A review of what you will find at the Gem Faire Show in Costa Mesa

A review of What You Will Find at the Gem Faire in Costa Mesa

If you are looking for a great selection of Czech Fire Polished Glass Beads or natural stone beads, then you will enjoy a visit to the Gem Faire.  Personally, I love it when the Gem Faire comes to town because it gives me a chance to view a really large selection of beads and compare the quality from a variety of vendors.  Additionally, this particular show has an interesting variety of booths.  You can purchase anything from raw stones to finished high-quality jewelry at an amazing price.  The first thing you need to do before you go to the show is to visit the official Gemfaire website and sign up for a discount ticket. The price for parking at the different Gemfaire locations can vary so having a discount coupon to enter the show can offset the parking fees.  I attended the Gem Faire show in Costa Mesa, California which was held at the OC Fair site this weekend, where I had to pay $8 to park.  I personally think that was a rather high fee since the average person is only at this particular show for two or fewer hours.  I had a coupon for a discounted pass to attend the show so it worked out well.

This is a smaller show that only utilizes one of the buildings and only part of the patio area.  However, they do seem to pack in a lot of booths in that small space.  There are booths that sell pearls, unfinished stones, crystals, findings, finished jewelry and so much more.  I am really happy that they also have a few booths that sell imported items like scarves, purses, and other odd items.  This year there was a really cool booth that sold tongue drums.   The prices were a bit higher than you could get them on eBay but the quality was really good.  When it comes to musical instruments, I prefer to purchase an item in person so that I know I will like the sound quality.  They had them in a large variety of sizes and styles. I did make a purchase at this booth but it was not a drum. They were also selling all types of cosplay, Renaissance costume, and other accessories.

Including this really cute hip pouch.  We use these a lot at the Renaissance Faire because you can not carry a purse while on stage with the public.  These are a convenient way to carry personal items with us and they tend to blend into the costume better than a purse would. The handy zippers are great for keeping items secure and in their place.

Additionally, the pouches have two hidden zippered pockets that can hold an id and some money.  

They are also easily adjustable with these well-placed fasteners.  At the Renaissance Faire, these tend to sell for $45 and up.  I was able to purchase this pouch at the Gem Show for $20.

  

Now I did come to the show to purchase Czech Fire Polished Glass beads.  So I started looking around for booths that had a good selection of 4mm, 6mm and 8mm beads.  There were a lot of them.  I did not purchase anything right away because I wanted to compare quality and price.  I found two booths that had exactly what I wanted at the price I wanted to pay.

One of the booths also had the 8mm elastic in red and pink that I was trying to find to use in my Travelers Notebook. The red 8mm elastic cord is sold on Amazon but the shipping was the deal breaker for me because I needed it right away.  So it was wonderful to find both the red and pink 8mm elastic cord at this show for a reasonable price.

From this booth I also purchased the following (and the two 8mm elastic cords spools) for under $30:

Czech Fire Polished Glass 4mm Transparent Bicone Bead Strands (these were $1 each Strand):

• Dark Green
• Light Blue
• Purple AB
• Clear
• Turquoise

Czech Fire Polished Glass Opaque Bicone Bead Strand a ($2 a strand):

• Turquoise with Gold

Czech Fire Polished Glass 4-8mm Metallic Opaque Bicone Bead Strands:($2 to $3 each strand)

• Dark Metallic Blue
• silver metallic
• gold metallic
• bronze metallic
• peacock purple metallic

Extra Items Purchased:

• two heart shaped beads with crystal accents embedded into the clay ($1 each).

The next booth I that I liked had some beautiful 8mm Czech Fire Polished Glass Transparent Beads to choose from.  These were on a special sale. The special deal for the strands was if you purchased ten strands then you would get two additional strands free.  The prices on these were really good and the selection of colors was great.  These Czech Fire Polished Glass are beautifully faceted and really shine when taken out to the sunlight. 

Czech Fire Polished Glass 8mm Faceted Round Transparent Bead Strands - 

• Fuchsia
• Turquoise
• Dusty Rose
• Iris Purple
• Clear Vitral AB 
• Peridot
• Light Blue

Czech Fire Polished Glass Faceted Round Opaque  Metallic Beads:

• Gold
• Green Metallic

The other booth that caught my eye was selling some wonderful Pashima Style Scarfs in turquoise with gold thread pattern accents.  The fabric is really soft and the color is beautiful (the photo really does not do the scarf justice).

I was also searching for some lava stone beads to repair a lava stone bracelet I have that broke.  I was able to find a strand for $8 that worked perfectly.  I will have a lot of extra beads that I can use to make a necklace to match my favorite bracelet.

I also saw a booth that was selling handmade and hand painted cowboy boots.  They were very colorful and priced accordingly. I think a person could get easily carried away at one of these shows.  You should also know that some of the vendors are from other countries so that can affect the use of credit cards.  The charges will be foreign charges subject to fees. So check in advance with your bank to make sure you won't be charged.  I personally control my spending by carrying only the amount of cash that I have budgeted for.  Since I am taking college courses and working part time, my budget is pretty small but I can get quite a lot for it at this show.  Paying with cash also ensures that I won't have to pay any weird credit card charges or foreign transaction fees.

