Bead & Button Show Trend Spotting
I noticed a lot of black beads at the show this year, including an abundance of lava rock beads. I like lava beads because they're lightweight, made
from a renewable resource and they fit quite nicely into my chunky bead obsession.
There weren't as many piles of sterling and fine silver beads as there have been in years past, presumably
because of the high price of silver. However, I did notice that quite a few booths were selling Precious Metal Clay and Art Clay Silver.
There's a lot of collaboration going on in the world of bead artists. A cool example is the marketing and
education effort by a group of ceramic bead makers called Beads of
Clay.
Chain is still super popular and available in many different incarnations. The styles that caught my eye were
big hammered links, handmade PMC chain and Beadalon's new polyester chain.
A lot of shoppers took the
opportunity to stock up on inexpensive gemstone strands, brightly
colored geometric shell shapes, vintage Czech glass, copper beads &
findings and other manufactured beads.
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Here are some of my goodies from the show.
Ceramic beads from Earthenwood Studio,
Glass wheel bead from Proper,
Enamel toggle clasp from C.Koop,
Heart Padlock & key from MB Imports
Memory Frames from Ranger Ink,
Shells & lava from Black Market Minerals.
For more information on jewelry making trends, visit Fire Mountain Gems, where you can see their style team's
take on trends and download
BeadStyle
Magazine's most recent Fashion Forecast.
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