Hi There from Canada......

Like Nicole, I am pretty new to beading, but I have been lurking on this
group for months and am constantly in awe of the amazing things that you
do. I live in Toronto, btw.

I have never done beading before, but have done other crafts. I decided
to take a few classes at Michael's because retirement was getting a tad
boring. By the second class, I was hooked and have been running as fast
as I can to learn even 25% of what you all know. There is so MUCH to
learn. I still find it hard to visualize metric sized beads....tell me
1/2" and I can, but not 10 mm.

I am doing strictly beading, both stringing and wirework. I am in the
process of buying gemstones and sterling findings, now that I know how
much I love doing this. The hardest part for me is getting the
inspiration when working on something, but I just lay it out and adjust
here and there and eventually I have a "eureka" moment.

I have enjoyed the friendly banter amongst the group and have also
learned quite a lot by seeing the things you make, etc. Like Nicole, I
am building up my inventory and did buy several interesting strands over
in Portugal in June in a tiny little chinese store. We are still not
sure (my helpful bead store owner and myself) if I have jade or
aventurine, for instance.

So I am looking forward to being able to ask some fairly basic questions
I suppose, and I imagine Nicole is in the same boat as I am. I am
constantly pouring over magazines and all of your websites for
inspiration and knowledge.

Cheers.....Heather

Welcome, Heather!

Sounds like you are as hooked as the rest of us!!

--
Jerri
www.beadbimbo.com

"Heather" wrote in message
...
Like Nicole, I am pretty new to beading, but I have been lurking on this
group for months and am constantly in awe of the amazing things that you
do. I live in Toronto, btw.

I have never done beading before, but have done other crafts. I decided
to take a few classes at Michael's because retirement was getting a tad
boring. By the second class, I was hooked and have been running as fast
as I can to learn even 25% of what you all know. There is so MUCH to
learn. I still find it hard to visualize metric sized beads....tell me
1/2" and I can, but not 10 mm.

I am doing strictly beading, both stringing and wirework. I am in the
process of buying gemstones and sterling findings, now that I know how
much I love doing this. The hardest part for me is getting the
inspiration when working on something, but I just lay it out and adjust
here and there and eventually I have a "eureka" moment.

I have enjoyed the friendly banter amongst the group and have also learned
quite a lot by seeing the things you make, etc. Like Nicole, I am
building up my inventory and did buy several interesting strands over in
Portugal in June in a tiny little chinese store. We are still not sure
(my helpful bead store owner and myself) if I have jade or aventurine,
for instance.

So I am looking forward to being able to ask some fairly basic questions I
suppose, and I imagine Nicole is in the same boat as I am. I am
constantly pouring over magazines and all of your websites for inspiration
and knowledge.

Cheers.....Heather

In message , Heather
writes
Like Nicole, I am pretty new to beading, but I have been lurking on this
group for months and am constantly in awe of the amazing things that you
do. I live in Toronto, btw.

I have never done beading before, but have done other crafts. I decided
to take a few classes at Michael's because retirement was getting a tad
boring. By the second class, I was hooked and have been running as fast
as I can to learn even 25% of what you all know. There is so MUCH to
learn. I still find it hard to visualize metric sized beads....tell me
1/2" and I can, but not 10 mm.

I am doing strictly beading, both stringing and wirework. I am in the
process of buying gemstones and sterling findings, now that I know how
much I love doing this. The hardest part for me is getting the
inspiration when working on something, but I just lay it out and adjust
here and there and eventually I have a "eureka" moment.

I have enjoyed the friendly banter amongst the group and have also
learned quite a lot by seeing the things you make, etc. Like Nicole, I
am building up my inventory and did buy several interesting strands over
in Portugal in June in a tiny little chinese store. We are still not
sure (my helpful bead store owner and myself) if I have jade or
aventurine, for instance.

So I am looking forward to being able to ask some fairly basic questions
I suppose, and I imagine Nicole is in the same boat as I am. I am
constantly pouring over magazines and all of your websites for
inspiration and knowledge.

Cheers.....Heather


Good to have you with us.
Shirley
--
Shirley Shone

http://www.allcrafts.org.uk

Hi Heather,
Welcome to the group and to beading!!
As far as your aventurine or jade strands go, jade beads have a
creamy appearance. Aventurine has shiny bits, mica in the quartz
stones and is usually more of seagreen than jade. If you post a
picture, maybe someone can tell you. Aventurine is also a lot less
expensive than jade.

Patti

Thanks, Patti.

