A real-time report on R&T bead shows.  BeadTour blurbs from bead lovers like you!

Photo courtesy of Armored Hearts Maille

From our Louisville, KY bead show, @_chelseaj tweeted an evocative stream of updates:

● Rummaging around at the Louisville @rings_things show! It’s like heaven in here.

● @rings_things Found tons of great beads today – thanks!!!

● Bag stuffed full of new beads and ELO on the radio… Yes! Life’s good.

Photo courtesy of Armored Hearts Maille

Frann of Armored Hearts Maille blogged about a fun trip to the Grand Rapids bead show:

“When we entered we were greeting by a very friendly young guy…he was patient with the three of us Bead Show Virgins and sent us on our way.

It was all a shiny, sparkly heaven…I loved how each type of item was separated, so you knew that if you were at findings table you’d find every type of finding possible. No meandering around in a maze like confusion. Cori kept me on track…she was quick to point out some styles and colors we had been discussing for the last week in anticipation for this event.

The set up was wonderful, there was room enough for most people to wind in and around the tables…the selection of merchandise was vast.”

And Anita Ghaemi updated on Facebook with this about our Chicago bead show:

“…my spirits are over the top…I rushed in headed for the beads”!

You know, R&T’s bead truck is making a springtime visit to your town.  An easy contest helps you get the most out of our bead shows …

Beads: not the only treasure at BeadTour

√ Attend our BeadTour show in your town.  Enjoy R&T’s exclusive bead deals!

√ Talk about it online:

• Facebook it

• Blog it

• Twitter it

√ When I see your report of our show, I’ll put your name in the hat.

At the end of our spring bead-show run, we’ll draw several winners to receive these coveted R&T BeadTour t-shirts!

Social networking has its rewards...

(Giveaway drawing: July 1st, 2010.)

Which show are you going to?  Here’s the spring BeadTour list:

03/12: Houston, TX
03/13: San Antonio, TX
03/14: Austin, TX
03/16: Dallas, TX
03/17: Oklahoma City, OK
03/19: St. Louis, MO
03/20: Kansas City, KS
03/21: Des Moines, IA
03/22: Omaha, NE
03/24: Denver, CO
03/26: Salt Lake City, UT
03/28: Boise, ID
04/03: Missoula, MT
04/10: Bellevue, WA
04/11: Portland, OR
04/17: Seattle, WA
04/18: Mt. Vernon, WA
04/25: Minneapolis, MN
04/27: Green Bay, WI
04/28: Milwaukee, WI
04/29: Chicago, IL
05/01: Grand Rapids, MI
05/02: Detroit, MI
05/04: Louisville, KY
05/12: Sacramento, CA
05/13: San Mateo, CA
05/15: Orange County, CA
05/16: San Bernardino, CA
05/18: Phoenix, AZ
05/20: Albuquerque, NM
06/06: Ft. Lauderdale, FL
06/08: Tampa, FL
06/09: Orlando, FL
06/10: Jacksonville, FL
06/10-13: Milwaukee, WI – Bead&Button
06/12: Atlanta, GA
06/13: Charlotte, NC
06/14: Raleigh, NC
06/15: Richmond, VA
06/16: McLean, VA
06/17: Baltimore, MD
06/19: Philadelphia, PA
06/20: East Hanover (NYC area), NJ
06/21: New Haven, CT
06/22: Boston (Dedham), MA
06/24: Rochester, NY

B.F. minus 4 days, as I write…

Rings & Things is going to kick off its springtime BeadTour this Sunday, with a big bead show in Spokane!  Then we hit the road, crisscrossing America.  Here’s a special treat to get you bead fans excited about our trunk shows:

Click for 360 degrees of beads!

It’s our new 360° “panorama” view…a.k.a. beadshow cam   Take a spin through the bead tables at one of our shows!

Can you believe it, we made it through the winter again, and it’s time to stock up on beads once more!

If you live in the Northeast USA and can attend one of our late September bead shows, you could be a winner!

We’re scouting for our first-ever Guest Bead Helper!  You could be an honorary BeadTour bead-show worker, with all the fame and glory that come with that honor.

Who set that table so nicely?

For our first foray into roadie recruiting, we’re looking for someone who can say “Yes” to all of these questions:

• Can you leave a comment below, to enter?
• Can you attend one of these bead shows?

1. Rochester on Sept. 24
2. Boston on Sept. 26
3. New Haven on Sept. 27
4. East Hanover NJ on Sept. 29
5. Philadelphia on Sept. 30

• Can you “set tables” with trays of beads?
• Will you let us buy you lunch and give you a goodie tote?

Other perks of the “job” include meeting our friendly crew and getting a behind-the-scenes look at how bead shows are put together — not to mention getting to start bead shopping before we open the doors to the public!

PS:  It’s a bonus if you’re an active Facebook-er, Twitter-er or blogger.  We’d love it if you talked online about your roadie experience!

We’ll announce our winner on Wednesday, September 16th. Good luck to everyone who enters the drawing!

So enter by leaving a note below…mention which city you’d like to help us in!