While I was in Indy, the gem show was also in town! Great timing!
My Sissy and her two girls took me there and we made a day of it with lunch, shopping, then home to create with and play with our finds. I guess we made a night of it too, we played with beads til bedtime.
I am thinking about a project that requires some neutral tones, so I grabbed these beauties for it. Quartz, citrine (but not the typical canary yellow), and pearls were ideal for what I am making.
I have been on the search for these gold rimmed stones for over a year. I know they can be found online, but for more than I wanted to pay. Plus, I prefer buying my gems in person so I get exactly what I want. There wasn’t a wholesale area at this particular show, but I always ask if there is a volume price.
Some dealers say yes, some no, but you gotta check it out right?
Luckily, if I bought multiples of these, they were half off, even better than I’d hoped. Glad I asked.
When my boy and I were at the gem show in KC, we wanted opals and spent time picking out a few strands, just to find out we had read the sign wrong and what we thought was an “each” price was actually a gram price.
oops
The opals went back to the table instead of home with us. But we regretted not getting at least a few. At the Indy sale, they were priced by strand, so I knew upfront what they cost. Sticker shock was still in effect, but I braved through it and purchased one anyway. They have more rainbow colors in them than what shows up here. I’m looking forward to crafting with Adam and using the opals I splurged on.
This doesn’t look like my typical haul, does it? I usually go for the genuine stones, or find vintage pieces to take apart if I’m using crystals. But for the craft I had planned, these multi colored, multi faceted strands of various shaped crystals were exactly what I went there for.
Rainbow colors were perfect for the sun catchers I was making to take into Good Juju for the spring sale.
I’d brought all the supplies needed to make the ones with ring shapes for a family craft, but for myself, I just wanted the simple ones to hang on a suction cup in a window.
Here are a couple my neices made with the rings.
Silly me, I didn’t get pictures of the rest. The girls made some beautiful pieces.
And did I mention they were beautiful girls? And such fun to be with. I had the best week, and miss them so much already.
While we were together, we tried to plan a beach adventure in October that is still up in the air, but might work out. Although if it doesn’t, I’m every bit as happy hanging out in Pendleton, IN with my family- beading, crafting, laughing, and being silly together. I love the Florida trips, but I love simply being with them even more.