I will take some photos over the weekend. They are more of a seagreen,
but no flecks in them that I can see. But I will put a strong light on
them and double check. The couple who own the local bead store are at
odds as to which these are.

The ones that fascinated me are hard to describe, but they are agate I
believe and about 2 inches long. I will try and photograph them so that
the colours show up. Every one is different and I haven't seen anything
like that in stores here. No clue as to how to deal with them either.
(G)

As for price, I would have to give it to you in Euros, or convert to Cdn
and then you could guestimate it in US dollars. This man spoke no
English and I do not speak Portuguese, so it was fun trying to bargain
him down. He knew how to do that, lol.

Cheers....Heather.

"Patti" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi Heather,
Welcome to the group and to beading!!
As far as your aventurine or jade strands go, jade beads have a
creamy appearance. Aventurine has shiny bits, mica in the quartz
stones and is usually more of seagreen than jade. If you post a
picture, maybe someone can tell you. Aventurine is also a lot less
expensive than jade.

Patti

You could try scanning them if you have a scanner. I often put my
beadwork on the scanner and get better pictures.
Shirley


In message , Heather
writes
Thanks, Patti.

I will take some photos over the weekend. They are more of a seagreen,
but no flecks in them that I can see. But I will put a strong light on
them and double check. The couple who own the local bead store are at
odds as to which these are.

The ones that fascinated me are hard to describe, but they are agate I
believe and about 2 inches long. I will try and photograph them so that
the colours show up. Every one is different and I haven't seen anything
like that in stores here. No clue as to how to deal with them either.
(G)

As for price, I would have to give it to you in Euros, or convert to Cdn
and then you could guestimate it in US dollars. This man spoke no
English and I do not speak Portuguese, so it was fun trying to bargain
him down. He knew how to do that, lol.

Cheers....Heather.

"Patti" wrote in message
roups.com...
Hi Heather,
Welcome to the group and to beading!!
As far as your aventurine or jade strands go, jade beads have a
creamy appearance. Aventurine has shiny bits, mica in the quartz
stones and is usually more of seagreen than jade. If you post a
picture, maybe someone can tell you. Aventurine is also a lot less
expensive than jade.

Patti




--
Shirley Shone

http://www.allcrafts.org.uk

I never thought of doing that. Thanks, Shirley. I will try that
method. I went down and had a good look at the *jade*....the larger
beads are all a sort of milky seagreen, the smaller have some that are a
tad darker and I can see some tiny flecks of dark green or black in some
of them. I need new glasses!!

Thanks for the idea.

Heather

"Shirley Shone" wrote in message
...
You could try scanning them if you have a scanner. I often put my
beadwork on the scanner and get better pictures.
Shirley


In message , Heather
writes
Thanks, Patti.

I will take some photos over the weekend. They are more of a
seagreen,
but no flecks in them that I can see. But I will put a strong light
on
them and double check. The couple who own the local bead store are at
odds as to which these are.

The ones that fascinated me are hard to describe, but they are agate I
believe and about 2 inches long. I will try and photograph them so
that
the colours show up. Every one is different and I haven't seen
anything
like that in stores here. No clue as to how to deal with them either.
(G)

As for price, I would have to give it to you in Euros, or convert to
Cdn
and then you could guestimate it in US dollars. This man spoke no
English and I do not speak Portuguese, so it was fun trying to bargain
him down. He knew how to do that, lol.

Cheers....Heather.

"Patti" wrote in message
groups.com...
Hi Heather,
Welcome to the group and to beading!!
As far as your aventurine or jade strands go, jade beads have a
creamy appearance. Aventurine has shiny bits, mica in the quartz
stones and is usually more of seagreen than jade. If you post a
picture, maybe someone can tell you. Aventurine is also a lot less
expensive than jade.

Patti




--
Shirley Shone

http://www.allcrafts.org.uk

Welcome Heather!

I know there are a few Chinese gem bead stores up in the Markham area.

Barbara

Bead & Polymer Clay Habitué

There is a very fine line between a hobby and mental illness. (Dave Barry)

http://www.penguintrax.com
http://www.backseatgrammarian.com
http://www.polymerclayworkshops.com



Heather wrote:
Like Nicole, I am pretty new to beading, but I have been lurking on this
group for months and am constantly in awe of the amazing things that you
do. I live in Toronto, btw.

