Seasons of Life

This last full moon - a blue moon - created some space and time for me to reflect on the cadence of life. Those of us with kids (or are in school ourselves) are feeling the changing over of a carefree summer to a studious fall. And even as we will continue to have warm weather in the bay area for another couple of months, the daylight hours are lessening and the evenings and early mornings are a bit chillier. Also, and I just can't help myself with this one - the season of the Pumpkin Spice Latte is back! Hate it or love it, it's definitely a lighthearted reminder of the changing of the seasons.

All to say, there are seasons for most things in life. Recently I've seen a meme circulating on Instagram, generally geared at artists but honestly applies to anyone: "Nothing in nature blooms year round." The idea being that we put so much pressure on ourselves to be productive and creative and busy ALL OF THE DAMN TIME and sometimes it's too much. Also, don't get my started on late stage capitalism. . . My point: let's all encourage ourselves and the people we love to rest when we need to and slow down when we need to. Yes the hustle is necessary sometimes, but it feels a whole lot better when you also allow yourself to rest.

On that note, I have been doing A LOT of events lately and realizing I've been remiss at updating the event calendar. I finally updated it with all of my confirmed events for the rest of the year. There will definitely be more added to the Tangleweeds roster in the coming weeks, so make sure to check back. And if you know of any events that might be a good fit for me and Tangleweeds, send me a message =). I always love hearing from you!

Why We Need to Share our Stories

Just before Christmas I shared some very personal information on my Instagram about the nature of my grief and the loss of my partner back in May of 2020. I shared about the true nature of my relationship with my partner - that he was abusive towards me, both physically and emotionally. That he gaslit me and betrayed me. He had an affair and he kept a gazillion and one secrets. After he died, more and more was revealed and I went down a rabbit hole for months trying to uncover everything. One thing led to another and before I knew it I was questioning if I ever really knew him. Another fair question to ask: Did he ever really know himself?

I received innumerable responses from followers, most of them supportive. And even more than that, many women shared their stories with me, of getting out of their own abusive relationships. Some of these women I knew, some were people I had never met in real life, all were grateful for what I had shared.

Over the last two and a half years, since my partner died, I confided the true nature of my relationship to many of my closest friends and family. I opened up more and more about it because I was exhausted from carrying the secrets. Grief is also exhausting and I couldn’t carry both by myself -  couldn’t carry the grief and the secrets and not collapse from the weight of it all. Most people I confided in were endlessly supportive, never doubted me, and thank goodness for that because while I was feeling a lot of relief in finally being able to share my story I was also saddled with a fair amount of guilt. The old adage “we don’t speak ill of the dead” has deep roots in this culture and there were times when I wasn’t sure if I was doing the right thing.

Slowly, as time passed, my need to confide in those closest to me lessened, but something else grew. It was a desire to share my story on a larger scale, and even within the context of Tangleweeds. My art has always been highly interwoven with the fabric of my life, and I was carefully excising a large part of it every time I jumped on social media to share something or wrote a Tangleweeds newsletter or shared the backstory on the inspiration behind some of my designs.

I can’t tell you how many times I bit my tongue and minimized my story when anyone at an event, or on Instagram, or in an email, asked about the inspiration behind my snake designs. The inspiration had come out of my own grief experience in loving and losing my abusive partner. But when anyone asked, I always focused on snakes as metaphors for transformation and metamorphosis, emphasizing that we had all collectively gone through a huge transformation through the pandemic. While all of that is true and is part of my story, it left out an enormous part of my personal story and journey.

Getting out of an abusive relationship doesn’t happen all at once and I had tried to leave my partner multiple times over, only to get drawn back in. Even though the way I was released from this nightmare was through his death, and it might seem like an “all of a sudden I’m free” moment, it wasn’t that at all. The trauma that remains is significant, and is going to take me a long time to heal. Creating the snakes was a symbolic way of me getting back in touch with my power and my authority and represented something much bigger than just myself or an attractive piece of jewelry. Creating these designs was integral to my personal transformation and metamorphosis. But when I left out this part of my story, I striped myself of the power of connection with others.

