Wow--where did June go?!!

Can it really be a month since the last blog? Sorry about that but I hit the road (air?) again only this time to France with my daughter, Laurel, who is a French teacher at James River H.S. here in Chesterfield. Interestingly, on this trip we found a LOT more little bead shops in France than on previous trips. Most of them are quite small, sparse by American bead store standards, but have a lovely village feel about them and their share of beady-eyed followers. Photos to follow soon--I promise! Now that Laurel is through teaching for the summer she's going to tutor her mother on posting photographs on the blog, right Laurel?

V. exciting news! I just heard that beads from my Czech trip have cleared customs and are to arrive in Chicago tomorrow. They have to find their way down the bead chain to me but boy, am I excited! Now the problem is: WHERE to put these fabulous finds??? Stay tuned...

Yes, I KNOW dear customers....still have not got those images from Czechoslovakia up yet. You know why? Because I've been soooooo busy ordering new beads for YOU! Seriously, we have a bunch o' shipments coming in this week and are so busy getting ready for our 5th Annual Anniversary Bead Sale on Saturday, June 13th that I haven't had a minute to focus on getting those pics up. And did I mention my new Canon camera broke? No, really, it did. Anyway, am so onto this. I will get those pics posted, I will, I will, I will! But first Laurel (my daughter & website designer extraordinaire) needs to show me how to post pics on the blog. (Let's see if she really reads my blogs??? Are you reading this, Laurel?) In the meantime everyone, mark your calendars for our 5th Anniverary Bead Sale on the 13th. Pick up a free customer appreciation gift and get 20% off all loose beads and bead strands (no sterling---btw, are you guys watching the precious metals market 'cuz here we go again...). We also have a secret. Stay tuned...

Czech Republic "Bead Trip of a Lifetime"

Wow....what can I say? We're back from our trip to Hungary, Austria and the Czech Republic with major jet lag and oodles of pictures to download to the blog. Give me a couple of days and hopefully I'll get some images up here for you to enjoy. In the meantime, we're expecting shipment of our hand-picked Czech beads within two months. Yes, it takes a verrrrryyyy long time to get these beads shipped to us as well as time to get them up on the walls. It's hard for us to wait, too, but know that it will be worth the wait everyone.

Summer and fall classes have been posted!

WOW what a line-up!  We have tons of news project AND technique classes, including three new summer classes just for kids, bead stitches, silver fusion, resin projects, photo transfers on polymer clay beads, ceramic beads with colorful glazes...  Certainly enough to keep you busy for the summer!

Check out our new samples:

http://www.fandangle-beads.com/classes/newclasses.html

Also, be on the lookout for a new shipment of Czech beads that will follow Melanie home from Europe in a few months.  Photos of her travels through the bead factories and flea markets of the Czech Republic will follow soon, as well.  

Fandangle Bead Store Wins VMFA Muse Award!

Wow--what a night! Out of a pool of approximately 60 nominees, Fandangle Bead Store was one of nine businesses who received a Muse Award from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts at its annual "Un-Gala" last night. A dozen of our beady-eyed employees, friends and family, donned in 1920's attire, arrived via James Limo Service (wonderful company, btw) at the Virginia Museum where we anxiously awaited for the winners to be announced. We share our award with all the creative spirits (that would be YOU, dear customers) who share our passion for all things beaded and sparkly, and who strive to blend beads, beauty and balance into your busy daily schedules. Our's is a recipricol relationship: You, the customer, ignite our creative spark as we strive to stay ahead of the creative curve and we hope that we provide inspiration to you as well. Our jewelry classes, beads and beading materials are a reflection of YOUR passion and we depend on you to let us know what you'd like to learn so that we can grow as a business, as artists and as educators. Likewise, we share our award with all those artists out there who were ever told you can't make a living "doing art". Intention and hard work paired with a good business plan go a long way to making dreams come true--oh, and did we mention a sense of humor is critical ???

Sunday Resin Class

We still have a spot left in this, our most popular, class. Come join us this Sunday and create your own one-of-a-kind resin pendants. We supply the bezels, resins, tools, flotsam and instruction--you just show up and have fun! To see on-line samples for this class just click on "Gallery" and/or "Spring Classes" links on our website where you'll find numerous examples of found art jewelry objects made with resin. Now is the time to actually USE all that stuff you've been squirreling away for years--anything is fair game: think old cards, lace, laser images of old photographs, buttons, glitter, scraps of homemade paper, metal stampings. Likewise, your favorite rubber stamps can be used with Staz-On permanent inks and textured paper and then set in, say, a vintage optical lense and topped off with resin. The possibilities are endless!

Greg's Masterpiece

Greg's upcoming class--
help us name it! Just click "comment" and write in your suggestion...