I have never done beading before, but have done other crafts. I decided
to take a few classes at Michael's because retirement was getting a tad
boring. By the second class, I was hooked and have been running as fast
as I can to learn even 25% of what you all know. There is so MUCH to
learn. I still find it hard to visualize metric sized beads....tell me
1/2" and I can, but not 10 mm.

I am doing strictly beading, both stringing and wirework. I am in the
process of buying gemstones and sterling findings, now that I know how
much I love doing this. The hardest part for me is getting the
inspiration when working on something, but I just lay it out and adjust
here and there and eventually I have a "eureka" moment.

I have enjoyed the friendly banter amongst the group and have also
learned quite a lot by seeing the things you make, etc. Like Nicole, I
am building up my inventory and did buy several interesting strands over
in Portugal in June in a tiny little chinese store. We are still not
sure (my helpful bead store owner and myself) if I have jade or
aventurine, for instance.

So I am looking forward to being able to ask some fairly basic questions
I suppose, and I imagine Nicole is in the same boat as I am. I am
constantly pouring over magazines and all of your websites for
inspiration and knowledge.

Cheers.....Heather

Thanks Barbara.....you surprised me with this tidbit. We live on the
western outskirts of Toronto and happened to be very close to Markham
yesterday for a doctor's appt. It does have a very big Chinese
population.

There are quite a few bead stores in Toronto proper that I haven't had a
chance to get to yet. One is Beadfx which has a huge website and is
further east than Markham. We have 3 (including Michael's) here in my
city so have access to 3 quite different types of gems, beads and
findings.

Cheers.....Heather


"Barbara Forbes-Lyons" wrote in message
...
Welcome Heather!

I know there are a few Chinese gem bead stores up in the Markham area.

Barbara

Bead & Polymer Clay Habitué

There is a very fine line between a hobby and mental illness. (Dave
Barry)

http://www.penguintrax.com
http://www.backseatgrammarian.com
http://www.polymerclayworkshops.com



Heather wrote:
Like Nicole, I am pretty new to beading, but I have been lurking on
this group for months and am constantly in awe of the amazing things
that you do. I live in Toronto, btw.

I have never done beading before, but have done other crafts. I
decided to take a few classes at Michael's because retirement was
getting a tad boring. By the second class, I was hooked and have
been running as fast as I can to learn even 25% of what you all know.
There is so MUCH to learn. I still find it hard to visualize metric
sized beads....tell me 1/2" and I can, but not 10 mm.

I am doing strictly beading, both stringing and wirework. I am in
the process of buying gemstones and sterling findings, now that I
know how much I love doing this. The hardest part for me is getting
the inspiration when working on something, but I just lay it out and
adjust here and there and eventually I have a "eureka" moment.

I have enjoyed the friendly banter amongst the group and have also
learned quite a lot by seeing the things you make, etc. Like Nicole,
I am building up my inventory and did buy several interesting strands
over in Portugal in June in a tiny little chinese store. We are
still not sure (my helpful bead store owner and myself) if I have
jade or aventurine, for instance.

So I am looking forward to being able to ask some fairly basic
questions I suppose, and I imagine Nicole is in the same boat as I
am. I am constantly pouring over magazines and all of your websites
for inspiration and knowledge.

Cheers.....Heather

Welcome!

--
Kandice Seeber
www.lampwork.net

"Heather" wrote in message
...
Like Nicole, I am pretty new to beading, but I have been lurking on this
group for months and am constantly in awe of the amazing things that you
do. I live in Toronto, btw.

I have never done beading before, but have done other crafts. I decided
to take a few classes at Michael's because retirement was getting a tad
boring. By the second class, I was hooked and have been running as fast
as I can to learn even 25% of what you all know. There is so MUCH to
learn. I still find it hard to visualize metric sized beads....tell me
1/2" and I can, but not 10 mm.

I am doing strictly beading, both stringing and wirework. I am in the
process of buying gemstones and sterling findings, now that I know how
much I love doing this. The hardest part for me is getting the
inspiration when working on something, but I just lay it out and adjust
here and there and eventually I have a "eureka" moment.

I have enjoyed the friendly banter amongst the group and have also learned
quite a lot by seeing the things you make, etc. Like Nicole, I am
building up my inventory and did buy several interesting strands over in
Portugal in June in a tiny little chinese store. We are still not sure
(my helpful bead store owner and myself) if I have jade or aventurine,
for instance.

So I am looking forward to being able to ask some fairly basic questions I
suppose, and I imagine Nicole is in the same boat as I am. I am
constantly pouring over magazines and all of your websites for inspiration
and knowledge.

Cheers.....Heather