Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Finds from Whole Bead and Rings & Things

Part of My Rings & Things Stash

I love going to bead shows!  It’s always a good chance to pick up the basics that I need.  Plus, you never know what you’re going to find that you can’t live without.  That was the case at the Whole Bead Show and the Rings & Things Bead Tour last weekend.

First, at Whole Bead, I came across 2 vendors that I was familiar with but had not encountered in person before: “The Bead Goes On” from Virginia Beach, VA http://www.beadgoeson.com/, and Sonoran Beads from Scottsdale, AZ:  http://shop.sonoranbeads.com/Default.asp?Redirected=Y.

Here’s what I snagged at Bead Goes On http://www.beadgoeson.com/:

An intricate “Beaded Bead”:

and some cool fiber rings:

And got these beautiful borosilicate glass beads at Sonoran Beads http://shop.sonoranbeads.com/Default.asp?Redirected=Y:

Rings & Things www.rings-things.com was fun, too.  I usually try to get there right when they open, and make a bee-line to the chain and findings section at the back, ’cause the things I want and need tend to disappear quickly.  I found exactly what I needed, then systematically moved from table to table, row to row searching for the unusual.  This time, I was particularly focused on large, organically shaped stones that I can wire wrap.  Here’s what I found:

Some beautiful, large Amethyst nuggets :

And Peruvian Blue Opal smaller nuggets:

I did buy more things there (see the pic at the top), but these two particularly struck me.  I will be posting jewelry made with these soon in my Etsy Shop www.sarascreations.etsy.com.