Newbie questions

~ LOL - No kidding, I spent more time that I needed to last night
browsing through the list.
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~~~tour guide voice~~~ Remember to wear comfortable shoes, take a
snack and plenty of water, and pee before you go to the List.
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~ Sooz puts together a nice list.
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Thank you Mona!!

~ No offense but I am looking for discounts not fancy boutique.
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Then maybe you would like to do the legwork yourself, instead of asking
us questions and scoffing at the answers.

"Dr. Sooz" wrote[..]
If you stick around this newsgroup, and read and listen, you'll learn
just about everything beady under the sun. No offense, but no one here
buys beads from "fancy boutiques", either. (You'd know that if you'd
read for a while and paid attention.)

LOL! Yeah, stick around and find out there are more expensive -- but fun --
ways to get beads. And at least they'll be YOUR'S.

Giselle (who got a personal thank you note from the owner of one company
that I placed a new-studio supply order with

~ LOL! Yeah, stick around and find out there are more expensive -- but
fun -- ways to get beads. And at least they'll be YOUR'S.

Giselle (who got a personal thank you note from the owner of one
company that I placed a new-studio supply order with
~~~~~~~~~~~
GISELLE!!!!
Shut up and make some! You're making me INSANE with the
waiting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Answers in line.

Can someone point me to the best online suppliers and also answer these
questions?
Czech glass and some semi precious shapes and fwp - Halsey Trading on eBay
Seed Beads and other supplies - Out on a Whim
These two have shipped to me in AU and NZ for some years now, with never a
problem.

See the Links List, it's not a boutique. It's been compiled by Sooz with
recomendations by others who have many years of bead shopping experience.
It's an invaluable resource.

How much should I be paying for soft flex wire (.019)
Don't use it so don't know.

How much should I be paying for bali beads?
Good service and genuine product are as important as price. Black Cat Beads
by rcb's Nicole Welch has good prices, good beads and 100% reliable in my
experience

What is your favorite bead container?
The tube they come in, if they come in tubes, so I can re-order by the
codes. Medium screw together towers for seed beads not in tubes. Small
compartmented boxes for other beads, with shallow compartments. If the
compartments are too big, the beads don't fill them and that's valuable
storage real estate taken up with air.

Is there a bead container/work table combo out there somewhere?
If there was you'd soon change it to suit your own requirements, so I
wouldn't buy one if it was available. I like to work on a lap tray. You will
find out what works best for you with time.

Hope that's useful
Marisa AU/NZ


Thanks for any help.

Beth

I've never bought beads from a "fancy boutique". most of my beads come
from ebay or bead shows...although a new bead store did open in the
east end of town here that I'll have to go investigate soon. I doubt
it'll fall under the fancy boutique description, though.

-Amber.

Sheesh, I can't even *remember* the numbers and styles of "perfect" bead
containers I've gone through in the past 5 or 6 years The latest
thing is all ammo boxes and ice-tube trays for tubes of seed beads.
Then I went out and got more tubes...now I'm out of container space again

And after hearing me shout "Don't touch that tray/box/case/can/rack,
etc!" hubby might say organizing is *way* more involved than buying

Cheers,
Carla

Dr. Sooz wrote:

Answers in-line:

Is there a bead container/work table combo out there somewhere?
~ Yes -- one you put together yourself. Organizing your beads is
usually as involved and expensive as buying the beads themselves.

If you stick around this newsgroup, and read and listen, you'll learn
just about everything beady under the sun. No offense, but no one here
buys beads from "fancy boutiques", either. (You'd know that if you'd
read for a while and paid attention.)

You may want to look more closely at that list; it is a rather
comprehensive resource of *many* suppliers at various price points, and
many are selling at wholesale prices. They are also selling high quality
materials, so you may not find the cheapest, mass-produced stuff
there... that's what the craft aisle at Wal-Mart is for, though, in all
seriousness.

Beth wrote:
No offense but I am looking for discounts not fancy boutique.


--
-Kalera
http://www.beadwife.com

something I like to do with those round screw-together towers is use a
label maker to print out the code info that's on the tube, and stick
the label to the appropriate section of the tower. they're easy to peel
off, too, if you ever use that section for a different color.

-Amber.

~ something I like to do with those round screw-together towers is use
a label maker to print out the code info that's on the tube, and stick
the label to the appropriate section of the tower. they're easy to peel
off, too, if you ever use that section for a different color.
~~~~~~~~~~
I tend to buy multiple tubes of the same color so I can get the same
dye lot. Then I pour them into larger containers, if I have time etc.
Then I take the sticker off the tube and plop it on the new container.
Since those stickers are usually, where I buy 'em, coming off the tube
anyway, that's not hard at all. If they're hard to peel off? I leave
the beads in the tube.

I keep all the beads -- screw-top towers or tubes -- in big plastic
drawers, based on their size. I used to group according to color, but
the sheer amount of seed beads I have lying around finally made that
system *madness*! So now I have one drawer of 15/0s, one drawer of
6/0s and 8/0s, and two drawers of 11/0s. My 15/0 drawer is sadly not
overflowing..... and since I'm using 15/0s more and more (and more and
more and more and....), I need more of them! NEED NEED NEED NEED

I finally got stocked up on 6/0s pretty well after begging Beki to
bring some to the last bead show here......uh oh, I'm rambling about my
seed beads. This is all too easy to start, and hard to end -- once you
get me started. Help! Help!