Tulsa Bead Show

The bead show was this weekend. I went on Friday to do a re~con & get an idea of what was available. I fell in love w/ a disc cutter for metal, found lots of round gemstone beads & saw some really beautiful turquoise. I went back on Saturday to shop & the fairgrounds were a totally different place from the day before! The gun show was in full swing & so was a livestock show, so parking which had been so abundant the day earlier was tough. The bead show was packed, but my recon paid off & I was able to go straight to the booths where I knew I was going to buy. One of the vendors had gemstone strands $3.00 each, or 15 for $30.00. I found lots of round beads,( I am doing a design that needs rounds for my upcoming Yule Fair, & those aren't something I usually use)& some nice nuggets. It took longer than I thought to find 15 strands, but I made it, ;). I got some big(think pecans/walnuts)turquoise ovals, they almost look like eggs! I also realised when I got home I had bought basically the same gemstone in almost the same shape in two different finishes, one a highly polished, the other matte. I hadn't even noticed until they were next to each other on the table @ home. I found copper crimp beads that will be great w/ all the copper toggles I use. I also found a combo anvil/bench pin w/ clamp that I got for my sister to give me for either Christmas or my Bday. I had given her my wish list, & besides tools for metalsmithing I really couldn't come up w/ lots of things. She had called before I went to the show Saturday & told me if I saw anything I really wanted from the list I could get it if I would be surprised. I called her & told her that I had bought something, & not only would I be surprised, I would bring it to her & let her wrap it!I also got a stamp w/ a princess crown, I can really see something for my niece(ok, & me!) w/ this image. What would all these stamps be w/o something to lend a little darkness? Not much, so I got a product called Black Max, somethingthat can be used in place of liver of sulphur. The Hip Chick Beads booth(www.hipchickbeads.com) had so many great tools & products, & the owner is alwys so nice & helpful. I also got a wooden dapping block to get started on my adventure in metalsmithing.As I finished up there,( & let's face it,the tools & beads were HEAVY,4 stops & I was having trouble w/ my bag) I had to go by the booth w/ the disc cutter & look one last time. I caved in & bought it too. I've already made a lot of the rounds into pendants. The only reason I had to stop last night was because I ran out of wire. It was a really good show & I can hardly wait til June comes around for the next one!