I don’t think we always fully realize what we are cutting ourselves of from when we keep other people’s secrets, as I kept my partner’s. I now see clearly that I was cutting myself off from true connection with others. From both receiving support from others and being able to offer it up myself. There are supportive and healing conversations that cannot happen in this life unless we talk about the difficult stuff. Which takes me full circle back to that series of Instagram posts. The messages I exchanged with women who shared their own stories of abuse offered me support and made me feel less alone. I hope that is what sharing my story did for them, even in a small way. I don’t think we can ever fully know how we positively affect change in others, or in this life, but that is the beauty in everything being connected in ways that we don’t completely understand.

I feel a little bit lighter these days, and the future feels brighter and fuller than I ever thought possible. That doesn’t mean all of a sudden life is easy, but there is a centeredness and a groundedness that I never thought was possible when my life was one traumatic event after another.

Before I wrap-up this post, I just want to say that I hope to share more of my story this year and in the years to come. I hope it can be a beacon for some who may feel lost. And my gratitude to all of you who walk this creative life with me is endless.

Where Has the Time Gone?

I’m not sure where 2022 has gone! And as I write that I realize I’ve been completely absent from this space for nearly two years. After losing Jeff, well. . . life has been a crazy ride since then. And this post will in no way try to catch you up on everything that has transpired for me, but I am here to say hello and acknowledge the radio silence. Initially, after Jeff passed, I was very open about talking about my grief and what I was going through. As time passed I found myself needing to compartmentalize what I was going through depending on who I was connecting with, and that was not healthy for me. Moving forward I’m hoping to un-do a lot of personal programming I have in me about compartmentalizing myself, for the sake of making others comfortable, and I think that part of moving forward will be allowing myself to share my story more openly and freely.

On that note, it’s basically the wilds of the crazy holiday season right now, and I’m in full blown holiday prep mode. Lots of events coming up! If you haven’t checked out my Events page, you should! That’s the best place to find out where you can find me (and Tangleweeds) in person this holiday season. If you’re a regular around here then you already know about this, but I’ll be running my third annual website treasure hunt and sale this holiday season too! It’s so much fun. If you don't know what I’m talking about you should definitely subscribe to my newsletter, as subscribers get first dibs on the fun. Basically I hide promo and discount codes all over the website, for up to 60% off an order, or a free gift with purchase, that sort of thing. It’s a lot of fun!

I hope you’re doing well and finding some peace this holiday season. Part of me isn’t ready for the holidays and part of me has been thrilled for cozy things like fireplaces and warm socks, lights on trees, and steaming mugs of hot chocolate, and lots of time with loved ones. I hope this season is a cozy one for you too!

The Beauty of the Mundane

The holidays. Ugh the holidays. Yay the holidays. Meh the holidays.

The holidays are not sitting with any of us the same way this year, am I right? They’re certainly not sitting the same way with me. I’m not even sure I feel like decorating my house this year - and I derive a lot of joy from decorating my house. The verdict is still out on my final decision. I’ll make sure to share photos if I do come around to the holiday cheer side of things.

My focus this year is on surviving the holidays. The crap storm that there is to navigate is just too much for me to simultaneously try to be cheery and joyful about it all. Yes, I will feel joy on occasion, yes I’ll even smile some, but I’m not going out of my way to make sure I revel in the season, or to force the joy. Sometimes in life it’s more work to pretend everything is okay. And I would say that this holiday season might be one of those - where it’s more work to be happy and joyous and celebratory. Why not just grab a pint of your favorite Ben N Jerry’s and watch the most deliciously trashy television of your choosing on Thanksgiving night?

I don’t have to go into all of the things making this holiday season the crappiest. You all know. But personally, the hardest part of all of this is not having Jeff around to celebrate with. If I am 100% honest - and there are so many layers to losing Jeff - the holidays with Jeff were not the easiest. He kind of hated the holidays in a lot of ways. He was also his own worst enemy with the expectations though, and a lot of the stress around the holidays that he experienced he really created for himself. So while I’m not missing that part, I am simply missing his companionship. 

There was a lot of time allotment to navigate through the holidays. Jeff had two kids from his first marriage (and only marriage - Jeff and I never married. I always stumble over how to reference his marriage. His first marriage? His only marriage? His relationship before ours? Stupid language limitations.) So we were navigating time with Jeff’s family, time with my family, and figuring out when his ex-wife had the kids and when we would have the kids - and only then could we figure out when (and if) we would be able to see my family. It was exhausting and could zap a lot of the positivity out of things if we let it. We

But somehow, every year, we managed to squeeze in a holiday meal, just the two of us. Usually we’d cook something special, but not full on holiday smorgasbord. Depending on where we were living at the time, we might have a fire in the fireplace, there’d be Christmas music playing (always!), and we’d open up our presents to each other. It was simple and peaceful and often felt like a moment of calm amidst the holiday storm. 

