Saturday, July 28, 2007

Lots o' bead shopping

I did go to the show today :) It wasn't very busy at all and I heard some vendors telling others that they didn't think they were going to make as much as they'd hoped. Some retailers who had an unusual selection did quite well, though. Most of the vendors had similar bead strands in rose quartz, turquoise, and coral. There was one selling very high-end gemstone strands but I couldn't afford to pay $400+ (some were $1000!!) for beads, even if they were gorgeous. Some vendors sold rough rocks which were beautiful and others sold finished jewelry. The finished jewelry was pretty ugly and/or cheap looking and they weren't selling at all (I think the vendor mentioned above was a jewelry vendor). Some of the vendors I've seen before didn't bring all of their stock; I'll see them at the Oasis show at the end of September.

I love shopping for beads with other people as a fun activity but when I'm by myself I can meander back and forth between vendors and make several passes over the vendor area. It was quite satisfying to wander around with no real purpose or direction for a long time comparing things. I enjoyed myself very much :) Since Ian went to a movie, I was able to spend about three hours there.

I looked around to be sure I would be getting things that I really needed or loved. Of course I bought some things. I got a few strands of gemstones that were on sale as well as three types of sterling silver chain and some sterling silver spacers and beads. I did spend more than I'd budgeted but I'm ok with that. I'm very happy with all of my purchases :)

It was a very satisfying, if very long, day. Now I have to actually organize all my beads from my recent purchases :)

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