Author: Valarie

What we are working on now

Posted on by Valarie

We have been asked what projects we are currently working on, so we decided to share with everyone. 

First, in Carrollton (stores in alphabetic order this month), Michell and Lindsay are experimenting with the new ICE Resin, and going wild.  (Pictures to follow.)  They spent most of last weekend experimenting, and have made some wonderful pendants and cabachons.  Lindsay is also trying some metal etching – very cool.  Sarah is branching out into multi-strand necklaces and wire wrapped earrings.  Val is finishing the first layer on an embroidered cuff, and trying to knit Amy’s housewarming gift.  Bonnie is enjoying her newest grandson, working on a beaded knitting project for us to have on our table at Fiber Fest in April, and also making some adorable teeny wire crochet beads.  (You don’t know about Fiber Fest?  Poor You.  Here: DFW Fiber Fest)

Brenda is starting Driver education this week, we aren’t saying anything else.  Amy is working on classes, of course, and peyote triangles for a necklace.  And she’s going to the Society of North American Goldsmiths meeting next week.  How cool is that?

March is Adopt a Rescue Guinea Pig Month!

Posted on by Valarie

Please check out Texas Rustlers Guinea Pig Rescue, they have helped local shelters with a huge rescue of hamsters and gerbils, and are out of room!  Yes, they aren’t guinea pigs, but they need any help you can give them.  We’re sending donations this week.

And they do have some absolutely adorable Guinea Pig pairs.  Guinea pigs aren’t really solitary animals, they like to have friends.  They make lovely apartment pets, and unlike fish they are nice to pat.

Mary’s original idea was that we would host actual live Guinea pigs for adoption in our stores this month.  I put my foot down, absolutely refused.  Partly because Guinea pigs mean cages, and cages mean cleaning  and then there’s feeding and exercising too.  But the biggest reason?  Because at the end of it, Mary and I would end up with Guinea pigs, because we would fall in love with them and not be able to let them go.  And Mary has two large bouncy dogs, I have five insistent cats.  There is no way that this would work well.  Really, that whole scenario is guaranteed to End Badly for all parties.

So, even if you can’t adopt one of the precious little critters, please sponsor a neutering or make a small donation.  Any amount will help, and they take PayPal.

It’s Levi Strauss Day!!

Posted on by Valarie

Levi Strauss, the man credited with the invention of blue jeans, was born on February 26th, 1829. 

I’m sure he never anticipated “fat jeans” and “skinny jeans” and the notion that young women would lie on their beds using pliers to zip their jeans surely never crossed his mind.  I wear jeans (although not usually Levis actual brand) an average of 352 days a year.  So does Mary. 

So to honor the inventor of half our wardrobes, we have put discount coupons in a bag, and every customer that is wearing (or carrying)  jeans today gets to draw one.  They range from 10% off to 50% off, and can be used any time between February 27th (that’s tomorrow) and March 20th.

It’s not as much fun as Jello Shot day, but then what would be?

Making a Tidy

Posted on by Valarie

Preview Nights are over, and now we’re busily arranging what’s left. It takes a bit of creativity to find places to put all those new acrylic flowers, and the adorable “critter” beads.   The fabulous new (only 25 or so new styles, so Michell hasn’t smacked me for it) Czech glass is on the wall too.

The chain was pretty easy.  And the turquoise is still on the table, waiting for space in the case. The beautiful coin pearls are on the wall, and all the beautiful Tibetan pendants and beads are resting in their velvet tray.  

Come in and visit them soon, before they’re gone.

Preview Night in Carrollton!

Posted on by Valarie

The weather certainly behaved itself on Wednesday for Fort Worth’s Preview Night, that was the best kind of Texas day, wasn’t it?

And now tomorrow is Carrollton’s turn! We’re closing Friday afternoon at 4:00 to get ready, opening again at 5:00 with all of Michell’s Wonderful Food (no hummus this time, though.) and the best beads east of I-35W.

We’ll see you there!

Tucson Preview Nights

Posted on by Valarie

Don’t forget, the Tucson Preview Night in Fort Worth will be this Wednesday, the 17th, from 5:00PM till 9:00PM.  The weather has PROMISED to behave, and all the pretties will be waiting for you!

And Carrollton’s Tucson Preview Night is Friday, the 19th.  So you totally need to get out at least one night this week and buy beads!

Fort Worth Tucson Preview Night is POSTPONED!

Posted on by Valarie

Because the weather is so soggy, and we don’t want anyone to have to choose between being safe and beads, we have decided to postpone Preview Night until next Wednesday, the 17th of February.

As Mary said “You can’t fight Mother Nature” and we don’t want to.

If you are planning to come by either store today, please call and make sure we’re still open before you make the trip. We may close early if it gets worse.

Be careful out there! Texans aren’t used to dealing with this, and some people think you handle ice/slush on the road the same way you drive on washboard dirt roads – go fast enough that you don’t hit the groves! (PS – that is NOT a good plan, really.)

This Friday!

Posted on by Valarie

Be sure to mark your calendars and Be On Time!!!  The annual Tucson Preview Night party and First Look is only two days away! 

Yes, it’s Friday the 12th, starting at 5:00PM, and lasting till 9:00.  Come by for the wine and wonderful snacks, and the (better than ever) Amazing beads, clasps, chain, and pendants.

And next Friday (19th) it’s Carrollton’s turn!  (And we still have a strand of lovely sapphire carved leaves!!)

Cool stuff

Posted on by Valarie

So we are back from Tucson, and we have some truly amazing stuff. Watching the rest of our staff members go through the boxes is better than Christmas, really. At least it’s louder. And it is a lot of fun, and after an entire week we have sort of forgotten what we actually bought, so it is almost as exciting for us to discover all of this fabulous stuff as it is for everybody else.

If you hear squeals, or if your dogs start barking for no reason, it’s the beads.

Those wonderful fabulous beads.

Sorry about yesterday…

Posted on by Valarie

I was so tired yesterday that it was impossible to type after the show.  Really.

We finally finished show 2 and then flew through show #3.  Friday was Pendant day, and Funky Clasp day.  We got some killer pendants, including some wonderful multi-stone ones that had us squealing when we picked up a particularly fabbu one.  And we got sterling geckos  (Chris, please tell me how to spell that.  This dictionary doesn’t seem to have it.)  adrdoable fat-toed lizard pendants.  We got Hill Tribe and Sterling beads in wonderful styles. 

We got pearls, we went nuts on the coin pearls.  See?  (sorry about the flash)

Coin Pearls

Today we’re looking for more chain and another surprise.

Our hands look like goats chew on them at night, our feet are swollen, and whenever we lean over we make noises like my grampa.  Or Marys grampa. 

We saw purple cactus again.  They look like this:

Purple Cactus

No, really, they are that color.  This one is a bit pale, but it was the only one I could get close enough to. 

In a few minutes we start loading the car, because we have to check out of the room, and there isn’t any other safe place for 13 boxes of rather expensive rocks and metal.  Then we’ll eat our Breakfast at our favorite place, shop one last show, (although a show’s first day on a Saturday is NOT a fun thing to do) and then head back.