way, they're pretty :-)

Silver Parrot said...

Rural - sorry, didn't mean to make you "green." :-) I hope I can come up with some good ideas for these things...and the time to make them LOL!

Marie Cramp said...

The Mexican Crazy Lace Agate and Spiderweb Carnelian have to be my two favorites. I wish I could find those around here. Great finds!!

Marie

Dave Robertson said...

Hard to resist those pearls when there are so many great colors and shapes, like the stick ones ;) But what really grabs me is the spiderweb carnelian. It's one of those stones that looks like something between a gemstone and an artisan glass bead, really intriguing!

--Dave
(@Rings_Things on Twitter)

Dave Robertson said...

BTW, did you know your post has been picked up by (http://www.zimbio.com/Jewelry+And+Accessories/articles/6682/Rings+N+Things+Rocks)? Not sure if you gave them permission...

Dave

Silver Parrot said...

Marie - I've never seen the Spiderweb Carnelian anywhere else, but the Crazy Lace Agate is pretty widely available. Try the Rings 'N Things website or Google it.

Silver Parrot said...

Dave - I agree with you about the carnelian. That's one of the things that attracted me to it. I didn't know about Zimbio so thanks for the heads up.

Kaos Siberians said...

You know, I can't do dog shows this summer 'cause of my foot....I may have some weekends free to walk a bead show. That can't be nearly as hard on my foot as showing, right?