Shopping!

"I" went on a massive bead spree last weekend. I say "I" because really, it was a sort of in absentia thing. My mom has my new Visa check card at home (the bank mailed it to my home address, I don't need it in Korea, and I don't want to deal with it getting lost in the mail), and so she periodically makes bead runs for me.

Here is the largest and latest, almost all of which will be the subject of an upcoming geo-shopping entry!

Green Aventurine

It's hard to tell, but the beads on the left are a little over half as big as the ones on the right. They're also not cut quite as well the others, but most are very much usable. As for the ones on the right, well, they're already a necklace for the Mad Scientists of Etsy!'s April (and now May, I guess) challenge piece (which is going to get its own entry soon).

Red Aventurine

Kind of a misleading name, really, since it looks more orange than red, but there you have it.

Mookaite

I've blogged about this stone before (I LOVE IT SO MUCH). Stone I love + atypical bead shape = CANNOT GET ENOUGH. That's why I spent over $50 on these Mookaite briolettes in an earlier bead binge:

Mahogany Obsidian

Speaking of atypical bead shapes, I cannot get enough cubed beads. They have a really funky modern look to them, and when they're next to round smooth beads it makes for a really cool geometric look, like in this Planck's constant physics bracelet:

Unfortunately, they're somewhat hard to find, so my mom did a good job snatching these up when she did!

Mother-of-Pearl

It's hard to photograph lighter beads like mother-of-pearl, and I'm not too happy with this, but you can get a sense of mother-of-pearl's trademark milky swirls and warm cream color.

Blue Lace Agate

Another difficult one to photograph. The blue in this particular strand is very rich and striking. with dark marbling throughout. You can kind of see it here, but not every well. There's one more strand of this in the bag of goodies I got, but they were even more impossible to photograph (coloring that isn't quite as rich) so i gave up.

Amethyst

Some nice six millimeter amethyst.

Carnelian

I love carnelian. Love love love. The color in this strand is especially lovely.

Dyed Howlite

Howlite is naturally white with gray veins, but very porous, so it takes a dye very well. As a result, you can find it in all kinds of goofy colors like lime green or hot pink. My mom and former coworker both immediately thought of me when this strand came up in the shopping, and they were dead on! Wouldn't they be fun earrings?

Kambaba Jasper

And finally, what may be my favorite strand in the lot, kambaba jasper. These are large ovals, about thirty by twenty millimeters. This is a strand my mom picked out, because my mom has awesome taste. The two nicest ones from this strand are going to be a pair of earrings for her, but they're all really gorgeous. They'd also be great as pendants, especially with some understated sterling wire wrapping. Or the focal bead in a viking knit bracelet? The possibilities are endless!