Every day here in the stores, we hear people say “I just absolutely love this, but I don’t need any new jewelry just now”  or “This is really wonderful, but it doesn’t go with any of my shirts.” 

And then they come back in two weeks saying “I need those beads, my sister gave me a sweater that they match perfectly!”  And they’re gone.  They walked out the door with someone else the week before.  So Customer says “When will you get more in?” and we have to tell her, “Maybe never.  Those were really unusual, we bought all they had.” 

Because stones that aren’t “normal round beads” don’t always get cut that way again.  Maybe it was a new design that the cutters realized caused too much waste stone, or took too much time.   Or the vein in the mine that produced those amazing colors is worked out.  For whatever reason, they don’t get made again any time soon.  This can even be true of glass beads, sometimes one batch was spectacular, and the others are just very pretty.

So, if you really love any beads you find, and you can afford them, get them and put them in your stash until their true purpose becomes evident. 

A good bead stash is like always having flour in the house.  You may not always need it, but if you want to make gravy, you have to have it.  A bead stash will have several different colors and sizes of the spacer bead types that are your favorites, like your own personal bead store!  For some of us, spacers are metals of various styles and types.  For others, a particular stone shape, or glass is our favorite. 

And spacers don’t have to be small!  Any kind of accent can qualify as a “spacer.”  (There are no bead police, remember.  You can do anything you want.  Really!  I’ve never heard of an arrest for Lack of Symmetry in a Necklace, or for Improper Usage of a Focal Bead, either.) 

Having a decent selection of beads lets you add variety and richness to your pieces, you don’t have to use every bead on a strand on a necklace to “use them all up.”   Save the one or two that really aren’t needed, they will come in handy sometime later.  

Later we’ll give you some advice on Managing Your Bead Stash!