You may be thinking, "whatever possessed you....?"
I mentioned in yesterday's post that one of my fellow LousianArtisan team members (an Etsy team) and I attempted to visit our favorite bead shop after our team's Meet & Greet on Tuesday, but unfortunately the shop is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
She and I made arrangements to go again on Thursday. I love, love, love this store. It's called Turquoise Coyote and they have amazing prices (especially on their sterling silver wire, chain, findings).
One reason I believe their prices are so great is that they are almost rebelliously low-tech. No website = no online orders, no computerized inventory, no cash register... Your receipt is written in a notebook with a sheet of carbon paper in between - item number, quantity and price. The top sheet torn out for you (your receipt), the other stays in the notebook for their um..recordkeeping (if they keep records). Your purchases are tallied up on a handheld calculator. Tax is calculated on the calculator. It's actually rather quaint.
I went with the specific purpose of buying deep red cultured freshwater pearls for a custom necklace I'm working on for a customer, and to buy some sterling silver wire. This is my first foray in to bulk wire. I usually purchase 2 inch headpins and use those to wire wrap my beads, but I wanted to venture into making my own ear wires.
Two hours and eighty-plus dollars later, I leave with:
- deep red cultured freshwater pearls
- deep brownish olive cultured freshwater pearls
- rose quartz chips
- tourmaline chips in shades of pink and green
- small tourmaline bead in shades of brown
- green quartz faceted rondele beads
- red carnelian faceted round beads
- 31 feet of sterling silver wire
- 100 sterling silver headpins.
It's quite possible that I'm forgetting something.
Anyway, I used the sterling wire to fashion my own rounded ear wires. A nice change from the traditional French hook style, I think.
2 comments:
I followed the link from your etsy shop. You have beautiful things, but I just wanted to tell you that nicer pictures would really make your creations pop. I love your blog design, too.
Thank you for the comment. While my photos have evolved a lot since opening my Etsy shop in February, I do have a long way to go! :-) I'm experimenting with my new camera.
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