I have been beading for about 8 years. It started as a method of preventing boredom after I retired as a South Carolina State Employee of 28 years. After several years of beading for myself and for gifts to family members I expanded. My daughter and I set up a booth at our local craft show for each of 3 years. I had thought to open a local shop to become more involved in the community. I thought to open a bookstore and have a small area to display and sell my jewelry. My business plan soon showed me that I could not afford to go in that direction. At that time a local antique mall opened and I was able to get a good sized booth.
I turned that booth into my studio and jewelry shop. I expanded into fashion jewelry repair and into selling vintage jewelry. These 2 expansions led directly to a new jewelry line – La Belle Harmonie. This line takes vintage jewelry parts and pieces and incorporates them into modern, often vintage inspired, jewelry.
Now I am expanding again. This time into a blog to share what I have learned with others. With the economy in its current position it seemed that the best emphasis would be in beading on a budget, and so this blog was created November/December 2008. The early months of 2009 continue to indicate the importance of containing costs.
In a effort to streamline my blog and update the program I managed to loose it all. This current blog has tried to reconstruct the important articles.
I hope you enjoy it and will join me in my blog with your comments and your additions to my thoughts and suggestions.
