The Tucson Bead Show
Showcasing

The Tucson Bead Show is an annual showcasing of bead design –beautiful, artistic, handmade, original bead design, numerous, limited edition and one-of-a-kind products such as hand-printed textiles, vintage buttons, handsewn clothing, art couture, as well as jewelry supplies.

Over the course of the three-day fête, the top independent bead makers, jewelry artists, fashion designers, gem cutters, metalworkers, clay modelers, fiber artists, milliners, textile weavers, and a myriad of trade and bead craft suppliers, come together to show off their newest creations.

It features 500 exhibits and displays from both new and returning exhibitors, and provides buyers a great opportunity to meet and buy directly from bead merchants, who offer numerous products, beautifully displayed, in a range of prices, including vintage, antique, and tribal beads, gemstone, fabric, clay, shell, and resin beads, kiln-fired, torch, and lamp work beads, gold and silver beads and findings, and Venetian, ethnographic, ancient Roman and African trade beads.

Attendees will find the nation’s top bead designers, offering handmade, fine craft beads, in glass, stone, crystal, gemstone, shell, wood, clay, and silk. Many handmade, artistic beads and jewelry designs, are unmatched, and will be offered here –for the first time –by the artists themselves.

There is so much selection, that everyone can find something interesting –from masterful jewelry pieces, artistic clothing, handmade accessories, and antiquities, to hard-to-find products such as Gablonzer beads, Obi fabrics, hand-cut peridots, satin glass filigrana, champlevé, bezel settings, Uzbekistan handwovens, and translucent enamellings.

The show also offers one of the most comprehensive workshop programs by well-known artisans and bead makers –offering step-by-step instruction for all skill levels in clay bead making, jewelry design, stringing and hand knotting, bead weaving, polymer clay modeling, soldering, metal and wirework, mixed media, glass pendants, and resin jewelry making.

The exhibitors include merchants and dealers, who are carefully selected for their ability to offer exclusive lines, and both established artisans and emerging designers, who are recognized for their traditional skills in bead making, textile weaving, jewelry design, and lapidary arts.

The Tucson Bead Show runs this year from February 4 to 6, 2012. It is open to the public, and is free for both wholesale and retail buyers to attend and register. With three intense days and 500 exhibits, The Tucson Bead Show is bead design. Meet bead makers, designers, artists, artisans. Take a workshop and learn more about bead design. Buy directly from the merchants.