The Northeast Bead Extravaganza

This bead show will always hold a special place in my heart because it was the first I'd ever been to. My hands were shaking with excitement as I stepped through the double doors into the large conference room and was immediately overwhelmed by gleaming faceted glass beads, elegant brass filigree, all the beading supplies you could possibly imagine, tables buried under strands of natural stone splendor and unimaginable beauty! And yet, this is a small show!

Small, yes, but extremely good quality. And at $4.00 to enter, a very reasonable show to attend, too.

There was also a very good variety of vendors. I saw seed beads, silver findings, Czech and Swarovski beads, Venetian glass work, a huge selection of natural stone beads in every price range, cutting edge stringing products, ceramic beads, lampwork supplies, carved wood and bone, resin beads, etc. etc. Just about everything. I spent the first whole hour just wandering around and trying not to be starry eyed as I jotted down things that caught my eye in my notebook.

So many things caught my eye! At the right are beads I was lucky enough to come home with. The first are small rounds of some kind of stone, probably a jasper or agate. Then tiny, very clear cubes of fluorite. You can't tell so well here, but they are a beautiful light purple color. Then top-drilled turquoise, or perhaps dyed howlite, seeing as how the color is so intense. But even if it is dyed, the color is extremely beautiful. Beside it are some gorgeous amazonite faceted rounds. The color of this is like the purest glacial ice. I had to have it when I saw it. It is extremely good quality. Beside that is a strand of tiny amazonite rounds. Not as good quality as the larger ones, but still sky-blue and lovely. Last is a strand of jade spears. These are just gorgeous, like sunlight on willow leaves; just gorgeous. I kept coming back to them and coming back to them, and finally said, "I just have to have these!"

Here are some lead-free pewter three-to-one findings that I thought would make some lovely earrings or a lovely bracelet; a string of gorgeous mauve faceted glass rondelles; some green, white, and black biwa pearls (yes, I finally have some biwas!); and some truly beautiful carved wooden leaves. The stand I bought them from, Priscilla Marban, had carved leaves of all sorts. I'm definitely going to order more in the future.

I was so surprised to see KaBela Designs at this show! I've seen their ad in almost every beading magazine I've ever looked at. So it was definitely a pleasant surprise and the people are so nice. I didn't get any filigree at the show, but I definitely grabbed a business card and will be ordering some in the near future. I did buy this spool of wonderful quality wire, as I'm almost out and haven't been able to find a good replacement until now. And I couldn't leave the show without getting an owl of some kind! So I bought the brass owl charm there, too. The briolettes I got from Veni Vidi Beadi; again, the woman running the booth was extremely nice and so helpful! I'm so happy to have found these briolettes. I bought the sweet sleeping cat bead and the resin roses from a lovely little stall, O'Mega Gems. I also bought the only thing I got for myself there:

I've never seen a bead like this before. It is hand carved from wood. As a water element, mermaids have always been important symbols for me. I will have to do something really special with this one, and it's definitely one I'm going to have to keep for myself. What? Can't we be a little selfish sometimes? ;)

Anyway, what a great weekend! It was definitely worth the five hour round trip; I had a blast! Will definitely be attending next year and hope to meet some other very nice beaders and vendors there.


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