It’s that evening together, just the two of us, that I miss the most. All of the rest of it, the stressing out about finances, and buying too many presents, and jigsawing a schedule together amongst three families and navigating Jeff’s depression that always got worse this time of the year - those things I do not miss. (Even as I am missing family this year - thank you pandemic - both Jeff’s family and my own. I’m just not missing the stress dance of making all of the family stuff happen - I hope that makes sense.)

I know, I know, I know - this is not a simple post. But feelings around losing your partner are not generally simple. And Jeff and I struggled quite a bit, especially the last few years of our relationship. This holiday season I’m going to revel in the simple - in the beauty of the mundane, I suppose. The changing of the seasons are beautiful. The sunrises and sunsets. Holiday smells, all of those warm spices. Eggnog in my coffee. And I’m going to write a Christmas card to Jeff, just like I would do every year. 

I wish, more than anything, that this year would teach us all to revel more in the beauty of the mundane. We waste a lot of energy reaching for more all of the time. And Jeff would really really appreciate this sentiment of slowing down. 

Immense Beauty Alongside Immense Pain

I just re-read my last blog post, from mid-April, and wow-wee am I struck by how much has changed since then. I’m also a little annoyed by my slightly Zen, imploring tone to focus on taking care of yourself through these times and going slow as you can. But I’ll elaborate on that in a bit. . . 

I wrote that blog post the day before Cash (the cat) showed up in my life. I wrote it a month and a half before Jeff died. I wrote it during a time when there was still hope I’d have holiday craft fairs to look forward to. Before money was starting to get tight. Before over 200,000 people had died. And before the BLM protests becoming omnipresent in the SF bay area and in other major urban cities. 

Where am I now? Where was I then? 

Something I tell my friends a lot these days when they ask how I’m doing: I’m okay with not being okay and within that I am okay. It’s an ouroboros of feelings. I am now so abundantly aware of how much I always clung to the idea that one day the shit would stop hitting the fan, bad things would stop happening to myself and my loved ones, and overall life would be like skipping down the yellow brick road. Eventually. And fuck if modern day society doesn’t implore us that if we just work hard enough and fast enough THIS WILL ALL ONE DAY BE TRUE.

That is so far from the truth it makes me cackle. I cackle a lot these days. I think of a cackle as being true laughter but one tinged by the darkness of real life. An edge to it, some added harshness. 

I almost want to stop and apologize for the tone of this blog post, but I know you don’t need me to. Wherever you are I am sure you are juggling your own array of challenges sprinkled through with moments of grace.

Because that’s the thing I’m realizing through these times - and by “these times” I do mean in part the pandemic, but I mostly mean the loss of my partner of 12 and a half years - is that immense beauty exists right alongside immense pain. I’m not always capable of seeing both at once, but some days are like a layer cake of feelings. One minute deep sorrow, one minute profound gratitude, the next a taste of joy almost so fleeting I wouldn’t see it if I wasn’t paying attention. This whole of life is begging us to pay attention. Pay attention and slow down (there I go again with imploring everyone to slow down - which I know how obnoxious that can sound when you’re juggling multiple jobs just to pay the bills). These two things are what’s gonna save the planet, if we’re honest with ourselves as a species. 

And circling back to the opening of this post: when I talk about slowing down I’m in large part talking about questioning the many things we are all taught to want in life - the very things that keep us running a marathon we don’t remember entering our name in. That is a very different thing than feeling like you can never stop working otherwise the bills won’t be paid, and I want to be sensitive to that. 

Voting day is around the corner. As I post this I am painfully aware of once again how strange it may be to read this post in just a few short day’s time. We are living through these huge stratospheric shifts in perspective and WAYS OF LIVING. 

I’m going to be back in this space more often again. I have so much more to say and share with all of you. I’d love to hear how you are doing in the comments below. I’m especially curious to hear how things may have changed for you since mid-March, when shelter in place orders were first given in the SF bay area. Or if things shifted for you at a different point these last few months, when was it and how are you feeling? 

