The Gem & Jewelry (& Bead) Shows

It's Gem & Jewelry time here in Tucson.  (Or it was when I started this post; I got sidetracked, as usual). In my former life as an Art Glass Beadmaker, I would have been spending the last week at one of the bead venues hawking my wares. Actually, I probably wouldn't have been, since I decided a few years ago that it was getting too hard and I was getting too old to do shows any more. 

So, instead, I go to the  Whole Bead Show, and the Best Bead Show, to visit my old cronies and see what they are all up to. It's a little bittersweet, though, because part of me wishes that I was exhibiting along with them; but, of course, part of me is perfectly glad not to go through the hassle.  

There is a vendor at one of the shows who sells ribbon yarns, and cords, etc. that I've been buying for a few years to use in my fiber work, or jewelry, but have yet to actually incorporate into anything I've made. And this year was no exception

 But I do miss working in the torch and making the beads, so I am on a crusade to get a Glass Studio set up. We've been in the new, bigger house over a year, and still no sign of a glass workspace for me; and I'm getting itchy to make some shawl pins, and some other things that have been on my mind. So let's see where this goes.