Let's Bead

.Excuse me?? Why did someone not tell me about the new bead store in town, Let's Bead! Until Mom told me a couple of weeks ago, that is. For the local readers, it's in the Piano Works in East Rochester. It's the store I've been wishing existed, which apparently it has, since March.

(Pam, we have to arrange our next breakfast outing near there. You'll salivate as much as I did, I just know it.)

That's all I bought today, pictured above, but I told them they haven't seen the last of me. A fellow craft show vendor, Debbie Coller works there so she gave me the grand tour, introducing me as a paper artist. Love that. Anyway, once I figure out what I need, I'll definitely go back. I'll even take projects there to match colors. I can't wait.

They have a stunning array of beads that I can use as a focal point for my mandalas, like that red cinnabar bead in the picture. Then, there is a wall of tiny tubes of seed beads that made me want to reach for a spoon and gobble them all up, so delicious they look. I swear, if I had a wall of beads in my studio, to compliment my wall of paper, I'd never leave the studio. That's my version of heaven. Better than chocolate. Dark chocolate even. I'm serious!

I have no idea what I'm going to do with those copper hand beads but since I use copper in my pieces a lot and quite often feature hands, I couldn't resist. In some cases, I'll have to raise the prices of the pieces where I use some of these things, but just a few bucks.

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In my rounds this morning, I also went to a rummage sale, I think they are calling it, at a church on South Winton. Our Realtor mailed me a flyer a few weeks ago, not sure if I'd be interested in it but wanted to let me know about it at her church. People set up booths or tables and sell their "treasures" for just a few hours Saturday and Sunday too, I think. The fee is very reasonable, $15, I think, but I didn't think it was probably the right venue for me because it would probably be flea market stuff. Or perhaps, my artsy stuff would be a breath of fresh air amongst the mundane.

So I went to check it out this morning. I had low expectations, which turned out to be way too high. I didn't even get out of the car. I'm sure a few church members cleaned out their basements and made a few bucks to boot. And I really appreciate Jane thinking of me. But I'll pass.

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I also dropped by Valentown Museum to see how the gift shop was doing. I had not been there since I dropped off my Sticky Notes before they opened. There's an open house today but I think it hadn't started yet. But I had a chance to look around the shop and visit with Diane, the manager. There's some neat stuff there. I think she's done a great job with a small budget and little space. She said she'd sold about 3 of my Sticky Notes. These things are always slow to get off the ground.

I came home the back roads and next thing you know my car was in the parking lot at Chase Farms. What's a girl to do but buy fresh picked strawberries? And a package of shortcake biscuits to go with them. Better make that 2 quarts or there won't be enough for the shortcakes, especially if Simon gets a hold of them. I'd be curious as what a quart of strawberries costs in other parts of the country. I paid $4.50/quart today. Someone had told me that what she saw them for in the grocery store, so I was sort of prepared for the sticker shock. These quart baskets are piled high and the strawberries are always mouth-watering. Still, I remember, back in the day . . .