Toronto Bead Oasis Part I

You know Fall is around the corner when the Toronto Bead Oasis Fall show is on. It is the kick-off for the Fall shows.

As volunteer coordinator for the Toronto Bead Society, I was there at our booth singing the praises of the TBS and it's members. Such a fabulous group of women and a few men! A big shout out to all the volunteers who gave of their time to speak to the gazillions of people who stopped by our booth. A special thank you to Sue Henry, our Calendar Girl, for getting the 2009 TBS Calendar printed in time for the show and for backing me up as I was out for the count on Sunday. I have been sick since Wednesday and wasn't able to give it my all.

I was able to help out Amy Waldman Smith in her booth Friday night. You should see her new line of lampworked beads - Folk Art and Pop Art. I love them both. (I love all her work!!!) You can find her fan page on Facebook - Amy Waldman-Smith - Lampwork Glass Beads. Or on Etsy - AmyWaldmanSmith.etsy.com

I had the pleasure of spending some time with my fellow Canadian Create-Your-Style Ambassador, Jamie North as we were demoing with Swarovski Crystallized Elements and Unicorne Beads. I made a ton of rings with their new button beads. Oohhhh YUMMY!!!!!

New Members of My Lampwork Bead Family

I am pleased to announce the latest additions to my evergrowing lampwork bead family!

These beauties come all the way from Corvallis, Montana courtesy of Bill and Rae Grout of Aspen Hot Glass. I bought these from them on Etsy. These are a set of Silver Laced Chocolate Nebula Lentils, Nuggets and Round Beads. There are 15 beads - plus a bonus bead, that is not strung. Can you say this is the perfect set for a stunning Fall necklace? Rae and Bill's "goal is to spread love and harmony one bead at a time."
These stunning beauties are from Amy Waldman-Smith. I purchased them from her at one of the Toronto Bead Society meetings. I have included two pictures here as the beads are slightly different depending on which side you are looking at. They look good enough to eat!!! I was drawn to these because they make me think of the Bahamas. As some of you may know, I am heading to the Bahamas to play in a softball tournament in October. These three beads will hang down one after the after, from the largest (the one at the bottom) to the smallest. I am just going to put them on a very simple silver memory wire. Amy thinks is a super idea and can't believe she didn't think of it first!!!
This funky khaki green and purple bead bead is from the creative hands of Sue Wise. I bought this one at the Bead Oasis. There were two beads of this colourway, except that the other one had swirls that looked like the ocean in it. I hummed and hawed. Picked up the bead. Put it down. Looked around. But this bead kept calling me! So what's a girl today? Here, Sue, here is my adoption application for this gorgeous bead.

Later, I was having a bit of buyer's remorse wishing I had bought the other one too. I was sitting at the TBS booth and Kimberly came along with a happy and excited look on her face. "Look what I just bought!" she said gleefully. And lo and behold, it was the companion bead. I am so happy that it went to someone who will love it as much as I do.
I am showing both sides of this bead too.
Somewhere, in my bags o'bead, that I bought at the Bead Oasis are a lovely set of beads from AirWynn Glass Designs. Stay tuned for those.

I Not So Secretly Covet Lampwork Beads

It all began thanks to Isabelle McLean from Prescott, who sells her freakin' gorgeous lampworked beads on Ebay. The way she combines colours and designs it sheer magic. It is a fiesta for the eyes. I got into a bidding war with a woman from New Zealand over these beads. THEY ARE MINE!!!

And then along came Amy Waldman Smith.
I can pick her beads out from a mile away. Trust me - we did a test at beadFX.

I bought this cute little froggie fellow for Declan - he actually pick him out.
I "heart" her work! I picked this toggle set up at the beadFX Lampwork Trunk Sale.... very scary ....too many nice beads and nice lampworkers. Basically bought something from everyone as you will see in the pictures below.

A Wise Bead from the inimitable Sue Wise called Golden Embers.

This picture doesn't do it justice. It really looks like Sue captured the sun within the glass. I bought it at the Toronto Bead Society's Spring Fair.

These are funky little beads made with Raku. Never heard of it before that day. Now I love it! These are made by Elly Peters.

This is another lovely double-pyramid type bead from AirWynn purchased at the beadFX Lampwork Trunk Sale. You know why it's call a "trunk sale"? Because you need a trunk to haul all your fabulous purchases home!!!This bead I bought at the Toronto Bead Society's Spring Fair. Also by AirWynn. It looks like a lovely Easter Egg. I really should have bought two.

Lesson: If you see it and you want it....BUY IT!

Below is a beautiful bead and necklace purchased at the One of a Kind show from Sailor Girl Jewellery. If you have not taken a business course with Catherine Winter aka Sailor Girl - I highly recommend that you do!More Raku! This was from Wieler Studios. Here is a very pretty cobalt, fuschia and purple bead from my favourite lampwork golfer, the one and only Susan Stortini. Here are some lovely teeny tiny lampworked beads by Aimee Kennedy of Fine and Good Jewellery. And the piece de resistance

Sound the Trumpets!

The bead of all beads!

The Muck and Scum Companion Bead by Dwyn of DragonJools!

If you receive the beadFX newsletter, you may recall the one where they announced that they had "horrible beads" in. I bought those horrible beads - they are called Muck and Scum. Absolutely gorgeous. I added some dark topaz and turquoise coloured beads with copper and voila! When I went to the Trunk Show, I brought it with me to show Dwyn. She immediately suggested that I needed a focal bead for the necklace and she was right. We search her collection of available beads, and alas, although they were all lovely, none matched the necklace quite right. I gave Dwyn the necklace, and she said she would "come up with something". Talk about something, alright!!! Click on the picture so that it opens up larger in another window and you will see what I mean.

Oh yeah, and by the way..

THESE BEADS ARE MINE!!!!!

ALL MINE!!!!

mwaahahahaha!

Some multi-strand necklaces

Here are some pretty necklaces for you to gaze upon.

This one is called Purple Sky.

A lovely combination of amethyst, violet, cobalt blue and tanzanite beads.

The Tiny Flat beads were purchased from The Bead Den.

The rest of the beads were purchased from beadFX.

This necklace came to life to cradle the beautiful lampworked bead that Amy Waldman Smith made as I sat beside her at the torch. It is very mesmerizing to watch a bead come into this world. It is one of my goals to learn how to create these precious gems.

This necklace was inspired by Nicole Kidman and the necklace that she wore at the 2008 Oscars. It was crocheted with sterling silver wire and is chock full of Czech Fire Polish beads in a variety of crystal and labrodorite colours. There are also some flat rounds. The wire was purchased at Bamiyan Silver and the beads were purchased at beadFX.