The Confessions of a Deranged Bead Addi,,Hoard..mm.Collector

This would be the pile of beads & findings I brought back from the North. Yep it was quite a haul. And I'm sure it was one of the major factors contributing to my over weight bag! But don't you know I really need all of these, truly!! I mean the next chance of a "mule" coming this way isn't until Oct! :(

Eeee Gads can you even begin to imagine the excruciating bead withdrawal that could be??

I found some fun focals,connectors, and findings at a little bead shop in Boise not to far from the boy's house. Oh and I'm quite proud of myself because I only went once!! Yep, I know it was hard but I kept telling myself it was a good character building exercise. :)

The beads I didn't buy locally thus the confession part of the title. As ya'll know beads bought in bead stores are rather costly. Which is fine for a couple of special strings. But the meat & potato beads we use in our work need to be rather economical, or we'd have to price ourselves completely out of the local markets. For many of you guys these are the beads you pick up at the many different shows available NOB (north of the boarder) We don't have bead shows and sales here. Once a year there is a huge country wide wholesale bead and jewelry sale and show in Guadalajara. But that's it.

What's a girl to do I ask you??? Ahhh Haaa eBay to the rescue. I know I know it's not the best answer but for me it's a very affordable one. There is a group of sellers that buy their gem&stone beads from the same wholesalers that sell to the bead stores and at the shows.

They all start their bids low for under $1.00 a string. They tend to make their money on the shipping, as your first string is usually $2.99- $3.99 shipping then the rest of the strings are $1-$2.00 per string. When you add the shipping to the price you payed for the string they generally cost what the same string would cost at a show. Well that's unless you get caught up in a bidding war. For me the best way to prevent that is to place my maximum bids and not check back until after the auction has closed. If I was out bid on a string no worries there are plenty others from the exact same lot I can bid on. There are very very few one of a kinds. Because there are so many different dealers I decided early on to find one that I could work and feel comfortable with. He is the only one I buy from. He knows me and I know where he is coming from. I know that the color of the beads in his images on my screen are pretty much dead on to the color of the beads in real life. 

   

For me that's really important. Because I can't see or feel the beads before I buy them I want someone that is working from the same sheet of music. That way there are very few if any surprises when you open up the parcel! :) Yep most sellers will refund but for me that's pretty much a non issue. Remember I have to have my stashes sent to an ever so helpful and willing "mule" to bring them down.

Sometimes that means a month or two wait before they get here. I'm tellin ya one thing I have learned here is what being patient is really all about! ;) Oh but what fun when I do get to open all those envelopes of beautiful beads,stones and sparklies!!! It's like Christmas morning!!

So if you will excuse me I have a lovely stash of beads just waiting to be made into something beautiful! Meanwhile please have a most audacious art filled day no matter where in the world you are    p;)