Vintage Swarovski Crystal Bead Info - Part 1

When selling vintage the first question I usually hear is "How old are these"? One of the easiest types of beads to date accurately are Swarovski crystal beads, especially if they are still in their original packaging. There's a lot of incorrect information floating around so I would like to offer some factual information to help clear it up.

If I have done this correctly (I'm still pretty blog-challenged) you should be able to click on the chart at the right to see it full sized. It's a conversion chart of old and new Swarovski article numbers (basically a style number) next to a line drawing of the bead. Now the trick is to know when the numbers were changed. In 1968 the numbers were converted to 4 digits so you know that if the 2 or 3 digit number is printed on the package or box they were made prior to then.

More to come...

April 24 is Etsy Day - So Go and Buy Something Already!

Today is Etsy Day! Unless you lead an extremely sheltered life you must have heard of Etsy. Today is a celebration of all things Etsy, a fab collection of shops selling unique handmade items, unusual vintage and the absolutely best jewelry, craft and art supplies on the web. Remember to search for Etsy Supply Street Team member shops when you search for supplies. A great place to start would be by clicking on any item listed in my Etsy shop - hint, hint! I am a proud team member and support all Team ESST members, too. The easy way to find us is to search ESST!

Happy Anniversary to Me!

Every woman who has had breast cancer has a different way of determining when they became a survivor. For me, it is the day that the cancer was surgically removed from my body. That was on April 23, 2008 so I am celebrating my one year anniversary today. Happy anniversary to me.

We are all survivors of something. Sometimes it's obvious, sometimes it's not. We do what we can...we heal..we survive..we celebrate.

On the Road Again

Geez, what is it with me & these song titles? We have added a couple of last minute listings to our show schedule and my dear husband will be doing shows in the Carolinas the next two weekends. On April 25 & 26 he'll be in Winston-Salem, NC & the following weekend, May 2 & 3 he'll be in Columbia, SC. If you are in the area & like beads please stop in and say hi.

He will not have the same beads that are in our Etsy shop but will have lots of great gemstone beads, some vintage and a neat assortment of closeouts. There's also a great selection of really well priced seed beads: new, vintage & antique.

Follow the link to our website show schedule for complete details.

Holy Headache Batman, Music on a blog?

Oh why the hell not? I listen to music when I work, in fact that's how my husband can tell what kind of mood I'm in. Music playing=good, quiet=not so good. Anyway, I decided to give you the option of music on or off, depending on your particular mood. I've started with some stuff that I like in the hopes that you'll like it too. Enjoy!

Like a Virgin...

I've always considered myself better than average where all things technical are concerned but this blog thing has me baffled! Hopefully I will keep at it, figure it out and actually make it a fun place to visit. Maybe it's just too easy for my complicated mind to grasp?

People who know me are aware that I always have something to say about everything. Let's see if this is the case!