Take care of yourselves, friends. And thank you for being here.

warmly,
Jeannine

Being an Artist in the time of Coronavirus

This is a blog post I’ve been wanting to write for a few weeks now, but not knowing where to start, I put it off. The current times are overwhelming and underwhelming all at the same time. I have found myself bored at moments - something I do not experience very often as there is almost always something I want to be working on (jewelry or otherwise.) But there is so much time right now I actually have time for boredom. And it’s not freaking me out as much as it used to. I think learning to sit with boredom and be a bit more comfortable with it is healthy, and something we don’t entertain much in our culture of “more more more.”

Arlo, lounging in the yard, helping me relax during these challenging times.

I also know though, that not everyone is experiencing an excess of time. For some, their time has been filled to the breaking point - with kids at home and working from home, or maybe you’re someone with a job deemed essential. I know there are many folks with less, not more time on their hands. 

It was interesting to read back over my last blog post that I wrote and posted here at the end of February. Things were already changing then, but we had not been issued shelter in place orders yet. Overall the pace and routines of our days were the familiar. In that blog post I wrote about the changes I was (and still am) working on within my business to structure it differently, to allow for more creativity, including closing most of my wholesale program, and curating and selling the Tangleweeds vintage collection. 

A lot of the goals I wrote about in that blog post actually align rather well with what is currently happening. Not all of it, but at least the part about putting my head down and simply doing the creative work with less distractions. Because of this, I initially thought that when shelter in place orders were made I’d be able to stride forward easily with my new goals (not the thrifting part though!) I had no idea how much the general anxiety of the times was going to seep into my being, into my day to day. I had no idea that sometimes time would move slow, sometimes it would feel like it was flying by. That focusing on new creative projects would be a challenge because I would feel like if I didn’t have the news on ALL OF THE TIME I would miss something important. That some days I wouldn’t mean to have the news on all day only to realize it was almost time to make dinner and all I had listened to was the news. With the beginning of each week I would reapply myself and try to be more “disciplined” only to end up in a state of high anxiety by Tuesday afternoon at the latest. After four weeks in a row of this, I have finally  backed off of all of the pressure I was putting on myself. 

I don’t want to prioritize my work over my well being and so I’m learning to change my expectations. I usually like to create a schedule for me week with each day outlined with the tasks and goals at hand. Now I’m doing this a little differently - I’m creating a very loose outline for my week, and when I sit down to write it I try to do it in a quiet and calm space and really get in touch with what I want to do with my time that week. I remind myself that I have the luxury of doing this right now as my work is running at a much slower pace. 

Which brings me to the number one point I keep making to myself, to others, and via social media and my newsletter as much as I can: I think our number one priority right now is doing what we need to do to take care of ourselves and take care of our loved ones. Please don’t worry about how productive you are at this time. My guess is that for most of you who may read this, your daily life is more complicated and fuller right now than you thought possible. I know for me it is. 

Which brings me back to my weekly outlines: after I create that outline for the week I remind myself that it’s not a goal list. That these are simply things I’d like to do, or the thought of working on makes me happy. It’s okay if some of the things don’t get crossed off the list. Of course I still have my fair share of daily work that must be done, and I make sure to make the time for these things. But I don’t want to look back on this time and wish I’d gone easier on myself. Because we are all grieving right now. Only gentleness is going to help us through all of this. 

Currently, being outside, whether that’s going for a walk, doing some gardening (most of my garden is containers, but there's lots I can do within these parameters and my plants have never been happier) or just sitting in the sunshine with one of my cats is really what I NEED every day to feel calm. I'm finding that I’m better off prioritizing these things daily than concerning myself with checking things off of a “to-do list.” In fact, right now, as I wrap up this blog post, I’m thinking I’ll grab the iced coffee out of the fridge that I made yesterday (I have a little hack for making an iced lavender latte) and go lounge in the sun with Arlo (my orange tabby.) Of course I have more things I’d like to get to today, but if I don’t that’s okay too. 

I’m gonna wrap on one final point: remember that however you’re feeling through all of this is okay. The tone that I’ve struck with this blog post may make it sound like I’m calm, composed and meditating a half hour every day, but that is far from the truth. Some days I’m a mess. Some days I’m great. Most days are somewhere in between.

Before you go, if you’d like, I’d love to hear how you’re doing in the comments below. Stay safe, stay healthy, and as one of my favorite musicians keeps saying in her Instagram posts: “stay mighty.”

all the love,
Jeannine

Everything is Connected

Today I felt called to sit down and write a blog post. Do you ever have one of those days where getting your work done feels like moving through sludge, but then your focus and your mind lands on that one thing that feels right for your current energy and mood? Writing a blog post was that one thing for me today. Doesn’t help that the sun is shinning beautifully outside and tempting me to throw ALL of the work out the window and just find a grassy spot to lie about and read in. . . 

