New Beads from the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show

Yesterday was the first day for me to see BEADS! I wasn’t quite sure what to expect but I had a lot of fun. We went to the Grant Inn to start the cold day where I registered and followed along as the team selected beads and other fun things. We looked for items that are genuinely unique – from brightly colored ceramic beads to cute lampwork beads to copper components to African trade beads! All of you are going to be blown away by our Tucson Treasures and we’ll try to get them on Artbeads as soon as possible.

So Many Beads!

We met Patricia Healey and grabbed a Tucson Treasure – copper bugs!

Here we are selecting our favorite Patricia Healey pieces.

We’re bringing these African Trade beads back too!

There were some beads made of interesting material…these are made of snake vertebrae.

Here we are picking out glass beads and some butterflies!

I was able to chat with Patricia Healey and Libby from Fire Designs. We talked about inspiration and designing. I can’t wait to share this information with you!

We even snuck in some time to do some shopping…we found a booth that had finished jewelry that were so unique (and affordable!), I walked away with 3 necklaces, 2 bracelets, 2 rings, a headband and gifts for friends and family back home.

After Grant Inn, we had a quick lunch and went to the JOGS show. They had some really interesting items there – my favorite was the huge pieces of amethyst!

Amethyst Tree

We visited with Lana May at her jewelry classes and they have a huge display of amazing pieces made from all around the world. Here are a few of my favorites.

Please check out our Facebook, Flickr, and Twitter pages for the latest updates! I’ll be tweeting all day as I explore To Bead True Blue and keep you posted for rest of my stay in Tucson.

-Reyna