Calling all beaders....you whoooooo

CACTUSWENDY

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:D

I started doing beading this last year and I am having a ball. I love the bling stuff. I find that my artist eye has really opened back up from years of non-use. (Although never did the beading stuff before.)

Finding the cheapest and best prices for the 'raw' beads has not been easy. I have used several wholesale sites that. so far, have met my needs, but can see I want to upgrade the quality of my materials and still keep within the smallest dollar range that I can.

Any insight or such from you guys would be appreciated. I'm trying to build up my inventory for the swap meet for sometime after Thanksgiving. (Just in time for the holidays.)

Living in Tucson I can't wait till the Gem Show this winter. We have one place that is only jewelry making stuff. I plan to stock up then.

I hope to get a blog up and running soon with some shots of what I have done so far. If you have a site...let me know.
 

Filigree

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If you can't wait for the bead shows during January and February, come up to Tempe and check out Beads Galore on the SW corner of Priest and Southern. One of the biggest bead stores in the entire Southwest. They ask you to lock up your purse while shopping, and some of their gemstone beads are oddly-drilled and defective, but they have great prices on decent 'B' and 'C' grade freshwater pearls and Czech pressed-glass beads. I've been going there since 1989.

If you're looking for higher-end products, go about ten miles north into central Scottsdale, and look at Scottsdale Bead Supply. They sell nearly every gemstone bead under the sun, make their own findings, and have nice staff.

If you're looking for seed beads, Fire Mountain Gems has some luscious colors in their Chinese and Czech seed beads.

Oh, yeah, and if you have not already done it, treat yourself to a sub or some sample issues of Bead & Button Magazine, or Art Jewelry Magazine if you want to get into metalwork. Belle Armoire also has neat beaded jewelry projects.

Filigree, who has been beading since forever.
 

CACTUSWENDY

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Cool.

I have heard about that store. (Beads Galore) Sounds like a fun place.

I ran across a site today and they mentioned it. I was going to google it and give it a look.

I knew dawn did things....was not sure about the beading. Thanks for the info.
 

sunandshadow

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I've been playing with ebay recently and one thing I've looked at several times is all the beads and pendants for sale. You can get very cheap ones from hong kong or therabouts, you just have to wait about a month for them to show up. Some places, if you buy more than $50 of stuff from them will upgrade your shipping to something faster for free.

My only problem is I don't really wear jewelry, lol, so I haven't been able to come up with a good excuse for buying any of these pretty sand stone (goldstone) or tiger's eye or lab-grown opal beads.
 

TheIT

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Seconding the referral for Fire Mountain Gems. If you sign up for FMG's email list, they send you news about sales as well as links to articles about beading. Lots of good information and how-to's on the site (www.firemountaingems.com).

And also seconding the referral to Dawno's website. Lovely work. I'm wearing one of her lanyards right now (and very fetching it is, if I do say so myself). :D

Another resource site is www.glassattic.com. The main focus is on polymer clay, but there are references to beading, making polymer clay beads, and links to online suppliers of jewelry making supplies as well as polymer clay.
 

CACTUSWENDY

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In the middle of the night I bid on the pendents on Ebay. I have had a ball with that. I can buy for about a dollar or less and only buy the free ship stuff. W00t! Pig heaven there.

Their beads are not much of a deal though. I have bought through Dollarbead.com and for general beads that is a good site for me. I like to go to Micheal's to see lots of choices on beads.

I am looking into fishing line choices for the threads. If you are careful about your choice you can get it a lot cheaper than bead thread. I have not invested into the real gold/silver findings much yet. I just hate to spend that kind of money for costume jewelry.

I have a large batch of New Mexico blue/green turquoise . that I am going to recycle and will want to use real St. silver for it.
 

CACTUSWENDY

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Yes, Micheal's costs a lot. But I like to look at the different styles they have on display.

Just a few doors down from the one close to my house is a bead shop. It is huge and carries tons of stuff. But It too has high prices. It's not a wholesale place.
 

kikazaru

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Has anyone mentioned "Artbeads" yet? I buy often from this site especially when they have sales. I really like the fact that shipping to Canada is CHEAP!!
http://www.artbeads.com/?cmp=psg&gclid=CIWElYHL9KsCFR1ggwodClt0VA

When I'm looking for vintage, "Splendor in the Glass" is good, but it's pricier.
http://www.splendorintheglass.net/

Another great source is yard sales. I often buy necklaces, bracelets etc for less than a $1.00 (and many times they have silver components) just to cannibalize for parts.

