Possibly the best bead store ever!!

And it's right in my back yard...well almost...just a 30 minute drive to Bead Paradise in Oberlin.  I've been to a lot of bead stores and this is one of the best I've seen.  Ruth, the owner, has a wonderful selection of beads...all kinds of beads...from all over the world.  When I first started making jewlery, I started like most people...stringing beads.  This shop was always a favorite stop for the huge variety of seed beads and along with vintage Czech, German and Japanese glass beads. 

Now that I'm working in metals and with my interest in ancient culures....it remains a favorite.  Cris and I make the booth at B&B a "must" every year.  So today Lou went golfing and I went bead shopping.

I wasn't in the door more than 5 minutes and I heard a familiar voice....Mary Ann and her husband were there.  We were both checking out the clothes....which are another reason to go to Bead Paradise.  The clothes are fabulous!!!  I had my eye on a sweater vest but I bought so many beads I left without it.  I might just have to go back.  It was very cool.

Anyway...here are some pics of the beads...tons of beads.  It is heaven!!!  I have, in the past, spent hours here....blissful hours. 

After I had a handful of bead strands, I heard Ruth talking about a new stash of beads that hadn't been put out yet.  So "guess who" started crawling on the floor looking through the beads.  Talk about a kid in a candy store!!!

So here are my treasures... bone, quartz, bronze, brass

A close up of one of strands.  These are really cool.  Check out the second pic....that's a pipe.  Plus all these pieces are separate by African coins.

A strand of bronze beads with a great patina.

Bone beads from Nigeria

Brass beads from the Ivory Coast

And check out the glass beads I picked up.  These are great colors for the bronze.

And the moral of the story....if you are anywhere close to Oberlin, Ohio (just west of Cleveland)....you have to stop here.  You won't go home empty-handed.
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