Bucolic Manor: Bead Mania

Tomorrow I am showing my bead work at a little jewelry seminar. I thought you might like a preview!

A few years ago I started doing bead work. At first it was just another "occupy the hands" kind of hobby. I found it relaxing. The beads were so pretty! The next thing I knew I was making wine charms and selling them at a local shop.

My little Simply Charming Wine Charms were a big hit. It didn't hurt that I was able to get them into a store right before Christmas - right on the checkout counter.

I thought about "expanding my market" by selling through other stores in neighboring towns. That's when I found out just how many regulations that the state put on any type of merchandise related to alcohol. Even though the charms were just decorations for drinking glasses, they still fell under state regulations for selling. It was a bother.

But I still liked bead work. So I did some charity pieces for the church.

A chaplet for praying to St. Rita. All little blue crystals - very delicate.

Little pocket rosaries in Swarovski crystals and hematite. Adorable.

Christmas was coming again and the knitters in the family needed stitch markers...

Fancy stitch markers with a good weight to them so they don't get stuck in the yarn. They were a big hit and the different sizes helped mark the different parts of the patterns.

I tried necklaces, but I don't really wear them...