Vintage beads are fun to find!

Making beaded jewelry means finding great beads to use in your designs.  I love finding beads during my travels, but when I'm home for a while I like to make the rounds of the MANY great vintage shops here in Monterey & Carmel.

Vintage beads have unique qualities that you just can't get in newer beads.  They often have unique finishes with gold, silver and the vintage crystals often have great iridescent coatings that make them truly sparkle.  I love it when I find these vintage crystals.

My most recent "fun find" are beads that are made of 50's and 60's Lucite.  This plastic, unlike today's cheap plastic beads, is harder and holds up with great shine.  Lucite is also known as plexiglass...and just like glass it can be molded into great shapes and wears very well.  Many of my bracelet duos in my Summer Solstice Collection have unique Lucite beads that I've found all over the place.

Finally, as all of you know, I take the profits from my bead business and put them into my "Get Maren To Peru" fund.  I'm getting close to my funding goal for this year and will be going to Saqsaywaman again end of 2018. 

Thanks to you all for supporting my efforts to get to Peru by selling my beaded design.  Have a great summer!

Maren

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