Uninspired by New Stuff

I went to a wholesale gem and jewelry show today in Asheville and about all I bought was beads and stringing stuff. I think every table had some of these really sparkly crystal beads and I had to buy some of them. (You know I'm like a crow, don't you? The shiny things always catch my eye right away.) I also got some little turquoise and red jade beads.

 And then I got some of these teeny tiny (2mm) seed pearls:

 And some silver cones... To finish the ends of a string of several strands of beads. And the little silver chips... I have no idea what I'll do with them, but they looked interesting.

I had a list with me, as I usually do, with specific things I was looking for, but none were to be found. When that happens I put myself into "creative" mode, look at all the things offered for sale and think "Can I do something cool with this?" That's what was going on in my head when I saw the silver chips above. But I was mostly disappointed. Not disappointed in the show so much, but with myself. I just couldn't seem to find anything that was terribly exciting and I was thinking about needing to buy SOMETHING so that I have material to work with when I'm snowed in this winter. That's why I bought so many beads. No stones, no findings, just beads.

I wanted to buy some silver chain, but the people that I buy from had a horrible booth set up - a 3-foot-wide entrance into a square of tables filled with more tables (very hard to move around) - and such a long line that I didn't really want to stand there. I estimate that it would have taken 30 to 45 minutes just to get the chain cut, then another 20 minutes or so in the line to pay. And the people who were standing in line to get their chain cut had half of the spools in their hands, so you couldn't even see it all. Baaaad setup!

So after wandering around and around for almost two hours and spending just a fraction of what I normally would, I just gave up and came back home. There will be another one in January and, weather permitting, I'll go again. I'll get there early and get in line for silver chain!