Friday, July 8, 2011

Shopping for beads and more stuff

Hi, everyone.  I hope you are all doing well out there in Blogland.  This post may seem a little incoherent as I am seriously sleep deprived.  My pillow is softly, sweetly calling my name.  I will do my best to stay focused!

The past few days I have been doing some major bead shopping.  At least for me, it's been huge.  I have orders in with Artbeads, Beadaholique, and Fire Mountain Gems, and I am going to be ordering some wire here pretty quick with Bello Modo.  Honestly, I would rather have one place to shop because going to all the different sites trying to find the right colors, sizes, textures, etc. is so exhausting.  And then to meet the minimum order amount so I don't have to pay shipping.  ick.  Hey!  Did you know that Bello Modo has no shipping minimum and ALL orders ship free?  Yea for Bello Modo!  Artbeads is still reasonably low at just $10.  It's not hard to come up with $10 at all. 

Then there's Beadaholique which I think is pretty steep at $25 for no shipping.  I don't usually order that much at one time from one store unless I am doing a major purchase.  That's why I went to them this weekend.  That, and they had the colors and things that one of my students picked for our class later this month.  I still had to put in some few random items that I have no plans for to meet that  minimum.  Although I do like their Preciosa crystals and the prices on them.  It's just coming up to that $25 that's hard.  Of course I could spend less and pay s+h, but if I'm going to give them money, I want to get product in return for it, you know what I mean?

Now, FMG...they're a whole other story.  I doubt that I will order from them in the future.  I needed just 1 thing from them for less than $5.  Shipping and handling was almost $8!!!!!  So, $13 for a $5 item?  No thanks!  I ordered a couple other random things with them, too, just to feel a little more justified in my purchase and paying such high fees.  But I HAD to go to them to get the color I needed.  Do you remember the last post about needing an apple green color in a 6/0?  They had something close.  But I totally feel like I got robbed.

Exciting News!!!!!

I don't think I'm at liberty to give away too many details, but I will give you the basics.  You may not see much of me the next couple months.  That's the bad news.  But it's for a good reason.  A friend of mine who is a bead goddess just got a deal to write a new bead book.  She has asked me to contribute projects for the book!!!!!!  How awesome is that???!!!  I will be doing 2 for sure and possibly 4 projects for the book in different sections of it.  This will be quite a challenge for me, and I am learning so much about the process it's unbelievable.  That's the main thing I have been shopping for...supplies for the book projects.  And all 4 are due with instructions in both a photo story and written step by steps on a CD to the author with the finished pieces no later than SEPTEMBER 1st!!!!!  Yikes!  I better get my groove on, huh?  The bulk of my book supplies is coming from Artbeads, and they haven't even shipped my order yet!  Crazy.  I got my order in the mail today from Beadaholique, and my Artbeads order that I made at the same time hasn't even been picked yet.

So all I have to show today are my goodies from Beadaholique.
The gold and silver 3mm are just because I wanted them.  They are sterling silver plated and 22k gold plated.  I have beads like this in my stash, but they are the cheapies.  I wanted some nice ones like this.  So I got them.  The clear crystals are to finish a bracelet I've had in my UFO pile and the black bicones are for one of my students for our class.
These are the other beads for the class.  This student is addicted (I mean seriously addicted) to green.  These are the colors she chose, and they do look very pretty...more so in person than in the photo.  But isn't it always that way?
The tube clasps are for one of the book projects.  The red 8mm are just because I liked them...and I had to buy something to get to the $25 mark.
I just liked the color and look of these 8mm's.  Also a "no reason purchase except to get free shipping".
These are the most gorgeous color of capri blue I have ever seen.  I mean ever.  They are super gorgeous.  It will have to be a special project indeed to get these babies!

And that's it.  $27 worth of beads so I could get free shipping.  lol.  Am I crazy?  Should I just have paid the shipping fees?  No, I don't think so.  These beads will be the perfect ones for a future project.  It always works out that way. 

And my other exciting news?  I was a winner winner chicken dinner on a blog giveaway the other day!  I haven't got my prize package yet, but as soon as I do you will be the first ones to see it.  I won it courtesy of a great new blog I was introduced to, Spyder Jewels.  Thank you Mandy at Beads for Brains: 365 for the intro!

That's all I got today.  Hope you all have a super fantabulous weekend!

9 comments:

flyingbeader said...

CONGRATS! I can't wait to see what you make. I too can't believe some of the shipping charges at the big places. I have lots of seed beads from the now gone Byzantium & most of the time I can buy them here in town, but if I order online I usually get them from Out on a Whim or Beyond Beadery. I so miss my Byzantium with great prices on seed beads.

Danielle said...

Congratulations on the book stuff...that is awesome! And what you were able to purchase for $25 is truly amazing...beads are more expensive here in Canada, and I too just placed a couple orders trying to get a good selection of Delicas. Love the green shade that the girl chose, and look forward to seeing all your posts about the book!! Will miss seeing you on here, but understand your committment and so very excited for you!!

Craftymoose Crafts said...

I'm drooling over all those beads.I am on a serious bead diet. I must use up some of what I have first.

Congrats on the submissions for the book--that is so very exciting!

Marie S said...

Way to go Lisa, that is very exciting.
You go girl!!
I am so very happy for you.
Have a great weekend.

Anonymous said...

Yeah for you! I'm so glad you won the Spyder stash! That was a great giveaway. I can see your bead collection is growing!! lol. Good luck with the project it sounds exciting but a lot of work. lol.

Bellesanbeaus said...

Miss Lisa....great beads there girlie! And love your news!!! Just remember you knew me back when!!! lol Loads of hugs!

Abracadebra Designs said...

Hey Lisa, Way to go with the book thing!!! I had a feeling that with your can-do attitude, good things would come to you. I am doing a happy dance for you. Enjoy all your new beads, you certainly deserve them.
-Debbie

marsspyder said...

Congrats on the book project!! Also, your winnings shipped Friday, so depending on how fast the mail runs, they should get there this week!

Also, it IS hard to hit $25 when you're ordering online. In a bead store, for some reason, it's not hard at all, but online...

Marty S said...

Wow! Exciting news! I'll be anxious to see more info about the book.

And I know exactly what you mean about ordering beads. I don't like to pay for shipping because I usually don't order enough. So I pretty much stick to sites that don't charge shipping.

And I love that Flow of Tides necklace at the top of your page.
Marty S
Crackpot Beader