Bead Bazaar
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More bright colors drew me into the booth of
A Show of Hands Glass Studio, which had an abundance of dicrohic glass used in jewelry, bowls, and beads.
Next I went onto the Da Beads. Craigor Clark creates beads using deer antlers. He explained to me how deer shed their antlers, so he travels the Colorado woods collecting it. Then he inlays them with stones such as malachite and lapis. These were truly unique.
I found Corrine of the Wire Wizard busily educating shoppers about her wire jigs and various tools. The only time I didn’t see someone at her booth was when she was away taking a much-needed break.
Another demonstrator I watched was Dan Townsend. A talented carver and Creek Cherokee, he showed how to carve in shell and had a number of beautiful pieces on display. It was fascinating to talk with this artist and learn some of the stories behind his pieces. I was hypnotized into buying a few pieces of his more affordable art.
Cats and Cobwebs was my next stop. I was most impressed with her fused silver work. Each design had a series of bales inside the piece so it could be flipped around and worn in a variety of ways.
Finally, on the other side of the hall, were the folks at Beads Forever. They had three booths full of wonderful crystal, stone, and pearl beads including some gorgeous cathedral beads I found impossible to resist. After talking with them, I discovered they are working on a web site also.
My general opinion of the bazaar was a good one. With over 100 vendors participating, there was a lot to see. Though most merchandise was priced for retail, I thought the prices were very fair. I will say on more than one occasion I was not treated very well in some of the booths, but the majority of the vendors were very helpful and friendly. The selection of beads and related merchandise was excellent, and I was happy to see an abundance of vintage crystals, pearls in all colors, high quality stone beads, and a good variety of lampworked and fused glass. It was a great pleasure to talk with and view the work of so many talented bead and jewelry artists.
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All graphics created by Tammy Powley.
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