Bead Bazaar
Though there was much more going on at the International Bead Expo in Miami, Florida, the Bead Bazaar was an important part of the expo experience. I wandered around the show taking photos and chatting with the participants. Here I have tried to create a virtual tour for you to enjoy which includes some of my observations and opinions.
At the entrance to the bazaar,
Soft Flex was the first vendor visible. Taking up two booth spaces, this was always the hot spot of the show. The Soft Flex team was kept constantly busy demonstrating new products (some of which I was lucky to get before they sold out) and helping customers who were some times three people deep around the booth. They had a huge selection of merchandise, so it was no surprise to find them so busy. However, they were all very helpful and courteous even though they worked non-stop.
After moving back to one end of the hall, I found
Jane’s Fiber and Beads. They had their regular, great selection of Japanese seed beads organized by color. The trays of beads were stacked so high it was difficult to manage, but I still bought a few tubes.
Artgems was in the same row and had three booths full of colorful gemstone beads. Both gentlemen running the booth were very friendly and helpful. I was especially impressed with the quality of their beads and noticed they had a very large selection of side drilled, faceted stone beads, which are very popular now.
A little farther down the row, I met up with the
Beadwrangler. She was demonstrating the bead spinner and had a nice selection of seed bead kits on display.
On the next row over, I stopped at another booth full of pearls and stone beads. They had a sign announcing that they had faceted pearls, but when I asked to see these pearls, I was only allowed a quick glance before the sales person rudely whisked them away and placed out of reach. I’m sure I wasn’t the first sale they lost that day – too bad.
Moving on, I made my way to the middle row of the show, the
Art Clay booth was my next stop. With a video running and demonstrations going on, it was rare not to see someone at this booth. They even showed how a butane torch could be used to fire a small piece of clay. Of course, I had to indulge myself and get a little bit of clay to experiment with.
The next interesting booth was
Carol Marando’s, who came all the way from Australia. She creates lampwork beads and jewelry and obviously has a great sense of color, as her designs seemed to pop right out of the booth.
Next Page->For the rest of the show
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All graphics created by Tammy Powley.
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