But there will be time for all of that. Because I am learning how to make the time this year.

If you follow along with my Tangleweeds journey then you know that last year I celebrated 10 years of being in business. It was a milestone. One that I marked with a big series on Instagram (that you can still find in my stories highlights if you are so inclined) and lots of soul searching on my part. Shortly after wrapping up those celebrations major holiday prep began, and I didn’t have a lot of time to really start to implement the changes I had in mind. As 2020 rolled to a start though, I knew things had to shift if I was going to keep moving forward with Tangleweeds.

Which brings us to now. Changes are starting to happen. Brick by brick I am trying to disassemble the old house while building a new one. I am closing most of my wholesale program for the foreseeable future. (For my lovely customers that just means you'll need to make sure to buy from me either online or at events, because my work won’t be in very many shops for a while.) I am retiring many old designs all to make room for more creative work. Lots of one-of-a-kind and very limited edition pieces. Experiments in jewelry making that I hope to become more comfortable sharing with all of you over time. Because I find that I can be a bit protective of new work as it is percolating. And the vintage - yes, after attempting a debut of vintage clothing last year I will be officially rolling out a Tangleweeds vintage program this year. I already sell vintage alongside the handmade jewelry at the events I vend at that allow for it (many events are strictly handmade and at these events vintage is not allowed, unless it has been altered in some way), so this is simply an extension of what I’ve been doing on the side for a while.

In the vein of one of my classic Tangleweeds sayings “everything is connected” I will be playing with that idea - pulling the threads in places, adding new ones in others, stitching holes closed when necessary, and intentionally creating them when it feels right. I’ve spoken and written about it before, but Tangleweeds is my embodiment of that notion: that everything is connected. Naturally, when I started Tangleweeds I thought it would be the engine that propelled and helped to motivate many creative endeavors, not just jewelry making. I sort of lost that focus over the years though, and with my slow shifts and change-making this year, I hope to start to bring that idea of everything is connected back to the center. I can’t say with 100% certainty that I’ll be releasing any sort of handmade collection that isn’t jewelry any time soon - but there will most definitely be more creative exploration in the realm of jewelry, as I mentioned above, and with time, some new art to share with the world as well.

I’ll also be sharing more of my regular ‘ol life, interests, and behind the scenes stuff with my newsletter subscribers as I embrace these changes. I LOVE my subscribers because I think, more than anyone who only knows me through social media, they embrace the whole person that I am. I send out some of my best writings and inspiration lists to this coveted list, and if you are so inclined, I invite you to sign up for my newsletter here. It’s super simple, I won’t sell your email to anyone, and you will have the appreciation from this jewelry artist from the tips of my toes to the top of my head =). 

Lastly, before I sign off for now, have a read of this blog post from the middle of last year. It is when I really was at a turning point with Tangleweeds, where the first inklings of change were beginning to make themselves known. 

Thanks for reading and I hope you have a beautiful week!

Let me tell you about the Tangleweeds back story

Good morning and happy Monday! It’s almost fall, right?! I’m feeling myself gravitating towards sweaters and boots, and looking forward to the colors changing in the trees. . . even if we probably do have a lot more summery weather ahead of us in the SF bay area.

With the changing of the seasons, I find myself thinking a lot about how things evolve - both practical and literal (like cleaning out my closets) and more metaphoric (like sweeping old and not-useful thought patterns out of my head.) From this thinking springs my thoughts about Tangleweeds and the direction I'm headed with my creative work..

When I started Tangleweeds ten years ago, I knew I wanted Tangleweeds to be my art - not just jewelry, but my way of communicating with people my way of seeing the world. I've always had a strong knowing that everything in this life is connected - both in ways we can see and understand and ways that are unknown and mysterious to us. When I dreamt up the name Tangleweeds it was as an embodiment of this idea - of the interconnectedness of all things. That's the more ephemeral part of the story behind Tangleweeds. 

Here's where it all relates (or connects) back to jewelry: The art of jewelry is as much about the connections you make between elements, be they metal, stone, ceramic, plastic, or any other material, as it is about the amazing design you dream up in your head. Because without the proper connections in jewelry your design is just going to fall apart. 