Also if you are looking on ebay, check out the "as is" or "for repair" in the title. Cool stuff can be had, if you have the time to look.
 

sunandshadow

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Does anyone know the name of this shape of bead? The store the picture is from lists them as split-leaf or petal-leaf but no one else has anything called either of those.
aventurinesplitleaf.jpg.w300h305.jpg
 

TheIT

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Hmm... no luck on the Fire Mountain shape charts. They're pretty, whatever they are... :D

Does anyone know the name of this shape of bead? The store the picture is from lists them as split-leaf or petal-leaf but no one else has anything called either of those.
aventurinesplitleaf.jpg.w300h305.jpg
 

CACTUSWENDY

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Nope...don't know that one.

Yes....yard sales ...love it.

I can get broaches on Ebay for like 1.01. They are soooo pretty. But I like the bling stuff, so my tastes might be different from you guys. I'm not into the earth looks much. When I get some pictures done up I will try to make a closed blog site and put the addy on here for just us to see. Also, I am real new at all this, so I'm sure my stuff is baby compared to you all. :tongue
 

D.M.Drake

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Does anyone know the name of this shape of bead? The store the picture is from lists them as split-leaf or petal-leaf but no one else has anything called either of those.
aventurinesplitleaf.jpg.w300h305.jpg

http://laughingbirdbeads.com/id83.html
The ones you are looking for are on this page :) (I was taught they were called split leaf, don't know if that is accurate though)
 
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Dawno

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Thank you Lisa and TheIT for the recommendations :)

Have you checked out Rings & Things, FusionBeads (especially for Swarovski), & abeadstore.com? I usually look at those three plus Artbeads for the best bargain available - depending on who is offering coupons or discounts or having a sale I go to one of those 4 almost every time.

I only use FMG for things I can't find anywhere else and need in bulk to get the best discount level. I've been a bit disappointed in some of their semi-precious stone strands and have gotten a lot of broken or cracked items as well.

Oh, I *love* Antelope Beads for great prices on pewter beads & spacers, plus they carry Kazuri. Another place I've gotten great deals on Beadalon products is JewelrySupply.com. Finally, I prefer SoftFlex for my beading wire and you can buy direct from them.

Sign up for all their newsletters, they all offer good coupons and sometimes newsletter only specials.
 

sunandshadow

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http://laughingbirdbeads.com/id83.html
The ones you are looking for are on this page :) (I was taught they were called split leaf, don't know if that is accurate though)
That's the website I linked my image from, but they don't have the colors I want so I was trying to google the shape of bead to locate more from other sellers.
 

CACTUSWENDY

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Just a thought. Could you buy what color they have them and then paint to the color you need?

(Not sure that can be done.)
 

sunandshadow

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Just a thought. Could you buy what color they have them and then paint to the color you need?

(Not sure that can be done.)
The point of using semiprecious stone beads instead of something cheaper and more workable like wood is the stone's natural beauty and prestige-value. Some kinds of stone can be dyed and don't look too fake, but it's not something I have the tools or workspace to do. I could theoretically carve beads that shape out of wood and paint them whatever color I wanted, it's an interesting idea I'll consider in the future, but in this specific case I wanted them in a stone matching another stone I already chose for a necklace.
 

Shadowflame

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Afternoon all.

CactusWendy. Depending on what beads you want, FireMountian is a good place but also check out Ship Wreck Beads. Since I do more organic and Native style work, I mostly order from there. Also, if you know you have some favorite colors, go ahead and BUY IN BULK. Much cheaper in the long run.

I've not done as much work now that I am writing more but here is some of my work :
While this isn't updated, it is some of the stuff I did a few years back http://www.beadartists.org/Shadow

I finished this one last year. http://wp.me/pCGdv-4Q

I've got some others sitting around waiting for me to finish them. If you have questions please feel free to PM me.
 

Filigree

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I'd forgotten about Bead Artists.org. I'll have to join up, so I can post a few pics. My stuff has made into 'Your Work' in Bead & Button Magazine a couple of times, and several exhibitions sponsored by Interweave Press and other publishers. I've been distracted by writing and book arts, and neglected my beadwork.
 

CACTUSWENDY

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So many neat sites.....now is when I wish I had tons of money.....;)
 
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