Tucson Gem Show Ahoy!

It's that time again in Tucson...

Time for me to spend loads of cash on craft supplies I'll never get around to using...

... at the annual Tucson Gem Show, which claims to be the world's largest.

On Saturday, I picked up Katie around 10am, spun around to pick up Ingrid, and we headed straight to the I-10 frontage road, along which the gem show is situated. Katie had never been before, but Ingrid and I had been to the multi-tent area near Bennigan's (insert Butters joke here please) last year and really liked the dealers there.

Speaking of Bennigan's & Butters, I just had to include this...


Here's a sample of the kind of thing you see everywhere at the show...


... booth after booth and tent after tent and mile after mile... it's just gems, beads, agates, and rocks galore.

And if you're lucky, you can also come across this kind of people watching...

... the gem shopping cowpoke.

Truth be known, I exceeded my budget a bit and actually had to borrow some cash from Katie before the day was done. Reason being?... I bought a resin necklace, a year's worth of beads/rocks for necklaces, and lots of silver spacer beads, which are actually pretty pricey. Oh, and two headbands for $1/each.

Katie and Ingrid had much stronger will power than I. Although that isn't surprising since I tend to lose it completely in situations where my craftaholic mind thinks it's capable of much more than my uncoordinated hands.

Katie was more intrigued by the show's oddities than her crafting potential. Her attention was caught by these most interesting crystal contraptions...

... I mean, the only suitable sort of place we could think to put this would be a hotel lobby. However, any other suggestions are welcome...

I personally thought this one looked like the plant in "Little Shop of Horrors..."

"Feed Me, Seymour!!!"

Katie was also perplexed by this chunk of petrified wood, or a rock, or carved wood or whatever the hell it was...

... in fact, she found it eerily similar to a giant booger.

One of my favorite finds of the day did not involve rocks, gems, beads, or wood. In fact, here I am modeling it in all of its acid washed glory...

The fringe, the button fly, the scrunchy bow pockets... White Snake reunion concert here I come!