Beads, beads, beads, beads!

I have been making jewellery for a few years now, and I have developed quite an obsession with beads. If we are going away somewhere, even just a day trip, I will casually check on the internet to see if there are any bead shops nearby.

In these last few years, I have managed to amass quite a large stash of beads:



And as you can see, it's not just beads, it's buttons too. Anything sparkly or brightly coloured, and I'm drawn to it, like a magpie.

Sometimes I will see beads and know exactly what I want to make with them, before I've even bought them. Other times I will just "need" to have the beads, and they may sit in my stash for weeks or even months before inspiration hits me, and I realise what I want to make with them.



I have recently started writing for another blog, which was started by a group of beaders on a message board I use. The idea of the blog is to challenge yourself to use up beads in your stash, and then post photos of the finished items to share with the group. You can find my first post here. However, within a day or two of me writing that post, I received some new beads to add to my stash:



They're blown glass beads, and they're so, so pretty. Most of them look like sweets, it's no wonder I couldn't resist them:



I do have some ideas for them though, so these beads at least won't be hidden away in my stash for long...