THE BEAD WORKS!

I LOVE SHINY!

and

I LOVE BEADS!

I am not interested in wearing them but I love to possess them and make them into something else, namely, PERFUME BOTTLES!  I have been collecting them for a very long time and during the 12 years that I spent away from miniatures, I continued to collect beads and findings until I had sooo much that I had to get rid of some of them and kept only the best of the lot.  Now since I have more bead space, I have filled it up to the max with beads that I find pretty, nicely shaped or shiny!  This posting is all about my current collection and how I shop for beads and where I find them, more than how to make perfume trays.  I want to get you thinking about the possibilities of where they are available because not everybody has craft superstores or wants to spend big dollars on a tiny handful of crystal beads.  I look for bargains but sometimes there is a trade off as to what I get for what I spend, and is it worth it.   Many years ago back in the 80's, when I was fascinated but unknowing about where to look for crystal beads, I made a trip down to a trendy bead store in Vancouver with Janine, and began gathering all the shiny pretty beads that I could and had a small handful that I took to the register and I was
 SHOCKED!
I think I had the equivalent of about a tablespoon of the tiny crystals and they totaled over $50!  Whaaaa!  Some had to be removed and that too was a big disappointment and then to have to pay so much for so little was maddening!
They were real Crystals and I was too embarrassed to go putting it ALL back. I should have looked at the price as I collected them and yet they were so pretty and I was so foolish.  I still spend money on my beads but not like I use to.  Beads are still expensive and if you buy them at the bead store or the craft stores they are still more than they should be.  My biggest supplier is the THRIFT STORES.  I find the most beads for my money there and I look for anything in any medium be it paper, plastic, glass, crystal, wood, or ceramic ANYTHING, that translates well into something that looks like a bottle or a top of a bottle or a jar or a bud vase or a section of a mini candlestick, etc. If I like the shape but not the color, they can be painted. If the price is a little higher than I want then I think about the quantity or the uniqueness of what I am considering and then make up my mind.  Sometimes I pay a lot for one piece and then a very little for all the rest of the other items in my cart.  So there is an average price.  I try to be careful with my money but at times "the call of the shiny" is just too hard to resist.  Here is what I do with the things that cry out to 'the magpie' in me.

When I am looking for beads I am looking for the possibilities of them working as perfume bottles. I look for any materials that I think will work.  The tray above has glass, metal and plastic beads in a variety of shapes and sizes and color.  I try to unify the grouping with a common denominator, which is why it takes me a long time to do them. 

Assorted shiny beads that are going to be transformed. They all are different shapes and are all pretty flat.  I wish I could remember where I bought these because flat colored glass is not so easy to find.  These make wonderful perfume bottles!

See what I mean?

The collection that is going to the M.C.B.C show in June

*******

So this is what I look for when I am 'goodwill' hunting
QUANTITY

This necklace I nearly changed my mind about.  Then I thought about the quantity of metal bits that were on the string and went ahead with the purchase.  I always try to think about how much I am getting for the money, and in this case it was a lot!

These are the metal pieces with the clear beads that were between them.  What shall I do with them?
I'll think about it and let you know.

This is a bracelet ( $2.99) with hundreds of beads that will look good as caps for bottles! I love the colors and blue and green beads are the colors that I have the most of. Here is what I can do with them.

A bracelet with some beautiful glass beads that will make wonderful bottles

No muss no fuss!
JUST SLAP ON A LABEL

This was ready made!  Line ups of perfume bottles one after the other on a elastic bracelet from the thrift store.  Perfect!

These beads came from Michael's craft store and I got them on sale!  They are nice and shiny and have a beautiful shape AND  there were LOTS of them on the string!

Here is one of a pair of dangly earrings that had a chorus line of  square crystal beads on super fine chains!  I was enchanted!

Another single earring of a set that is going to be used for tops of bottles.
LOTS AND LOTS OF SHINY BEADS
******

SHAPE

I am always on the lookout for interesting shapes and tall rectangular bead shapes make for very interesting bottles. This is part of a necklace from the thrift store for 5 dollars that has a bottle with a silver top ready  to go!  The metal tops totaled about 45 individually and there are 8 of these mother of pearl bottle shapes along with other silver toned beads.
SCORE! 

These have a great shape and a great color!
And look at the ones below on the plastic thread. They are square squat beads with a center  hole and are flat on the hole ends but have a pyramid shape on either side.
Wow! and only 3 dollars for a string of about 35 beads, not including the pearls!

The swirl in this is so lovely and again the spacer is a built in bottle top!
This necklace was $2.99 and only had 3 of these lovely beads on it, so not the best deal but it had 17 of the white 'tops' and 5 of the smaller blue glass beads so not so bad all together.

****

COLOR

Blue seems to be everywhere and I have to buy another container because there are always blue beads to be found.  The color of this watery blue and the shape of the bead caught my attention at $1.99 at the thrift store.  

At $2.99 these fabulous beads on a long necklace string, of the assorted sizes and shapes and with the most spectacular coloring! I love it!
*****

TEXTURE

These 3 strings of metal spacers all came from WAL-MART in their crafting section.  They were $2.50 each.  I chose them for the shape and the texture.

Gold is ALWAYS usable and these came at a good price and the variety of sizes and shapes make them very versatile as either bottles or tops or both!

This is just one of 5 boxes that house the metal odds and sods that I use for my projects. I try to sort the metal by size and texture and shape. 

 It ain't easy.

***

STORAGE

After I purchase the beads I have to store them where I can see them and the best way for me now is to have them in mason jars.  I use to have them in a large fishing tackle box and they kept getting mixed up.  When I want a particular color I go to the jar and then I pour the beads out onto a lid and them pour them back into the jar when done.  I have more blue and green beads than any thing else and I am going to need some additional jars very soon as you can plainly see. 

BUT I CAN NEVE HAVE ENOUGH
because
I love beads!
and
I love shiny!
and
I love to make miniatures!

elizabeth