Westcoast beads and jewellery, have this brilliant idea - they sell a selection of beads, grouped together called 'Beads of the Month'. It's not a subscription thing, you don't have to buy them every month, but it is a collection of beads, gemstones etc that go well together. They even come in a lovely plastic pack, with some design ideas to go with the beads.
I decided to buy the July beads of the month, and was lucky enough to get the last pack! They're lovely shades of pinks, reds and greys, and included:
8mm Pink Aventurine rounds, Oxblood and bamboo coral rounds, 4mm firepolish crystals (pink and blue-grey) 3.5 mm Garnet glass rondelles, 20 pink Lucite flowers, and 30g each of silver lined clear and grey Toho Triangles 8/0
The triangles totally lead themselves to some herringbone beading, but tubular, spiral, or flat, I'm not sure yet. The larger gemstones I may well just thread... I've not done any stringing for a long time, and it'll be good to have something like that in my jewellery box (yes, I do occasionally bead for me!).
But what I'd really like to say about these beads is how great the quality is! They are totally beautiful! You know how sometimes you order a strand of gemstones on the internet, and what arrives is really not the same quality as was photographed... well this did NOT happen on this occasion. They are all just lovely, and the service was great too. I was emailed to let me know there would be a delay of a couple of days with posting, and they even sent me a strand of haematite rounds for 'liking' their facebook page (although I can't promise they'll do that for everyone!).
In summary, this seems like a wonderful way to build up your stash and to experiment with beads and gemstones you wouldn't usually turn to for designs. August's beads are amber and green colours, they look beautiful, but the tumbled chips and nuggets just aren't my style, so I won't be buying them... but I will be going back for more, probably very soon!!
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