Guess what we got today in the Carrollton store!! We got in the new copper-cored plated wire, in lots of new colors and sizes! We’ve got rose gold, a real antique brass color, and even one they call “smoky quartz” that’s not brown, not black.

And we’ve got some bright colors in knitting and crochet sizes!! Like purple!!

We’ve even got high-quality non-tarnish silver and gold plated square and half-round!

But it’s only in Carrollton for now. We’re being Guinea Pigs. (which is, after all, one of the nicer things Mary has called us lately.)

Well, it’s over in Carrollton, at least.  We got the trunk show all packed up and were ready to drop it off at the bus station with a brisk “thanks for coming, let us know when you get there, bye” and then run home for a nice nap.  But it started whining, going on about “I’ve never been to Texas before and I haven’t seen anything!  Not Houston, or NASA, or Austin or…  or even Fort Worth!  I can’t leave YET!”  To avoid any kind of Incident, (being uncertain of what a Trunk Show Tantrum in the Trailways station would look like) we decided to let it spend a week in Fort Worth before going back home.

So, for a few days (probably over the weekend, so it can go to Billy Bob’s on Saturday) you can shop the trunk show in Fort Worth.   Just stop by the Fort Worth Artful Bead and ask to see the trunk show stone and all. 

And thanks for coming to see us in Carrollton!  We had a great time!

See!!!  Stones and pearls, and the unfinished wall!!

Books, pendants, and a lousy picture of the stone tables

  Seed beads out the Wazoo!!

And there was another picture of the stone, but it came out way awful.  So imagine how LOVELY it all is!!

Friday 10 – 6, Saturday 10 – 6, Sunday noon till 5, Monday 11 – 7, and then it’s ALL OVER!!!  Carrollton only!!!

The Carrollton Artful Bead is having a trunk show 4th of July weekend!  All weekend long, from Friday July 2nd through Monday the 5th, during our regular open hours.  We will have a lot of wonderful and unique stone, glass, and metal beads.  In fact, so much that it won’t fit in our back room, so we’ve rented a vacant space in our shopping center that’s closer to Shipley’s Donuts!  (Can we plan, or what?)
 
Mary has been on vacation/stay-cation this week (yes, AGAIN).  She’s been cleaning up and organizing all kinds of things, and she’s decided that we need to get rid of a lot of our backstock, and do a general “garage sale” on some odds and ends that have been hiding out for awhile.
 
Really, “backstock” mostly means seed beads, boxes and boxes of seed beads.  She will be bringing her seed bead boxes to Carrollton and combining them with our seed bead boxes, and they will be on sale for 30% off!!!  And there will be other specials too, who knows what all we’ll find!
 
If you’re on the west side of the metroplex, call the Fort Worth store and get on the schedule for a free ride on the Artful Bead Shuttle!  We’ll bring you over to the Carrollton store for as much shopping as you can handle, there are several great eating places close by if you need a break, and then we’ll take you back to the Fort Worth store.  The shuttle runs only Friday and Saturday, and spaces are somewhat limited, so call 817-294-2903 as soon as you can.
 
We’ll see you soon!

Mary has been worrying about the “missing” trunk show in Fort Worth, so she has come up with a very “artful” solution:  Shuttle buses! 

Yes, we will be offering free rides from the Fort Worth Artful Bead to the Carrollton Artful Bead for the Too Big for the Back Room Trunk Show on Friday July 2nd and Saturday July 3rd.  (Sorry, Sunday and Monday you’re on your own.  You know how Mary is when she decides something.)

And once you come over to Carrollton, you can have a lovely breakfast/snack/lunch/happy hour after you finish your shopping.  Shipley’s Donuts is just down the strip center from the store, Cafe Brazil (just across the street) has wonderful coffee and food, and past that is a Chinese buffet, and then there’s Los Lupes Tex-Mex (and Margaritas!)  just across our parking lot.  

What could be better?  It’s going to be like your own private bead show, but even cooler, because you don’t have to drive, and all the way back to Fort Worth you can play “See this?  It’s MINE!” without worrying about missing the turn.

Call the Fort Worth store (817-294-2903) and get your name on the list, they’ll have sign-up times to make sure everybody that wants to come over gets to.  And we promise to get you back to Fort Worth, you won’t end up spending the night in Carrollton, unless you want to.

OOOO!!  Spend the night??  Slumber Party!?!?!  Wouldn’t that be fun?

(Courtesy of guest blogger Lindsay again!)

So, as most of you know June 17th is national “Eat your Vegetables” Day and I know you have all been waiting eagerly with anticipation. 

What? You mean you DIDN’T know it was “Eat your Veggies” Day?    Gasp!   Well, to those of us who have been thinking of (or dreading) the Jolly Green Giant this week, I’d like to take a moment and share a story that is very dear to me – the day my childcare teachers AND I learned that “Lindsay really doesn’t like spinach.” 

It’s interesting that of all the childhood memories I wish I could remember, this one sticks out so clearly in my mind.  The table I was sitting at, the pile of warm spinach steaming on the cafeteria-like tray in its own little quadrant, my defiant and horrified posture. I told my teachers that I “just knew” I didn’t like spinach, and “I don’t have to try it in order to know that I won’t  like it.” After much debate, several time-outs, and missing out on nap time and cookies, I finally downed a bite.  Needless to say I DID NOT like warm spinach and it most certainly DID NOT like me.  I’m sure the smile of satisfaction that comes from being right (from a 3 year olds point of view) was pure evil as I watched my teacher take the tray away from the table. 

The Dallas Needlework and Textile Guild ‘s 2010 Seminar is going on this week!  It’s a Stitching Safari!  And the Artful Bead will be there Wednesday for the Merchandise Day/Safari Market. 

I think it’s only open to Embroiderers’ Guild of America members, but it looks like you can join on the spot of you’re interested.  Click here for more information about the Guild.

And if you’re going to be outside at all, please wear sunscreen.

P.S.  The Carrollton store will be having a “Too Big for the Back Room” trunk show over 4th of July weekend!  Yep, so much stuff that it won’t fit in the classroom, so we’ve rented another space in the shopping center to hold it all!  Make plans to stop by, it runs fromFriday July 2nd to Monday the 5th!

Lindsay in Carrollton is having fun with fire, and chain now!  She says:

To say that some of our employees like playing with fire might be an understatement.  To say that some of our employees just can’t get enough of metal, chain, and MORE chain is also…well, just short of a proven fact. So, what happens when Val gives me vintage chain and free reign with a torch? Check it out for yourselves.

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The Resin Diaries:  Day 83

 My ongoing mission to cover the world in resin has proven more difficult than I, or my trusty sidekick, Michell my guides, ever suspected. We have traveled many impressive 1.2 miles miles to study the different techniques of resin jewelry. The long, arduous hours of each day have recently been filled with creative grueling work in air conditioned building the humid mountain terrain.

 Looking towards the East for some inspiration, the following necklace was born.  If you look closely at the copper bezel pendant pieces, you will see the reflections of vintage geishas looking back at you from black and white photographs.  Any picture can be used in your resin pendant! Just remember, that pendant is going to be around WAY after you’re gone and then some.  I wonder if the reason I find this medium so appealing is that I’m basically creating a fossilized time capsule.  Hmmmm, something to think about….but not too hard.  But, you might think about looking into one of our ICE Resin classes, they are a blast!