And without connections in life to people, animals, things, and places that we love life kind of doesn't feel right, or falls apart, if I'm to use the same language I just used to describe the art of making jewelry. Another way of putting it: life is an art-form just like making jewelry is an art-form. 

As I move forward with Tangleweeds this year and in the years to come I know that I want to explore this idea/metaphor/truth both in my current art (jewelry making) but also through my communication with you and others via my newsletter, social media, this blog, and in person at events. I also hope to explore other creative mediums. . . of which I’m not going to define in a concrete way. I’m interested in exploring new methods and developing new skills with jewelry making, but I am also interested in diving deeper into other creative interests as well. Because it's all connected, and one creative medium helps fuel the creativity that drives another form of expression. Additionally, I'm also taking a honest look at my business and really considering all the ways I can move towards a more green and sustainable business. (I almost wrote about this today - the siren call I'm currently hearing - that our planet desperately needs our love and what part I can play in all of it. I'll definitely explore these thoughts in future blog posts.) 

I hope some of  what I wrote about here resonated with you this Monday morning. And if you'd like to read a bit more about my Tangleweeds backstory, this archived newsletter is a great read about how I try to find the beauty in the everyday. 

Being Real

I’ve sort of accepted over the years that blogging super regularly is just not something I am naturally inclined towards making time for. And nowadays with all of the different social media platforms and an email newsletter to create and a podcast in the works I find that sometimes whole months slip by without a blog post being created. 

And that’s okay. I know that. But sometimes I think my body doesn’t know that. Or some part of my subconscious mind. Because I still feel guilt about not generating posts more often. 

I know we all deal with this sort of thing. Guilt around not meeting our own expectations. One thing that I told myself I would do this year was “let go of guilt.” This thought didn’t come after some long mediation session or from years of therapy, it just came from a very true part of myself that KNEW I needed to stop guilting myself over anything and everything. Trust you me, I can find a way to feel like something is my fault, or like I didn’t try hard enough quite easily. 

Why am I sharing all of this with you? Well, in the interest of transparency and where I’m hoping to be headed with Tangleweeds I want to be more honest about what it’s really like doing what I’m doing. Being a jewelry artist. Running my small handmade business. All of the behind the scenes stuff. I’m still, in many ways, fumbling my way through figuring out my goals for the next few years. I wrote about it in a post earlier this year, that after my back injury near the end of last year I knew I couldn’t keep working the way I’ve been working. I need more softness. I need more flexibility. I need more connection to my creativity and my art. I especially need more room to explore new ideas - like in-real-life workshops, online courses, and that podcast I mentioned. 

If you follow me on Instagram I’m sure you’ve noticed the shift. I’m jumping on to stories more often and sharing my true thoughts about my work/day/efforts. My most recent IGTV episode I really laid out how I’m feeling about the whole idea of a “brand” and how I intend to pivot with that in the weeks and months to come. (In short: more of me as the jewelry artist, and less of Tangleweeds as yet another flawless brand constantly selling to all of you.) 

In short, I hope this new direction speaks to you. Also, this is where YOU come in. What would YOU like to see more of from Tangleweeds? A certain sort of jewelry design? A certain type of stone? But more than just jewelry, would you like more behind-the-scenes posts? Or maybe you would love to see more easy jewelry tutorials on my IGTV? I’m interested in ANYTHING you may be thinking of, because as I move forward I’ll be looking towards not just the jewelry I am inspired to make but ALSO the content I’m inspired to create. 

I thank each and every one of you for following along on my Tangleweeds journey!

Tips and Tricks for the Tucson Gem Show

How are all of the things? Life over here has been groovy and full and sometimes tricky and difficult but a whole heck of a lot of good stuff too. So, it’s been pretty normal, am I right?!

Lately I’ve been engaging MUCH MORE with Instagram. And if you follow me over there you probably already know this. I did a fun series in my IG stories where I shared my thoughts and reflections each day on my trip to the Tucson Gem show. That was what really got me started. I discovered I LOVE sharing what’s going on with Tangleweeds and me via this more organic venue.

But that brings me to the point of this blog post! I wanted to share some pics and thoughts about the Tucson Gem Show and overall how it went for me. I know there's many of you out there who are curious about checking it out for themselves, and I say if you want to go you should! And I’m here to help out with a few (hopefully) helpful pointers. 

