Bella Vita Handmade Jewelry: Tucson Gem and Mineral (and Bead) show

I left beautiful weather in Oklahoma to enjoy even more beautiful weather in Tucson. It's amazing compared to last year which showed us absurd snow storms and record lows down here! All of which this girl didn't really prepare for and with a lot of the shows being outside in tent cities I froze my buns off! Not the case this year, at least so far. Yesterday was absolutely perfect. Highs int he 70's and full-on-sunshine!

I started my day by meeting my host, her name is Karyn, and I don't know her! This is kind of a big deal for me... I am traveling all by my lonesome and staying with a lady that rents a room out of her house!

On to bead business!

I started my day at To Bead True Blue, which is one of my favorite shows here. I headed to a fav. vendor as soon as I got there but it turned out to not be soon enough. I was in search of some vintage brass charms that I got last year and when I got to her booth the lady that actually registered for the show in front of me had ALL the little brass charms in her basket!!! I asked if the vendor had anymore and she said she did at her store and she could ship them... blah blah blah... then the sweet lady asked how many I wanted and I said, "one would do me until she can ship the others!" And, she was SO KIND to give me one strand. I know this probably doesn't sound like a big deal but it is. Some people here are cut throat, and can ruin your day just by looking at you!

I ended up spending my whole afternoon here. I met Ellie from Argenta Bead and she generously shared her lunch with me, poolside! I love seeing Ellie and catching up with her.

After that I saw a demo on glass clay... yep glass clay. You turn a powder into a "clay" like substance and then fire it in a kiln and it turns into glass. Pretty crazy if you ask me, fun to watch, but I opted out of the kit. I want to master metal clay first!

I spent the afternoon leisurely shopping all the vendors. Found a great new supplier for chains, new fine pewter pendants, some crazy kyanite and quartz stones and stocked up on lucite flowers at the Beadinpath (one of my fav's).

After this long day of shopping I met up with Rae Ann of Rae Ann Creations and we had a nice dinner.
Today I think I am going to hit the Best Bead Show and the Gem Mall...