Fabulous textile woodcuts

These were one of my first finds in Tucson - fabric wood cuts. In Asia these woodcuts are used for printing on fabrics and paper, but as soon as I saw them I thought what great texture they would be for PMC. Can't wait to try them. I'll post pictures as soon as I make something

Tucson Gem and Jewelry Shows 2009

I wanted to post every day while I was at the gem and jewelry shows, but there was never enough time in the day. This is a sunset photo from my front porch. My husband and I own a home in Tucson where we plan to retire one day. I gather all of my bead inspiration when I visit there.

The shows this year were down both in attendance and vendors. I shared a booth at the Whole Bead Show and even though my sales were down slightly I was happy. I would have gone out there to shop anyway. The best part of the trip is to share some time and inspiration with some very dear "beady" friends. We met years ago at one conference or another, and we try to get together once or twice a year. Mickey named us the "Bodacious Bead Buddies". Well, we had a blast.

I'm sorting out all of my purchases. Stayed tuned for some pictures of great finds

Happy Valentine

My husband never forgets Valentine's Day. I even got the flowers a few days early as I was heading out to the Philadelphia buyer's Market Show and wasn't due home until late afternoon on Valentine's Day. But as you can see they still look great - and so does my hubby of 34 years. And I am mighty pleased with them. The color - lilac - is awesome. Never saw roses quite this color before. It's really MY color!

On the other hand the Buyer's Market needs a new name this year as I'm not sure a lot of buying was happening. The registered atendees were way down. But to be fair there was some buying going on and I'm sure there are many happy vendors.

I was juried into the ISGB - International Society of Glass Beadmakers - booth. There were 12 of us exhibiting. The work looked awesome. The booth was great. But the traffic was way down according to one artist who was there last year too; and sales suffered. It's sometimes hard for new artists to weather times like this. You always wonder "was it just my stuff they didn't like?" But a friend and I were talking this morning and we decided this is the year to build up your inventory, try new techniques, and hang in there.

When I was in Philadelphia I stayed at the Marriott as it was close to the convention center. This sign in one of their jewelry stores sums it up.... I was tempted to buy something at those prices, but they were closed...............