A Small Flame Flickers......

 I have loved beads for as long as I can remember~ literally.  I have always been drawn to them, they are amazing little treasures to me, each and every one. I can remember as a child in the late 1970s making the hour trip to Spokane~ we didnt go very often, so when we did, it was special and an all day excursion. We would get to go out to eat....I always wished for "Klinkerdaggers" in the Flour Mill.....we would of coarse go to the...THE huge store of all stores...the "K Mart"....who can forget the flashing blue light specials!  I would have gathered up all my allowance that I had managed to save....which was never very much~ back then a full size candy bar was a quarter...and good grief~ with bubblegum and candy machines that were a penny, or a nickle or a dime....who could ever save up their money????  Anyway, my Pa being a model railroader, we would always, ALWAYS stop at Columbia Cycle on the way home. Ground level was bicycles yes...and loads of trains......but upstairs....pure HEAVEN! Dollhouses and beads beads beads!  If you search the blog, you will find pictures of my dollhouse that I made from a kit....oh I spent many an hour drooling over all the glass cases. They  in themselves were marvelous wonders to me~ each was fitted with these long turntables that held pans and pans of beads and any other little tiny whatnot you could think of. The best way I can describe them, are like the hot dog rotisseries you see at gas stations.  I would ponder for what seemed like hours, my Mom would even be getting tired of waiting....and finally I would pick out how many beads I could get with my dollar or so.....I would point to the exact one I wanted, and into my little brown paper sack they would go. Seemed like I always liked the expensive ones...and would just get maybe 10 little beads to bring home~ little swirly glass ones I can remember well.  The as I got older, and had to get braces...blek.....it was off to Spokane to the dentist quite often, and my Mom & I would make the rounds to sticker stores....(dont get me started) and bead stores~ hanks and hanks of bright gaudy silver lined beads everywhere....but thats not what caught my eye.  For the 'good stuff' one had to ask...'you got any antique beads?'....and out would come a box from behind the counter....oh what treasures! Of coarse Id want them all....but they were SO expensive!  So my collection grew little by little....carefully stored in an old cigar box. I never did anything with them but admire them. What to make....they have always been to special to actually use. Until now.

 My most prized beads are the smallest~ soo weensie some strung single on a thread, are over 50 to the inch. They will easily drop thru the hole in a size 15 seed bead....speaking of bead sizes..... Everyone seems to use their own 'scale'~ so if you dare to buy  them online, without holding them in your hot hands and looking at them with your own eyes...instead of asking what size they are, ask "how many are there per inch?"  It will save you a lot of frustration, trust me!

   Thus, akin to a pilot light on a gas stove...my little bead flame has always been lit....just waiting for the right match to come along and light it for real~