GetCrafty Craft Facts

Q: Could anyone suggest a truly excellent catalogue source of gem stone beads? Christmas approaches and I'd like to be able to give my old friend, a devoted beadworker, a gift certificate. She has very high standards.

A: You might try Earthstone, New York City, or South Pacific, Montpelier, VT. Ask about their return policy, since your friend seems to have high standards. How about the address for these catalogues? I love getting catalogues and because I don't have time to get out to the bead shops, catalogues are the best for me. Could you e-mail the address either to my address or to the group in general. Fire Mountain Gems in Oregon also sells semi-precious beads. I have ordered and enjoyed many kinds of beads from them, but I have never used this source for semi-precious, so I don't know about the quality. Has anyone gotten semi-precious from them? Also, Fantasy Beads in Maryland has good quality semi-precious, although not as wide a variety of types as Earthstone. I think South Pacific is the company whose fliers are worded so offensively (real put-downs of third world people) that I don't even look at the beads on the fliers before throwing them out. The address info for FMG and Fantasy is on the Bead Fairies website already given, I think. If not, e-mail me and I will pass it to you. Yes, that's the company you are thinking of, but I have to reply to this. I like their catalog and fliers, it is refreshing to see someone just come out and say what they mean instead of me having to figure it out. I haven't bought anything from them, but I have bought products from the countries they talk about. They are right in most cases. I would rather have the truth then "political correctness".