Retail Therapy....

For anyone who has been to Bead Paradise in Oberlin....you know this is, by far, the best bead store ever!!  BEST EVER!!  If you haven't been to Bead Paradise, you need to go.  It's worth the trip.

In desperate need of retail therapy...I stopped in on Saturday.  I must have been in a metal mood because most of what I came away was metal of some sort or another.

Desert Bells. These make such lovely sounds. They had a tree of them and it was hard to walk away with just one....which you see I didn't. 

Stirrups from Nigeria. I don't know why...but I just had to have them.  I actually can see hanging these up on the wall and putting candles on them. 

Brass hair pin from Niger

Stone beads from Africa. These are yummy!!

A shell pendant.  I liked the striations. 

Bracelet, which is too small for me but a great model for something to make, and a really cool tubular bead from Nigeria

Tuareg coin silver beads anda great strand of irregular beads from India

Brass cornerless beads. vintage tubular beads from Burma, and those nubby brass beads you see are from Yemen. 

More cornerless beads, these are Tuareg, a shield pendant and button from India

Ganesha. remover of obstacles and patron of the arts and sciences, intellect and wisdom.  Things we are badly in need of these days. He is now one of my many studio companions. 

White brass cornerless cube beads from Niger and some very thin metal discs from Thailand. There are some really teeny tiny metals beads in that mix too.