What a wonderful day I had on Saturday! Harrey's friend Lorraine took us to all the bead shops on her regular bead binge route.
Location: Near Neal's Yard
Name: lost somewhere in the mists of time
Finds: very cute happy cat beads, vaguely creepy girl heads, silver metal leaves and keys
Location: into Neal's Yard
Name: Bead Aura
Finds: Lovely atmosphere, loads to look at. I bought some wire, some fixings, more flat metal bits - keys and leaves again, some storage (a tin of cute glass topped tins) and pliers - I love love love my multi-use pliers that crimp, cut, loop and close jumprings, but these have bigger posts for rolling jumprings. Oh, and leather thong for the Mother's Day presents at school.
Location: Tower Street, near Covent Garden
Name: The Bead Shop
Finds: Beautiful shop, with lovely old-fashioned wooden bead trays displaying a huge selection. Less relaxed atmosphere, and some woman dragging her poor dog around the shop. I bought boxes of plastic jars, more wire (2 colours, 3 gauges, ha!), more fixings, some beads with chopstick style designs of bamboo, frogs and dragonflies. And yes, I believe, more flat metal leaves.
Location: alongside Chinatown
Name: erm, something and something
Finds: metal hearts and leaves or keys! and little plastic bags for my ArtFest charms which I left on the counter because the staff were so rubbish I lost the will to live, or at the very least, the will to buy charms!
Location: Carnaby Street mall
Name: Buffy's Beads
Finds: So beautiful and classy. I am not really up to that standard yet, so just bought a jade leaf and some shell leaves.
After some gorgeous Japanese food, we headed home. We suddenly realised that we have no time to see each other before I go away, so Harrey managed to let some friends down gently, and we went back to her place and ate pizza and drank beers. I made more charms (still 59 to go!) and she played with the beading book I got her for her birthday present, along with a selection of Indian lamp beads.
Pictures of the charms to follow...