Peek in My Shopping Bag: Tucson

It took a while for the dust to settle around here. I got back from Tucson and dove into a big project (more info on that coming soon) and haven't had a chance to post my shopping pix. Here are a few sneak peeks! The color story for this Spring and Summer is bright, fun pops of color. Take a look at these treasures - I had color on my mind.

This is the yummy little sampler box from CREATE YOUR STYLE with SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS. Beyond loving the sparkle, I always think it's interesting to see what colors they choose for the following fashion season. The gemstone-inspired beads at the top of the picture are crystal pearls. They're also introducing a warm, rose peach color and a few new color effects.

The stacked flowers are part of a gorgeous ring from The Beading Place. These opened my eyes to some new possibilities for Lucite. I love the shiny, opaque colors! And mixing metal and crystals with the flowers is pure genius.

Here are a few of my treasures from Lily and David at Nature Beads.  The turquoise leather is made from Tillapia. Fish leather! Awesome. And the large-hole tagua beads are a sustainable forest product also known as vegetable ivory. David did the lapidary work on the stones. Talk about great pops of color.

Check out this new kit! It's a collection of hand-selected chains and findings from Garlan Chain, which is a US manufacturer of beautiful, high quality chain. The cover design was created by Bonnie Ogilvie. The colorful beads are from Carter and Aveesh at BeadTrust.com.

Kara from The Lipstick Ranch and her family have a rust farm! They start with lead-free iron, spread it out in a field, then let nature create a beautiful finish. I look at this picture and see fall 2013 around the corner, but just wait til you see these pieces mixed with bright beads for this spring and summer. Turquoise and tangerine tango are going to love these guys.

Okay, this is a tasty arrangement right here from BeadTrust.com. Pyrite, glitter rocks (!!), labradorite, peach moonstone, oh my. Scroll back up and take a look at those new Innovations from SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS. Notice anything familiar? It's a warm, peach color my friends. I wasn't sure, but then Carter showed me these beautiful moonstones in shades of gray and peach and the combination totally won me over.

I have more pix...stay tuned!