Serendipity

New Treasured Charm Bracelet Class

I had a fantastic weekend.  My trunk show at Garden of Beaden went well above my expectations and to top it all off I had a lot of sign ups for my classes, enough for two full classes and more to come.  So now I have a new venue that won't compete with other venues (it's in Upland) and lots of fun magical people to add to the growing list of friends and students.  Irene owns Garden of Beaden and has a heart of gold.    She and her family (they all work there and are VERY talented) welcome all of their customers with a smile and a sincere interest for all their beading and jewelry needs..... and it shows.  From the time the store opened there was a steady stream of devoted customers that filled the store and they all adore Irene and her family.  To be in business for 11 years is saying something, especially at this point in time. 

How I met Irene ~  Serendipity ~ dictionary definition : an aptitude for making desirable discoveries by accident.   A few months ago I had the pleasure of meeting a wonderful woman named Andrea.  She found my class schedual on a blog (maybe Gilding the lily?) and proceeded to  check out my blog (you know how we all do that).  Saw my class schedual there and came to one of my rubber stamp classes at Piecemakers, loved some jewelry I had brought in and bought a necklace from me.   Andrea picked up the latest copy of Belle Armoire Jewelry and saw from an article that there was a bead store (Garden of Beaden) right down the street from her.  Excited, she went to check it out and just happened to be wearing the necklace she bought from me.  She walked into the bead store and apparently Irene flipped over the necklace along with another gal.  Andrea told Irene that I would be teaching the necklace at Piecemakers and so she along with another great gal, Dana (who I also happened to meet serendipitously at Gliiterfest), drove out from Upland (over an hour drive) to take my class and we all hit it off.  One conversation led to another and the trunk show with a hope for interest in classes was put together quite quickly.  Irene told me she had really great customers and she was right.  So if you live in the area and need a creative fix and or beads or want to make a day of classes and really great company,  I highly recommend it.  In fact just recently she had a book signing with Ruth Rae and Kelly Snelling for their fantastic book,   A Charming Exchange.

One other thing (I commend you if you are still reading this) about bead stores.  I love bead stores!  At least some of them....well I am kinda picky actually.  When I walk into a bead store I want to see things and samples that wow me, that I can't find at Michaels or JoAnns (not that I don't like them)  and that  I can't live with out.   Right now at Garden of Beaden for a limited time there are some fantastic deals on have to have beads, pearls and semi precious stones and they're all laid out in the center of the store in colored themes.   They are consigned items that will be gone my mid January so check it out.  She also carries great charms, felting molds, some soldering equipment (the propane kind), African trade beads, silver findings, seed beads, hand made glass beads, resin casting materials, hand made jewelry, paper ephemera, wire....get the picture?  You will love her and her store.  Patronize our small businesses and give'em some love!  I want to take Dana's fusing class and Lucy's resin class!

Oh ANOTHER  thing......sheesh Robin shut up!   The pic above is a new class schedualed for Jan.23, 2010 at another fav establishment Gilding the Lily!  They don't have it on the schedual YET but you can still bug Dede Warren and reserve yer' seat at 714-757-0558.