Overall, it’s an amazing event where you can load up on supplies for all of your jewelry making needs. But there’s also loads of other stuff - lots of businesses and folks selling finished jewelry, whole shows dedicated to just selling rocks and minerals and even dinosaur bones (crazy!), and more. The Tucson Gem Show is actually a conglomeration of many, many smaller shows that are spread out all over the city that come together to create the big event. Some shows last a couple of weeks, some for only a few days, and some run for the entire month of the Tucson Gem Show. 

Without further ado, on to my tips and tricks for attending the Tucson Gem show! This will be a mix of practical suggestions paired with some more personal takes on things.

1. The first thing I’d recommend is to REGISTER ahead of time for the shows you want to attend. This will make for a much more seamless and quick entry to any shows that require registration. It would make for a blog post unto itself if I were to go into all of the details about the various shows, but you can find a list of the shows here. 

2. Book your lodging well in advance. Whether you’re going to stay at a hotel or Air BnB it, this shows draws many many people from all over the world and a lot of lodging gets booked up well in advance. I’m already considering booking my hotel for next year NOW.

3. There are some things to consider too, if you’re flying or driving in to Tucson. Gems and beads and all that good stuff can get pretty heavy. I know a lot of folks who fly to Tucson and then have the supplies they buy shipped back home. They find it easier and then there’s less worry about something getting stolen, etc. If you’re driving, obviously you don’t have to be as concerned with things like weight. I made a road trip out of it, but I was only coming form the SF bay area. 

4. With the above said, if you decide to fly, you’ll need to consider how you’ll get around the city, because the show is spread out ALL over Tucson. Many shows are grouped very close to each other, but unless all the shows you want to go to are walking distance from your hotel, you’ll probably want another mode of transport. Obviously, you can rent a car. Your other option: the city of Tucson provides a shuttle for gem show attendees. Since I drove I didn’t use the shuttle. I considered it, but given the heavy weight of what I was buying, and the fact I was getting over my back injury, I wanted to have somewhere to set my things down between shows.

5. The previous point naturally leads into this point of mine: If your goal when you go is to see as many shows as possible, and you’re there to buy for your business, you’ll probably be pretty exhausted by day’s end. I found it very helpful to sort of plan out my show schedule before I left for my trip, and then I made adjustments to that schedule as each day went on. Overall I ended up being able to see MORE than I thought I’d have time for. The point of this point: know what your goal is on the trip. Are you simply there to check things out and scout around? Are you seeking out new stones you’ve never seen before? Or are you there to try to buy most of your supplies for there entire year? Having a focus will pay off in dividends when you’re tired at the end of the day and not sure how much oomph you’ve got left in you!

6. Don’t compare your goals to the goals of others you may run into and have conversations with. There are many folks there who are buying for large companies, or for their own bead store. These folks are buying TONS compared to what I was buying. But I’m buying TONS compared to what a new-to-jewelry making hobbyist will probably buy. Know your goals and focus on that.

7. If you’re not too rushed, and you’re open to it, you’ll have many rad conversations with both vendors and fellow buyers alike. I think the tip in this tidbit is simply to engage with the experience and you’ll enjoy your time so much more.

8. And, lastly, relating back to #6: set a buying budget for your trip. This will help to keep you on track and keep you from buying things that aren’t really right for your work. I would add this though: have a back up plan for going over budget, whether that’s a low-interest credit card, or simply some money you can pull out of savings. I know this might sound like  the least sound money advice. . . and it may very well be =). But I offer this advice because if you find something that is so perfect for your work and it’s at a great price, but you weren’t planning on it so you don’t have room in your budget for it so you don’t get it, you’ll despair later. Think of it this way: you’re paying all of these other expenses to go on the trip: lodging, transportation, food, etc - the more you can stock up on supplies the more worth while the trip is!

That’s all for now. I could easily write a whole blog series on this trip and show. Overall I had so much fun. And I’m sure you’re wondering - did I go over budget? And I will say, hell yes I did! But I had a plan (low interest credit card that I’m paying back as quickly as I can) and just knew at the time that it was the right thing to do. The only thing I regretted, upon arriving back home and assessing my loot, were the items I decided not to get even though they were great for my designs.

But there’s always the San Mateo Gem Show to fill in the gaps throughout the year. . . 

P.S. If you want to hear more of my thoughts and see more images and videos from my Tucson Gem Show trip, then head on over to my Instagram and check out my stories highlights titled “Tucson.”