Bead & Button 2013 - Swag on Display

Another Bead & Button Show has come and gone and I spent more than I thought I would.  The show was slow so I had plenty of opportunity to shop.  One of the things that I bought was a beading board.  I usually bead on a small folding table, but this will allow me to bead on my daybed.

You can pin into the edge, and the chenille of the work surface makes your beads lay flat so the hole is facing up, making it easier to get them on your needle.  These are hand made in the USA and the construction and materials are beautiful.  You can find them at the Bead On It Shop.

The first pieces that I bought were actually bought before the main show started, at ArtAsia, a favorite shop that we always go to.

Two lovely pieces of carved jade.  I will probably bead around the one on the left, even though it has a hole for hanging.  The one on the right will become the centerpiece of a beaded bracelet.

During setup, Carol dragged me by a booth selling boulder opal.  We picked out a number of pieces for the vendor to set aside and these are the five that I ended up getting.  I had always read about the fire in opals, but had never really seen it until I saw these stones.

Once the show started, the first beads I spotted were lampwork beads by Joy Munshower.

The octopus caught my eye first.  I have a weakness for octopuses, they are just so cool, and so smart.  Then I spotted the alien sea slugs.  She makes these with leftovers, using up canes and just having fun with abstract shapes and colors.  The pipe cleaners are color coded and indicate the price.

I had to stop by and see Cynthia Rutledge.  We don't get to spend much time together, but I really like her and her husband, Mark.  He gave me some quick back massages during the show.  They are a lovely couple.  She had the bead boards at her booth, and also lovely cameos.

This one is of the goddess Diana, as you can tell by the crescent moon in her hair.  It is from the 1870s and I just had to have her.  She also had some contemporary cameos that were exquisite.  It is nice to know that the art is still alive and well.

She also had this interesting tool.  I missed it, but Carol spotted it so I had to go back and get one.  It is actually for making lace, but you can also use it for starting beaded tubes.  Very cool.

My sister, Virginia, bought some beads from Harold Williams Cooney that looked like seeds.  I had bought beads from him before (the necklace on the left in the first photo), so on Saturday I swung by his booth.  I spotted the seed pod first and asked him to set it aside for me as I didn't have my check book with me (he doesn't take plastic), but he put it in a zip lock bag and told me to take it with me and pay him later.  When I went back on Sunday to pay him, I spotted the strand of beads that I thought would go well with the seed pod.

Of course I also hit the gemstone tables.  You can't have too many strands of gemstones.

During my one day layover in Yellow Springs I swung by Unfinished Creations.  I really wanted to show the owner, Pam, what I had done with some of the things that I had bought from her, but, alas, she was not there.  She was on vacation.  I did, however, get some more amethysts.

I used the flash so you can see how brilliantly they sparkle.  They will make a stunning necklace.