Monday, Monday

"....can't trust that day..."

Especially when it starts out with a retarded mockingbird singing under my window at 4 AM. And I use the term "singing" loosely. Normally, they pick up pretty little trills of sound from other birds, but not this bozo. He was all "Squeak! Bwak! Squeak! Bwak!" Dude, even my parrot doesn't sound that lame.

That bird is SOOOO not getting laid. ('Cuz you know that's what all the singing is about - they are trying to attract the avian hotties).

Also, he was so horny he forgot to notice that the freakin' sun WAS NOT UP YET. All the other birds (y'know, the SMART ones) are still ASLEEP!

That bird is so lucky that I do not 1. have a recipe for mockingbird pie (yet) and 2. my oven has been broken since 2008.

Soo....that happened.

Then, I saw that Lorelei finished the collaboration piece I sent her. If you want to check it out, she blogged it over the weekend. I love what she did - it came out perfectly!

Between all the fun on Saturday and Mother's Day being yesterday, I didn't really get much done as far as finished jewelry. The beads I bought on Saturday were SO AWESOME - they were calling my name all day on Sunday and I felt so guilty that all I really wanted to do was bail on the Mother's Day celebration and go create.

I know, I'm evil. But I ended up with a headache by the time everything was over so when I DID get home at 4 PM, I didn't really feel up to doing anything other than putting some bails on some half-finished resin pendants and getting pictures taken.

What? You wanna see what I bought at the show?

I dunnooo...it means more pictures of beads...

Well, okay, if you're REALLY sure...

This strand of nuggets was labeled as "mustardstone." Which is about the ugliest stone name I think I've ever heard of. It's also a made up name - this is dyed quartz. And...it's NOT mustardy in color at all. It's more of a bright spring green (which the picture does not show well at all).

More dyed quartz - I just liked the color. Also, the prices on this and most everything else I got were pretty amazing. Lots of $1 or $3 a strand. Gotta love that!

Loved this awesome butterscotch color. Whenever possible, if a stone I like comes in different sizes/shapes, I try to get a strand of each for mixing and matching in designs. The smaller nuggets were $3 a strand and the larger was $4.

This is about the prettiest strand of rose quartz nuggets I have seen in a long time. Great color, nice consistency in the size and shape, not much in the way of poorly drilled holes, flaws or ugly inclusions. $4 for this whole strand.

Not to say there weren't some pricey options at the show, too. I drooled big time over a strand of faceted ruby zoisite rondelles that were about the best quality I have ever seen. And the price? Gee, a paltry $257 a strand LOL!

Yeah, those did not get to come home with me. But I am still dreaming about them...

Sometimes I wonder if I would be better served to buy one splendiferous thing instead of lots of less expensive things. I'd probably still spend about the same total amount, but I'd have one strand vs. 25 strands of different stuff.

I guess I'm still on the "having lots of options is a better use of my budget" side of the fence. What do y'all think?

These shell rings were $1 a strand. I bought quite a few sizes and colors - this is just a sampling. The vendor also had square and oval shaped rings, but I like the round best so I stuck with that

Same vendor also had a lot of yummy shell disks in lots of colors for the same $1 price. I bought a few colors that I don't already have and even bought that purple strand that have flower designs on them. That may turn out to be my "what was I thinking?" purchase of the day - I'm not sure yet LOL!

These beads are a new find for me. They are carved and dyed palm seeds of all things! Super lightweight and they have a nice matte glow to them. Came in all sizes, shapes and colors, but these were my faves. $2 a strand. Same vendor had toggle clasps carved and dyed to match for $1 a piece. I bought a handful of those as well - just didn't have time to take their picture.

The Kazuri bead people were at the show. I've already got a few of these so don't usually stop there, but they had grab bags of beads for $5-10 a bag. So, I grabbed a few ;-)

More Kazuri beads...hmmm...I think that butterscotch jade would go pretty well with this set...

I'm a sucker for anything in the teal/turquoise family.

Okay, now we're getting to the stuff that I splurged a little more on just because it was pretty. The vendor tried to tell me this is "leopardskin jasper" but I don't really think that's correct. My friend who was at the show with me commented that these beads look like chocolate sauce on vanilla ice cream and I agreed so I'm calling them "chocolate sundae beads." They are really gorgeous. $8 for the rounds and $10 for the ovals. Not TOO bad.

And then...I found this:

The picture does not doe these justice. Those lighter bands of green/blue color? They GLOW - almost like abalone, but they have a hint of glitter to them like druzy quartz. I can't explain it except to say this was the first time I'd seen anything like it. The vendor says it's a new stone called "miconite." I pretty much never believe anything the vendors tell me at these shows (like the guy who tried to convince me that dyed howlite was REAL TURQUOISE...um...yeah...right), but these were just so beautiful, I had to have them. And the price was not too bad - not something that I'd hate myself for paying if they turned out to be junk. Although, I don't think they will, but you never know.

Did I mention it comes in this gorgeous pink/olive green color combo, too?

I tried to get a close-up of the flashy parts of the beads, but this is really one of those "have to see it in person to believe it" things.

I bought other, more mundane stuff like chain and jump rings and findings. Gotta give a shout out to the Via Murano people - their new metal colors of dull gold, copper and gunmetal are seriously gorgeous. If y'all are looking for something pretty in the way of chains, links and findings, I say go check 'em out. They ARE a little on the spendy side, but I think they are well worth it in terms of beauty and durability.

Re-stocked my supply of vermeil spacers and beads since I was running seriously low.

That's about it. I can't wait to play with my new goodies, but I have some magazine deadlines to meet and a custom order for a wedding I've got to get going on AND am ready to do my next resin pour - just waiting for my order of measuring cups and resin to arrive in the mail!

KJ

P.S. Would you believe that while I was at this show, I got a VM on my cell phone inviting me to the Rings 'N Things trunk show that's going to be passing through the area next weekend? Okay, I know I got a tax refund and all, but it's only going to stretch so far LOL! And SOME of it has got to go in the savings account (yes, I do have one and no, it's not full of beads but has actual money in it!)