Nomadic Notions has a huge array of unusual mostly Asian findings and focal beads and is located close to Sea of Beads which I discovered a week or so ago on W Anderson Road to the north of the city. The other I found was the tiny Lapis Lane - friendly but a very small selection of items, mainly due to much of the space being given over to workshops for teaching beading & mosaics. NN is probably my second favourite shop in Austin after Bead It on S Lamar. The latter stocks mostly recycled vintage beads from all era's - 50's & 60's plastic fun, 70's and 80's bling plus loads and loads more, its probably a good job I don't live close to this one! Its where I spent a happy afternoon during my first week in Austin learning how to make rings and I can't wait to get home to put my new skills into action (I couldn't bring my entire toolbox on the plane!).
Legendary Beads just up the road from Bead It doesn't really live up to its name - the place is large and the inventory is huge but nothing special. My aim has been to concentrate on sourcing unusual items not foundor expensive in the UK such as the dragonfly and faires. These together with some lovely hammered toggle clasps I found in a sale at Hobby Lobby which is a cross between Hobby Craft and The Range in the UK.
As a result of my travels I now have a great assortment of arty toggle clasps, much more interesting that the plain hoops or hearts I already had and cheaper than they are at home too. I've also succumbed to a few strands of beads that caught my eye on the way. Today therefore I've spent a few hours happily sorting through the bead trays in my portable beading kit so I could stow my purchases! Perhaps tomorrow I'll spend some time being creative with the dragonfly.
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