I'm Goin' High Class Now

First-off: how exciting. My first treasury is a real compliment. The person who set it up chose my double spiral necklace with the cobalt blue bubble bead.

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I went bead shopping yesterday for some pieces to use in a custom order. I went to Rare Earth Beads in Durham, NC, one of my favorite local shops. I'm like a magpie when I go to this place! All those shiny, sparkly things distracting me. Walls are loaded with sparkling gemstones, pearls, and all sorts of unusual beads. It makes me want to toss 'em on the floor in a big pile and roll around on them! Throughout the floor area are tables completely covered with small bowls of sparkling treasures; I just love letting them run through my fingers.

Up until yesterday, I was content to pick strands from the low-priced wall: all 16 inch strands are $5.00. But yesterday, I was on a mission - stones in specific birthstone colors for a customer's order. To save some time, and to keep me from browsing too much (HA!), I enlisted a salesperson's help to find what I needed. According to her it was time to start buying "grown-up stones".

So, I pawed over the "designer wall" where they have exquisite, quality stones. For exquisite prices, too. This salesgirl knew she had a live one. She had me count the number of beads on a strand to divide out the cost of each bead on a strand, and justified buying a $58 strand of citrine briolettes with "sell 3 pairs of earrings and you pay for the strand". That was all it took. I came home with keshi pearls, and lots of strands of faceted beads: citrine rondelles and briolettes, peridot, carnelian, blue topaz, and blue apatite, to name a few.

Gorgeous:

But now, I 'd better sell some earrings!!!