Cheltenham Rock, Gem & Bead Show

A jewellers paradise!

This is one of my favourite shows to visit as it is a wonderful mix of beads and loose stones for jewellery making as well as a great selection of crystal, mineral and fossil specimens. Held at The Pittville Pump Rooms, Cheltenham, it was a lovely way to spend a few hours, grab some lunch and have a walk around the grounds.

A bit of a grey & gloomy afternoon at The Pittville Pump Rooms

I think it's fair to say that I was fairly well restrained this time out! After my most recent makes I decided to focus on sourcing similar gemstone shapes and sizes to offer more colour options for my earrings. Here's my haul:

Here we have crackled rock crystal, hematite, picasso jasper, lava, faux sea glass, coral and larkavite.

These rock crystals will work so well with the sea glass style beads for a wintery, cool look but also with blackened silver. Last week I also cracked the key to hand polishing oxidised silver to a matt, almost satin brushed, antique finish using steel wool - messy but absolute metal perfection!
I was also lucky enough to visit the Bristol Museum to view the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition which was excellent and I thoroughly recommend having a wander to your nearest one - it is touring around 60 locations so keep your eyes peeled!
The great thing about the museum is that it's free to explore and so after some lunch we headed back to view the Egyptian display, dinosaurs and more rocks and minerals! I never tire! Just look at this gorgeous display of weird and wonderful Earth gems - all of these were found right here in the U.K!

Selection of U.K minerals and gemstones

Fingers crossed the weather gets better this week as I have some new pieces I'm looking forward to photographing but it's just so gloomy and I struggle enough with product pictures as it is!
Until then, thanks for reading!