Ring by Ring Designs

Bead Show Trip

and the beautiful "finds"

I've been to lots of bead shows. Some are good, some not so much. I really don't have a list when I go. If you do, you usually won't find what you are looking for any how.

So, I was pleased to find some beautiful Black/white swirl hand made tear drop beads - at a reasonable price. At the same vendor there were some purple ones, also.

But since I never purchase on the first go round, I was off to the next vendor. Nothing special. So, I went on until I found the table of Michael Harrington and his "Beads that Bounce" What a find that was. He not only was an extremely interesting person but had some great beads.

He almost had the banter of a carnie salesman but what he had to say about his beads was fascinating.

As you might guess from the name of his beads: "Beads that Bounce" the first thing he did was bounce the glass like beads on a steel surface. They did not break as glass or Lampwork beads would. Then he asked me to hold his bead and a similar looking glass bead. His bead was very light. But he wasn't finished with the show.

The beads are made from recycled eye glass lenses. His method is proprietary and he wasn't sharing when another lady pushed for more information. Further, the process does not require heat as Lampworked beads do. (A torch, yet) He did say the process uses optical resin in many layers with things added as he proceeds with the layers. And his last "surprise" piece of information was to say what was inside the beads I purchased. Look close (Sorry, I know the picture isn't very clear) Can you see what is in the middle? Let me know what your guess is. I'll let you know next week what the surprise is.

Be sure to read Michael's biography. He has had a fascinating life. (An Opera Singer, movies - he has an IMDb file - worked with NASA etc)