Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Are you a Bead Geek? (or, How I Made a New Line)




Are you a bead geek? Do you get excited over technical little details (like sparkling inclusions in a quartz strand) or read bead catalogs for fun, or want to correct layman mistakes in spelling of a kind of stone?
My 'bead geek' moment came recently, when I realized not everyone read bead catalogs as teenagers, and therefore not everyone knew what 'calibrated' meant. For the record, 'calibrated' refers to standardized common sizes/shapes of cabochons, such as those in this chart (courtesy of Fire Mountain Gems):

And I'm having a 'bead geek' moment now. Oh how excited I am! After receiving several special requests for calibrated cabochons, I am now introducing a permanent line of shimmerstone cabochons in calibrated, uniform sizes and shapes, for my customers who love incorporating them into their pre-fired metal clay projects, for polymer clay enthusiasts, and people who work with vintage and modern cabochon settings.
When I first decided to make a special section for the calibrated cabochons, I thought I'd have to buy a lot of new supplies, but when I looked in my drawer of glass, I saw I had enough materials left over from the commissions to make a decent number of calibrated cabochons to fill a new section. Joy!

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