This Week in (Bead) Porn

Boy, it's been a crazy week! I finished a custom bridal jewelery order (3 necklaces and 3 pairs of earrings), listed a boatload of stuff on Be Resinable, mailed out a bunch of orders, got a whole slew of projects ready and submitted to "Stringing" magazine for the Winter, 2010 issue (fingers crossed!!), got myself embroiled in a controversy on Etsy, outed Fusion Beads' resin shipping issue, and, spectacularly failed to get my Bead Soup package out on time!

Oh, and I almost killed someone at the gas station this morning, but that story will no doubt make fodder for a blog entry next week.

Whew! I'm tired. Can I take a nap yet?

Oh, but before I do, I need to announce the winner of the "What's in Kelly's Purse" contest: EB Bead and Metalworks! She guessed that the fake dinosaur tooth was not in my purse and was the only one to get the correct answer! It does exist and it was in my purse LAST week. It got cleaned out before I checked the contents to write up the contest entry. The kid made it in his "Mad Science" class.

So, yo, EB - email me with your address and I'll get your prize out to you in the mail.

Sadly, all the rest of that crap really is in my purse.

Okay, so.....last week's porn generated almost nothing in the way of comments so I can only surmise that either 1. the internet was broken or 2. the beads were fugly.


I'm going with 2 and hoping that y'all find this week's crop a bit more to your liking:

Deliciously juicy orange jade rounds from Uncommon Beads.

Sodalite rounds and rondelles from GemmeTresor. I used the rondelles in my nautical necklace design last week.

Dyed purple jade rondelles. A less expensive option for amethyst and really has a deep, rich purple color. These are also from Uncommon Beads and I just used some of them in a design I sent off to "Stringing" magazine today.

Sunshine yellow fire crackle agate. These are really jumbo beads and the color is just phenomenal on them. They really show off the crackle effect, too.

Why buy only one color when you can get two? Especially if one of them is this incredibly hot pink! Both strands (pink and yellow) are from AAARealGem.

Silver "star bar" component from the incomparable Shannon Levart at Miss Fickle Media.

I am on a quest to own all the colors of chain that Shannon makes - and this lovely violet color was a great addition to my collection.

I am now having my paycheck direct deposited to Shannon's acount. Because she just keeps making cool stuff like these patinated disks that I have to have.

Bronze branch toggle bars from Summer's Studio, Etc.

And the pretty aqua floral ceramic toggle to go with the bar.

Yeah, LeAnn is getting a fair chunk of my bead budget, too. I couldn't resist these sakura flower beads in pink and brown.

And then there's Lynn Davis's polymer clay site - ExpeditionD.

I found these hearts there and I couldn't choose between them.

In fact, I'm starting to think my bead purchasing problem is less of an addiction and more of an inability to choose JUST ONE fabulous thing. I love all three of these hearts. In fact, I heart them.

Oh yes, I DID just go there!

Etched green lampwork disks from HMB Studios. Y'all know how I feel about lampwork disks. Plus, I love the color progression from dark to light.

This is a new vendor for me - Meadow Sky. Lots of pretty little lampwork bead sets and very reasonable prices. I just loved this fresh spring green.

Another new vendor: My Lampwork Garden. Unusual designs and a great square shape!

And Crazy Cat's beads pretty much speak for themselves. Gorgeous, luscious color in borosilicate glass!

Enjoy! And let me know what beads you like and don't like via the comments and I'll try to find better stuff for the next Friday post.

KJ