Off the Beaten Path......

And into the ball park we go. Today is the first day of the annual Tucson Gem and Mineral Show. It is sometimes advertised as the largest Gem and Mineral Show in the world. I don't know if it really is or not, but it sure takes over the whole city!

We went to Tucson Electric Park(baseball). That is only one of hundreds of sites all over town. The dealers take over whole hotels. Good luck on finding a room anywhere in the month of February. What has this got to do with minis, you ask? Sometimes it has a lot. We usually spend several Saturdays going from one show to another. There are all kinds of treasures to be had.

I have several favorite dealers. I usually try to hit them first. I bought Beads from the first. Only one of the hanks will go into minis. I was disappointed that they didn't have any #14s this year. The blue ones, on the left, that I got are 3 cut Charlottes. They will go to make mini purses and other jewelry. The rest will go to one of my other pastimes. I do a lot of beading when I am not doing minis, needlework or poly clay work. Although I sometimes mix a combination of those together.
All of the cabochons in the photo will be beaded(someday). Come on. Admit it. You have stuff hiding in your stash that you bought" for the future". I told my husband that I now have enough beads to last the next 20 years........I lied. I will never have enough beads. They are a collection in themselves. I just like them. They are like having treasure.

OK back to the subject of what I got at the show. So far, Tessie is doing better than I am this year. I bought her a present. She has been running all over the neighborhood showing it off. She says that it's a "Mini George" like the one that sits on the shelf in my workroom. It was hand carved in Indonesia from deer antler. According to the man that I bought it from, they make them from shed antlers. I hope that is so. No deer was harmed to make the little skull. Please don't write and tell me anything different. I believe the dealer.

That's about all I found today. In years past I have found lots of mini goodies. They always have silver charms dirt cheap. One year I found Japanese woodcarvings. These are all 1" high or under. Incredible detail. They are beads, but I use them for statues in mini settings when I am not wearing them. The sumo wrestler frog on the left cracks me up. He looks so fierce. The dragon coils around his own head and you see the tail on the back. Every scale is in place. The fruit in the back(persimmon, I think) has a mouse nibbling on the stem and another one that has dug his way into the fruit and is sticking his nose out. The cat is a good luck charm. If the hand is raised, it foretells good fortune. The paw is raised.

My all time best find, according to Tessie, was last year......Yup. The dragon was last year's prize purchase.

Anyway, I didn't accomplish anything today, at least in mini. Maybe tomorrow........

See you then.