Beads!

I used to do a little beading in the past. It's been a while, though! But I wanted to buy a pretty pendant for a friend who likes to make jewelry, also, since it was her birthday last month. I don't get to see her but once a month, so I knew I had time to shop around and find the right gift. At first, I thought I'd buy something for her apartment since she's been fixing it up. I thought a throw for the sofa or a pretty pillow or something along those lines would look nice in there since I know what colors she likes, etc. However, I couldn't find anything I liked for the $20 I could afford (that's usually been our budget for gifts, so I'm not skimping).

Then, I remembered Nomadic Notions, which is this bead store I liked in Alamo Heights. However, when I drove over there, I found out that the store is completely gone now. I'm so disappointed because they always had really unique items, like pendants, incense, scarves and stuff besides the beads that really made it a fun, almost bohemian atmosphere to shop in. I didn't know where else to go because I never went anywhere but there or Hobby Lobby when I wanted beads. I remembered seeing a small bead store near Hobby Lobby and thought I'd try that one. I went there and she had a decent selection, but it was mostly strands of gemstones and glass beads and a few findings. She didn't really have many pendants, which is what I usually find the most fun to shop for. That's what I really wanted to buy for H. So, I looked around a bit and found some jade or aventurine beads that were really pretty. There were some pearls about the same size (not perfectly round but "potato" shaped) and some pretty cloisonne beads that looked very nice with the aventurine. I don't know that I'm great at jewelry-making, but I thought the colors worked well together and thought that then I'd make a necklace for her instead of just the pendant I'd planned. In the end, I made a simple pair of earrings to match:

It was a lot of fun to make it and I wanted to make more jewelry. So I made a simple pair of crystal earrings for myself:

Today, I went to Hobby Lobby, who were having a 50% off sale on a lot of their beads. I bought a few strands of gemstones and pearls, although not the longer strands available in bead stores. I wish findings had been on sale, too. I could have bought some chains, clasps, and ear wires. Oh well. Another time. The thing that upset me was that the cashier didn't take the 50% off of 3 of my items. I'm really unhappy about that. Perhaps I'll make an online purchase on Fire Mountain Gems or something. They're relatively inexpensive, despite shipping costs.