Weak Weak Weak Weak Weak

Last year I was not sorry that I left before the opening of The Shopping a.k.a. the show floor a.k.a. the very large hall with people selling crack for beaders because I know I'm weak and have no resistance.

This year I'm here for three and a half shopping days and we're barely twenty-four hours in and already I need to ban myself.

It all started with a very lovely gift from Swarovski at Meet the Teachers.

Yes, it's a substantially-sized organza bag bursting with Swarovski crystal goodness. You'd think I'd be happy, but noooo.

Last night I started with seed beads (they're just tubes of Japanese seed beads. I'll spare myself this small embarrassment in favour of all the following larger embarrassments indicating my lack of restraint). Then there were some lampwork beads. I tell myself they're for gifts.

I mean, four of them are very similar so surely I don't need all of them, right?

And instead of my appetite being satisfied, it was instead whetted by the Swarovski treasures because it turns out that they keep inventing new rivoli colours and really, how on earth am I supposed to resist that? It's not as though I bought them ALL.

And I just had to visit the nice people from York Beads because I buy from them fairly regularly and Perry seems like a nice guy from his emails and it's not as though I can tell them what a great customer I am without actually buying anything even though they didn't bring the one thing I really needed (12x17mm spikes. I have plenty at home but I needed them here. Of course).

The one picture of seed beads I will show you was from a Czech booth. They had the usual shaped seed beads, but then they had this totally drool-worthy collection of Miyuki beads with Czech finishes like black vitrail and crystal azuro and lilac vega and it's ludicrous to think I'd pass those up. Plus these adorable new teeny-tiny triangles with a single hole, kind of like a triangular sequin. You can see them all the way at the bottom of the picture.

And that was from four until nine yesterday with a break for food and conversation with Jessica from Studio Beads and Met Inmon and her husband Larry and you may need to go to Cynthia Rutledge for pictures because her husband Mark was taking pictures.

The Shopping opened again this morning and I was there again since I don't teach until just over an hour from now.

I bought more seed beads.

I tumbled for lampwork.

This woman is genius because I couldn't whittle my selection down to just one or three. One is more insanely gorgeous than the next.

Then there was Kim something who does freakin' CHAIN MAIL WITH GLASS which blew my mind and I really need to figure out how to use her very delicate little rings and sets of rings in my beadwork but meanwhile I bought these twisty things because the colours are fabulous.

She packaged them in a clever little gift box in an adorable miniature shopping bag from (possibly faux) recycled stuff:

And all of these are y'know, inspiration for my next pattern or class, right?

I fell down and bought purely for lust. First this bronze pinky ring.

Wow. I need hand cream apparently.

That was because the ring I really bought is being resized and I won't have it on my hand for at least another week and I needed something to tide me over. I must have tried on every ring in their booth (Pacific Silverworks. I bought a ring from them at Beadfest Portland five or more years ago - I get compliments on it almost every day) and was almost settled on a pinky ring with tiny amethysts (I wished they were bigger, and were rubies or preferably pink sapphires) which I liked but wasn't in love with but it would have been on my finger right NOW, but then he talked me into letting him resize the ring that made my heart sing and generously modelled it so that I could gaze upon its digital loveliness until such time as I am able to wear it.

It's crazy big, and has a huge white topaz stone with a sort of sunburst carving underneath which shows up at the top and a couple of smaller stones; perhaps a garnet or sapphire or something, I don't quite remember but I'm super-excited and my class this evening might almost pay for it so I guess I'd better get to it!