Autumn Beads, Opal & Beads Up North
1st October 2022 
See us tomorrow, Sunday 2nd October at Beads Up North With Craft & Lace, in Haydock Racecourse. More bead sellers than any other fair this year!
Then Saturday 15th Oct at Luton Bead Fair and Sunday 16th Oct at New Forest Bead Fair. Click For Our Bead Fair at 2022 Bead Fairs.
MrBead Shop: https://mrbeadshop.com
Orders Delayed 30th Sept to 10th Oct, while we take a break after Haydock.
Content:
Autumn Beads
Beads Up North
Bead Fair Reports
Opal For October
2022 Bead Fairs
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15% Off All From MrBead
Enjoy the new shop with 15% off anything with no minimum order. This is £15 off £100 worth of beads – the more you spend: the more you save!
Shipping is free too on UK orders over £30 – under this UK P&P is just £2.50. International shipping from £5.
Can only be used at the NEW shop & not with any other coupon. To get the discount Key OPAL at checkout – offer ends Monday 10th October 2022. Use at https://mrbeadshop.com.
Autumn Beads
When the nights darken, make some classy seasonal jewellery. Halloween is huge these days, then there’s Christmas presents to make.
There’s so many beads suitable for this season: agate, calsilica, citrine, coral, flaked stones, jade, jasper, lava, lapis, malachite, rhodonite, and tiger eye. You can also combine amber and pearl with all types of brown, dark greens, gold, and misty yellow.
Orange and gold beads match autumn leaves – try combining carnelian with black beads like onyx. Enhance your imagination with a touch of gold. Try mixing contrasting colours like brown and gold with blues and green.
For Halloween, skull jewellery are popular with the young, who wear skull rings on their fingers and hang skull pendants on their phones.
Click For Our Autumn Beads
Click For Our Skull Beads
Beads Up North With Craft & Lace
Not To Be Missed! Just off the M6 between Manchester & Liverpool. The show has more bead sellers than any other bead fair this year. A huge selection of semi precious and seed beads. Open 10am to 4pm – easy free parking and refreshments in the Food Hall. 
Learn how to bead at our free workshops, where everyone can have a go at beading with expert instruction. Workshops – 11am-12-noon; 12:30-1:30; and 2:00-3:00.
For Full Details Click: Beads Up North
Click For List of Exhibitors
Bead Fair Reports
Cheshire Bead Fair
We were pleasantly surprised how busy Nantwich was. Expecting to be quiet, but were ‘flat out’ after the first 1/2-hour. Many visitors and many sales.
Click For Short Video of this Cheshire Bead Fair.
Cambridge Bead Fair
As usual Cambridge was very busy, with the smallish hall chock-a-block. Cambridge is a good area for crafters. Although we had many visitors from East (even North West) London. All five exhibitors done well with the large football. We’ll be back at this popular venue just off the M11, in the spring.
Opal For October
What Is Opal?
All of natures fury can be seen in fine opal. Like a Rembrandt: fire, lightning, all the colours of the rainbow and the shine of far seas.
Australia supplies about 95% of the worlds opal from the outback. Aborigines believe their creator came down to Earth on a rainbow to bring the message of peace – at the spot where his foot touched the ground, opal was born!
The name Opal came from many places. In Greek Opallios translates as colour change, and to the ancient Romans Opalus was a stone from several elements. Pliny, a Roman author, wrote opal combines the sparkle of Almandine, the shining purple of Amethyst, the golden yellow of Topaz, and the deep blue of Sapphire.
Types of Opal
Fine opals shine and sparkle in a continually changing play of colours called Opalising. Depending on the location they have names like Harlequin, Peacock, and Fire Opal. Most opal has this play of colours except Common Opal, a name give to all others, like Pink Opal.
As demand outstrips supply, fine opalizing opal is very expensive – sometimes costing hundreds of pounds each bead. Therefore, the most popular for jewellery is non-opalizing opal – usually pink opal from Peru.
Opals play of colour is caused by small spheres of silica creating interference and refraction. The spheres, which are arranged in compact structures, dissect light through the gemstone, turning it into the rainbow effect, always new and different.
Peruvian Opal
Peruvian Opal comes in faint pink, light blue and light mint-green tones. From the Andes Mountains near San Patricio, Peru.
Although native South Americans have been using the stone for thousands of years, it only became widely available recently. It’s usually translucent to opaque with no play of colour and often has lots of black and tan dendrites.
Most Peruvian Opal beads are semi-opaque to opaque. Peruvian opals metaphysical properties are similar to other opals. Helping to intensify your traits and characteristics. Peruvian Opal can activate the heart charka and assist during spiritual journeys.
How to Value Opal 
Price of fine opal depends on its play of colour, the colours, their pattern and location. If red appears when looking through the stone, so will all the other colours.
Black Opal or a dark grey has the most play of colour. Especially from Lightning Ridge or Mexican Fire Opal. Crystal opal is the next best, being more transparent with a deep play of colour. White or milky opals with diffuse colour and are the cheapest.
To bring out the play of colour in a fine opal, the stones are cut and polished to round or oval cabochons. Only the best qualities of Fire Opal is faceted.
How does Opal Effect You? 
Opal is thought to remove depression and to help find true love. Opals are thought to enhance the positive characteristics for those born under the sign of Cancer. With Black Opal recommended to Scorpios and Boulder Opal for Aries.
Looking after Opal
Due to around 5% water, opals easily become brittle. If stored too dry or exposed to heat, the play of colour will fade. Therefore, Opal jewellery should be worn as often as possible, giving gemstone the humidity from the air and skin of its wearer.
See our Peruvian Opal Nugget Beads: Opal Beads
We’ve booked 31 fairs for 2022. This year we’ll be holding more of our own shows, at new locations requested by customers. If there isn’t any bead fairs near you, let me know and I’ll consider your request.
Next Bead Fairs:
Sunday 2nd October: Beads Up North, Haydock Racecourse, Newton-Le-Willows WA12 0HQ
Saturday 15th Oct: Luton Bead Fair, Stockwood Hotel, Castle Street, Luton LU1 3SS
Sunday 16th Oct: New Forest Bead Fair, Brockenhurst Village Hall, Brockenhurst SO42 7RY
Sunday 23rd Oct: Norwich Bead Fair, Best Western George Hotel, Arlington Lane, Norwich NR2 2DA Weekend 29th-30th Oct: Newton Abbot Gem n Bead Fair, Newton Abbot Racecourse, Kingsteignton, Devon TQ12 3AF
For the full list click 2022 Bead Fairs
15% Off All From MrBead Enjoy the new shop with 15% off anything with no minimum order. This is £15 off £100 worth of beads – the more you spend: the more you save! Shipping is free too on UK orders over £30 – under this UK P&P is just £2.50. International shipping from £5.
Can only be used at the NEW shop & not with any other coupon. To get the discount Key OPAL at checkout – offer ends Monday 10th October 2022. Use at https://mrbeadshop.com.