The show does have signs that ask you not to photograph or record any booth or jewelry display without the express permission of each vendor.  So if you go, remember to check with each vendor before you start to take pictures. Personally, I think it is easier to just photograph what I purchased rather than some of the booths. It can get pretty crowded at the show and difficult to get a good picture.


Disclaimer: I was not paid for this review. I am not in any way associated with the GemFaire.  Also, I paid for my purchases, ticket, and parking with my own money.  P.S. I really feel that $5 to $6 for parking is far more reasonable than the $8 to $12 dollars that the Orange County Fair Grounds site charges for events held at their location.



Check out some of my other event reviews on this site like shopping at the Renaissance Faire, Labyrinth of Jareth, Art Supply Warehouse Art Event  and more.

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DIY Memory Wire Bracelet Tutorial

Create your own stylish bracelets using Swarovski crystals, beads, and memory wire with this easy DIY memory wire bracelet tutorial.

Supplies:
Beadalon Memory Wire
Assorted Swarovski Crystals
Assorted Beads
Jump Rings
Assorted Charms (optional)

Tools:
Round Nose Pliers
Long Nose Pliers
Wire Cutters

Step 1:
Using the wire cutters, cut the memory wire to the length desired.

Step 2:
Use the round nose pliers to form a loop on one end of the wire.  You can do this by making a 90 degree bend on one end of the wire, leaving enough wire to create the loop.  Use the round nose pliers to bend the end wire into a loop.

Step 3:
Slide on the Swarovski Crystals and beads onto the other end of the memory wire.  As you load them, try to create various patterns by changing the way you load the beads and crystals on each loop of the memory wire.

Step 4:
Use the round nose pliers to form a loop on the other end of the wire.

Step 5:
To finish, use both pliers to carefully open a jump ring by twisting each side opposite directions.  Use the jump ring to add a charm to one of the end loops and close the rings by twisting the sides back together carefully.

DIY Valentine Heart Earrings Tutorial

Create your own stylish Valentine Themed dangle earrings using easy to find supplies like Swarovski Crystals, glass beads, eye pins, head pins and ear wires with this easy DIY tutorial.  February is such a fun month and what better way to express the love I have for my family by making them some fun Valentine themed jewelry like this DIY Valentine Heart Earrings tutorial.  I picked up most of my supplies at Michaels, since I had a 20% off my entire purchase coupon.  The most expensive item I bought were the Swarovski Crystals (I bought two) which makes this a pretty affordable project.

Supplies:

Silver Ear Wires

Silver eye pins

Silver head pins

Silver jump rings

2 Swarovski Crystals

2 Heart shaped glass beads

Assorted 2mm glass pearl beads

Tools:

Round Nose Pliers

Long Nose Pliers

Wire Cutters

Fabric Mat

Step 1:

Gather your tools and supplies and place on fabric mat.  The mat keeps your beads from rolling of your working space and onto the floor.

Step 2:

Take one of the eye pins and load a pearl bead, a heart shaped bead followed by a pearl bead.  

Step 3:

Use the wire cutters to cut off the excess wire, making sure to leave at least a ¼ “ to make another loop. Using the long nose pliers make a 90 degree bend on the end of the eye pin.  Use the round nose pliers to form a loop with the remaining bit of wire.  Do this for the other eye pin.

Step 4:

Using a jump ring, attach these to the ear wires.

Step 5:

Take the head pin and load a Swarovski Crystals.  Use the wire cutters to cut off the excess wire, making sure to leave at least a ¼ inch of wire to make another loop. 

Step 6:

Then using the long nose pliers make a 90 degree bend on the end of the eye pin.  Use the round nose pliers to form a loop with the remaining bit of wire.  Do this for both head pins.

Step 7:

To finish, use the long nose pliers to attach the Swarovski Crystals dangles to the end of the earrings.  Make sure to close the loop tightly so they don’t fall of the end of the earrings.

Disclaimer: Always read the manufacturers directions and warnings to avoid being exposed to any products you could be allergic too.  And use tools carefully, especially around children.   I keep mine stored in a locked box so they can't get to them.

Quick & Easy Owl Watch Pendant Tutorial Project

Attach this functional watch to a heavy chain to create a fun and easy to wear watch pendant just in time for Mother’s Day.

Materials needed:

Owl Watch

Heavy Chain

4 Jump Rings

1 Lobster clasp

Needle Nose Pliers

Step 1:

Since the Owl Watch is rather heavy, it needs to be connected with two jump rings to secure it to the chain.  Find the center of the chain, then use the needle nose pliers to connect two of the jump rings to the owl pendant and to the chain. 

Step 2:

Using the needle nose pliers and round nose, connect the lobster clasp to one end of the chain.  Then using a wire Cutter cut the flowers off the main stems.  Cut each stem at an angle but keep them as long as possible.

Step 3:

To finish the piece, attach a jump ring to the opposite end of the chain

 Total time to complete project: 5 minutes.  The project itself was less than $30 to make. However, you could probably make it for a lot less by using a different brand than I choose to use.