Great promotion. I hope you all do well

Maybe some beads are stuffed in there somewhere....
Er....you ARE on top, right? Right??

Thomas, please tell us about the strand of ancients the model is wearing...

I'm glad you guys are staying open late the first Monday again; for me it sort of replaces the BCN Tucson dinner, which ran from 2007 - 2017. It became too big for the restaurant we met at...too big for most any restaurant, with nearly 40 people, but the new Angry Crab restaurant at the Grand Luxe is pretty good, and totally convenient in the same venue at the Ethnographic Group. A number of us tried it out the first Monday night of the show last year. I am sure it will again be good bead times with good bead people! Have a great show, and I'll see you in 2020!

Just a quick traffic update for you incoming folks. Try to avoid Kolb and Valencia which is currently in a state of construction hell as is Houghton Road. These are both in the East side of town so it may not affect you. I believe the major construction at Ina Road and I-10 is done but they are still doing some road improvements along Ina. As always watch out for those indirect left turns. I don't believe they've added any since last year but they're planning on more. There will also likely be construction on Grant due to a widening project that is scheduled to run to the end of time as best I can tell. Hope to see some of you again this year.

The Tucson show has become my annual ritual and how I've celebrated my birthday for the past 46 years. Having moved to the desert during my freshman year in college, I got a job in a local bead store - there were 2 really good ones in those days - The Bead Shaman and Piney Hollow. The Bead Shaman featured Native American pottery and rugs along with a nice selection of vintage Venetian Milli Fiore and African Trade Beads. Piney Hollow had a great historical collection of beads and artifacts. I enjoyed spending a lot of time and money in both! A friend, a local mine owner, took me to my first show in 1973 and I was hooked. For many years I looked for one special crystal or a few strands of nice beads to make gifts for family and friends. Now we have our own bead store in Encinitas (San Diego) - Beads, Crystals and More and I've paid homage to all I learned from those and other shops I visited during my love affair with beads which started in 1969 with my first 7 layer Chevron. I hope everyone has fun at the show experiencing the flavors and colors of the world of beads.

Reception from 6-7 PM before the talks.

Thank you Floor and Peter for organizing this event.

Yours truly will be giving one of the presentations - see you there!

So I am trying something new this year -- which is going to Tucson later! I'm showing up on the 13th, and staying for a few days. I'd be very curious whether anyone has suggestions as to where to focus.

Also, I'm going to be looking for rocks and minerals for our shop for the first time. It's becoming an increasingly large portion of our business!

Finally, I bought this beautiful from from Lopacki last time I was in Tucson - just wanted to share :)

Abe

Am sending you a private message, please log in to read it; I'm not sure you received my emails weeks ago. Thanks!

Just checking in from the Big T. We’ve had cold and rainy weather since Sunday. The outdoor venues like African Village and the many dirt and gravel parking lots are all giant mud puddles.
Still great to be here and hunting down lots of treasures along with meeting lots of old friends. Will post some pics after I get back on Friday.