Toronto Bead Oasis Show

I think if I went every year (let alone to the Spring AND Fall shows), I'd be in serious trouble.

Anna (the newest convert to the evil empire of bead addiction!) and I went to the Toronto Bead Oasis show at the Metro Convention Centre on Saturday (18th). We decided to go for the opening (10:00 a.m.) so that we had time, and hopefully beat the crowds. Well, beat the crowds we did, but we also had to get up early on a Saturday (we teachers covet our little sleep-in time) to catch the 8:40 train.

It was almost ridiculous how much time we spent there, but it was so much fun. Because we had gotten there so early, many of the vendors were willing to chat. I was especially tickled to find Maria Rypan at her booth. She is the author of some of my very first beading books (and I highly recommend them) and the one who really started to open up the beading world to me. I loved seeing all of her newer designs, and I finally picked up the hast book of hers that I was missing, so I can truly say I own all of her books. I'm hoping she's planning a new book with her new designs soon.

I spent most of my time (and my money!) at the NLM Glass Arts booth. They have all the lovely seed beads a body could want. I like the Toho seed beads - all the regularity of a cylinder bead with the fun texture of the more rounded seed bead. I managed to find a number of matte colours in the Southwestern palette I was interested in. I'll be able to try a couple of those Southwestern-inspired projects I took pictures of on my trip home.

There was so much there. A few of us joked that there should be an 'Overwhelmed at the Bead Show' corner. We spent over an hour just touring all of the booths the first time. Going back, over two hours passed before we even glanced at our watches. All the shiny beads, crystals and gemstones had us completely captivated. If you're a beader in the Toronto area, I highly recommend you going to check out this show. It's a real treat.