Tucson News Please!!!

[SteveM]

Blaire, that sunrise was no tease?another of nature's gems! Upon return to the office I'll reciprocate with a photo of us on the trail of 'gems' from the Spanish wine country.

Almost forgot. Here we are in the interior regions of Catalu?a. Not so long ago, but clearly pre-pearl?

 

[GemGeek]

Great photo! Ah, wine!!!

 

[GemGeek]

I'm finally catching up on things. The coughing is down to a minimum, thank goodness! You know me, I have a few more things to show from Tucson, so let's get to it.

Remember the hank of blue-lavender pearls I bought from United States Pearl?



Not being able to get a parking place at AGTA, I went over to the Manning House to see the "To Bead True Blue" show. Nothing like available free parking! This being a bead show, I thought I'd look for something that might go with my lavender pearls, but I found a lot of beads I liked.


I get drowsy just thinking about how long it would take to string these tiny beads. These one-cuts were just too cute, so I bought them too.


At 4:00 p.m. I finally found a parking place at AGTA and stopped by Betty Sue King's "King's Ransom" booth. Betty Sue is known far and wide as the Pearl Goddess. Here I found natural color true baby pink freshwater button pearls.


Not a lot for one day, but it was the only day I got to take it easy -- the rest was a whirlwind...

More pearls & other stuff coming...

 

[GemGeek]

The next day, Friday, I went to four shows. I shudder to think about it. By then the weather was hot and my feet were sending me the "What were you thinking?" message for not wearing flat sandals.

We ran through the Holidome to see the four vendors on our list. I always buy a few things from Sarda to sell to my girlfriends. Everyone likes Sarda.


Then we went to the Gem Mall - totally unplanned, but they were right down the street. It was especially cool, because I ran into a lot of friends there who were vendors. One of them is Pearlbella. I bought this pretty Pteria Penguin shell. Pearlbella specializes in rainbow mabe pearls - not as pretty as the Pteria Sterna, but very elegant.


I had to get some pearls from Majestic. They carry some colors that John Tu doesn't have, so they fill out my stock. I found the selection at last year's Holidome better than this year's Gem Mall, but good for beading pearls, nonetheless.

I always need lavender buttons...


And this rainbow dark beige color gets used a lot...


I was happy to find some larger pearls in the same color...

 

[GemGeek]

If those colors looked a bit blah, here are some nice dyed colors to perk you up...

Coral


Rose


Some bronze for a special order necklace - not great, but the right color for a friend that's been looking for two years.


This was the big purchase. I had to buy all of them and by the kilo before they would sell them. Not a great photo, but they are so colorful and the color is natural.


Then on Saturday, my last shopping day, I was with my friend Brenda and we both bought a dyed chocolate freshwater set. They were everywhere. I picked one out that had a lot of pink in it...


I got a few other things to sell, but they weren't pearls, so I won't bore you by posting them!

Have a terrific day!

 

[pernula]

Blaire,

Great pictures! I especially like the chocolate pearl earrings you got! I was wondering whether dyed chocolate pearls have various overtones, so yours was pink? Any other overtone choices?

Cheers,
pernula

 

[GemGeek]

Blaire,

Great pictures! I especially like the chocolate pearl earrings you got! I was wondering whether dyed chocolate pearls have various overtones, so yours was pink? Any other overtone choices?

Cheers,
pernula

Thanks! That's interesting that you ask. It looks almost as if they dyed them red or purple first and then dyed them brown in a second bath. They're kind of a rosy/purplish brown with some pearls displaying gold or green overtones. They are big and have blemishes, color variations, and numerous oblong shapes, but when they are on my neck, they just look big, brown and pretty. The overtone wasn't pink, but the body color had a rosy color in it that looked like it was shining "through" the brown. That was what made me buy them.

I saw a lot of dyed brown freshwaters this year - a reaction to the popularity of the brown tahitians, but they also had green or gold overtones and were dyed more of a golden brown.

Have you ever seen earring findings like these? I thought they looked a little weird, but they look nice once they're on.

 

[jerin]

Blaire,
thanks for the nice photos. I like the brown pearls you bought for your friend. Very nice different overtones.

I too like the Sarda collection. What kind of stone?

Hope you ar well by now and have started the beading with all those small lovelies!

 

[Caitlin]

Good choices! That's a lot of beading and stringing. Are you going to do it all?

 

[GemGeek]

Blaire,
thanks for the nice photos. I like the brown pearls you bought for your friend. Very nice different overtones.

I too like the Sarda collection. What kind of stone?

Hope you ar well by now and have started the beading with all those small lovelies!

I like the bronze pearls a lot, so if she doesn't want them, I'm going to make myself a necklace. I love the colors, but they are blemished and not round.

In the Sarda, the pendant stone is Variscite and the cut stones are vapor deposition treated topaz. They're all about color.

I'm feeling much better, but I'm too busy to do much with the beads at the moment. Eventually, it will all be made up into jewelry, and hopefully, sold, so it's an investment.

 

[SteveM]

I bought this pretty Pteria Penguin shell. Pearlbella specializes in rainbow mabe pearls - not as pretty as the Pteria Sterna, but very elegant.

That's pretty scary, as I believe it was the very same day I was in Ft. Lauderdale and discovered the same shell labeled 'Black Lip' and misidentified as the edible Saccostrea echinata, resulting in my thread under that banner! At least we coincided that it is indeed a beautiful shell (the green layer especially intense). Just today my wife was wearing the P. Penguin MOP/silver/Peridot bracelet I purchased at the time.

 

[GemGeek]

That's pretty scary, as I believe it was the very same day I was in Ft. Lauderdale and discovered the same shell labeled 'Black Lip' and misidentified as the edible Saccostrea echinata, resulting in my thread under that banner! At least we coincided that it is indeed a beautiful shell (the green layer especially intense). Just today my wife was wearing the P. Penguin MOP/silver/Peridot bracelet I purchased at the time.

That is spooky indeed. Maybe you were sending Pteria Penguin vibes across the country!

Those mabes make great great jewelry. One of these days I'll have to take some photos...