Thursday, August 27, 2009

Episode #92 wherein our intrepid author reveals old news

I can’t believe it’s taken me until Thursday to talk about the NEW BEAD STORE I found over the weekend. Right in my neck of the woods, too. It’s called OC Bead Store.

Now, I thought I was pretty up to date on all the bead-related doings in So Cal – stores, shows, etc. So, when I just heard about this place recently, I figured it must be new. After all, how old could it be when I, the great bead guru, only just learned about it.

So, imagine my surprise when I asked the owner if the store was new and how long they’d been in that location and she doubled over with laughter. The other customers in the store joined her in the laughingness which, really, I did not appreciate AT ALL. To be sure it’s perfectly odious to be laughed at by total strangers to whom one has not been properly introduced.

Ahem.

The kind owner then explained the reason for their laughter was that the store had been there for TWO AND A HALF YEARS!

Well, I am nothing if not totally well-informed and up on all the latest news.

Sigh.

But, I was, after all, in a bead store so I didn’t wallow in my misery for too long because I was distracted by all the bright and shiny things. The walls in this store are literally covered from floor to an arm’s length above my head with strand and strands of beads. All different kinds – stones, glass, crystals, pearls, oh my!

Then there are tables and tables of little dishes full of more yummy stuff – ancient Roman coins in silver and gold, chunks of coral dyed all sorts of colors, sea glass, etc. I was there for an hour and I don’t think I saw half of what they had to offer because I was just so dazzled.

The prices…could have been a bit better, but for an LBS, they were pretty good. They don’t offer much in the way of classes beyond basic beginning stringing. I think where this store stands out is in its incredible variety and selection. I had the hardest time deciding what to buy and definitely left some things I want to go back for…umm…next paycheck.


These are a bunch of strands of Czech glass that I got – stuck in my usual turquoise color rut, of course.


Then I just fell in love with this strand of Nevada lapis. Such delicate shades of lavender and moss green. There were other shapes, too, but I decided to go with the coin shape.


My pictures don’t show the colors really well, but the lavender is much more apparent in real life.






I'm still not sure why I bought these blue coral branches other than the color was so yummy and I never buy anything kind of funky like this so I thought it would fun to have something different for a change. I have NO IDEA what I'm going to do with them, of course.

Then, I ran into a bit of serendipity on one of the walls. A couple of strands of Czech glass – one gumball sized with a swirl design and one rectangular with an almost lava-like texture – happened to be hanging next to each other and the Muse saw them and went…HMMMMM….


The result is this necklace which I decided to call “Alien Earth.” I know, it’s kind of a weird name, but I watched a show on the Nat Geo channel with the kidlet over the weekend about how scientists are searching our galaxy (and beyond) for Earth-type planets. They’ve grouped the potentials into three categories – one of which has more carbon in its system than oxygen and is therefore going to have a surface bubbling with tar, oil and even gasoline. The soil will probably be thick with diamonds (take carbon, compress it and you get diamond) and the atmosphere will be fully of carbon compounds such as benzene and methane. They showed a computer-generated simulation of what such a planet might look like and these beads reminded me of that vision.


I had originally planned to put a pendant of black onyx in the center, but after playing around with it, I decided I liked it better without.




I kept the clasp simple and just used a Bali silver hook.




The Bali silver spacers help the other beads come to life and I really like the texture added by the faux-lava beads. I tried copper and brass in this necklace and while they were both nice, they didn’t pop as well as the silver does.

That’s it for today. Stay tuned for New Beads tomorrow!

KJ

3 comments:

SummersStudio said...

Those swirly glass beads are amazing. They are perfect with the dark beads. Out of curiosity, does OC stand for obsessive compulsive. That could be pretty fitting :-)

The Joy of Nesting said...

You are a brave and strong woman if you were only there for an hour. I'm afraid I would have told them to just lock me in when they closed. I might be ready by the time they reopened!! :)

Your "earth" beads are awesome!! So many things you could do with them!!! I really like the way you put them together with the lava beads!! Very easy to wear!! :)

Pattie ;)

dochoamom said...

KJ - I love Alien Earth. Nice choices... funny how things just hang out together and then bamm... new necklace... ha ha

I never knew that my favorite LBS was right around the corner from where I go to pick up mail and do banking for work EVERYDAY... so that is a little too convenient sometimes... but I have made a few new friends there as well as spend $ there every Friday!! woo hoo its Friday !!!

Can't wait to see what you make next... enjoying my earrings!!!

Love, Deb