BECKI

My SO is going to kill me when he finds out how much money I spent on eBay these last two days. All thanks to you sista!! I got 2 different kinds of those way cool lentil bead caps and I am bidding on two others right now. I'd love to find out where Javabead is getting them so I can cut out the middle man and buy larger quantities. Oh well, I'll have to make due with their store for now.

thanks for the link!!!

Sterling

Reply to
Sterling
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Sterling -- google the suckers, i bet you will find them.

Reply to
Beckibead

I've been goggling for these things and I keep getting eBay sites. I'll keep at it cause someday I am bound to find a supplier.

Thanks again!!

Sterling

Sterling -- google the suckers, i bet you will find them.

Reply to
Sterling

Two of her lentil cap designs come from Zeelver here:

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The two that are shown with beads are knockoffs of two designs from TierraCast pewter (Luna and Raja from this page
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but I couldn't find those listed from a reputable Bal bead company. Personally, I'm not too thrilled with a seller who sells knockoffs of other people's designs but then it's so rampant nowadays it's too difficult to police it out in the real world. Just a note for you about purchasing directly from suppliers. You need deep pockets as minimums are usually very high or you need to buy high $$$$ to get the best discounts. But if you have a business license and can get to Tucson sometime between February 1 and 17th, you would be able to go to the wholesale shows and see what you can find there.

Good luck!

Reply to
Mj

HI MJ!!!!!!! So good to see you here also!!!

yep, would never know they were knockoffs myself. Once they hit the outside world and I buy, from a bead dealer, it gets harder and harder to tell.

Becki

Reply to
Beckibead

MJ,

Thanks for the links. Yes, I can see where the others are knockoffs, but its only a matter of time until someone takes a good idea like this one and runs with it. Truthfully, Tierracast have a lot of great designs, but it seems they mainly work with base metals and some plated metals. I didn't see much in the way of sterling except on the earwires and some head pins, and since I only use sterling or better they probably wouldn't work out for me. Now this Zeever company is very promising... their stuff is sterling. Just what I was looking for.

Seriously, I've often thought about a bead cap that would fit oblong and/or square beads and I'd get all kinds of image in my head of what they should look like. These came very close to what I had envisioned. However, I am not a component designer, I am a jewelry designer and I am just glad that someone had the same thought as I did but took it a step further and actually designed, created, and marketed these caps. And this is just the beginning. Once the other jewelry component sites see how well these caps do, they will be selling them too. Then we'll start to see a lot more different designs from the original 3 or 4 that you see on these two sites.

About the only thing I will have to worry about with ordering from suppliers is that most require a resale license or something akin to it which I do not have nor do I want to obtain. I have no problems with plunking down a fist full of money for something I want as long as I am getting a bulk deal and it is exactly what I wanted.

Thanks for the links.

Sterling

Good luck!

Reply to
Sterling

TierraCast has been selling these particular caps for at least two years. They've been doing a thriving business in pewter components for years and have never offered much in the way of silver items. If silver components were manufactured in the US, you wouldn't be able to afford them, especially now that silver has more than tripled in price from earlier in the decade - that's why TierraCast works with pewter and not silver. Their castings are the finest pewter jewelry component castings you can find and are quite popular. I've sold their products off and on for several years now and can attest to the quality. I prefer silver beads and findings for what I make but many can't afford them so TierraCast fills that niche very well.

The knockoffs look like they've been made from molds taken directly from the Tierracast originals and they lack the design definition seen in the pewter versions. Someone sent the pewter items to one of the many casting companies in Indonesia to have them reproduced. If you're really interested in seeing more of this type of cap, I suggest you contact Nina Designs or one of the other Bali bead makers you can find by googling "Bali beads wholesalers" - there's quite a list to look through. One in particular has some spectacular beads (not caps) that I've never seen before because I got out of the silver market four years ago. Some of these are just scrumptious:

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I expect at least one of the manufacturers would be interested in expanding their line with more channel caps. Good luck with your quest!

On Jan 7, 7:42 pm, "Sterling" wrote:  Once the other jewelry component sites see how well these caps

Reply to
Mj

And on a completely different note, I don't use pewter stuff (for the most part). But I am crazy nuts about Tierracast's old gold plated pewter -- it has a color of vintage that can't be duplicated in any other material, including brass, and I have used these particular findings in quite a few designs. I just don't use them in the clasp, as I don't want the plating to wear off and the wearer to be stuck with an un-plated clasp (hate the way that looks).

Much love -- Becki

Reply to
Beckibead

MJ -- wave hi, and could you post a link to YOUR stuff (if you are still selling on auction or website or whereever?)

Becki

Reply to
Beckibead

Google Halsey Trading. I'm sure MJ has a link to her auctions from her website.

Reply to
Linda2

Here you go, sweetie:

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=store Always use this link to get into my store. eBay reduces my commission fees by 75% if you buy anything after using this link - but you have to go there from some other website and NOT another page on eBay.

Thanks for asking, kiddo. I have lots of wonderful Czech glass beads, including a metric buttload of picasso finishes. My favorite is this one:

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=store I hope to have the greenstone version back in stock by early February if all goes well with the shipment from the Czech Republic and my supplier remembers that I asked for two mass of them! Mj

Reply to
Mj

MJ,

So good to see you...those 4mm cubes are TDF!

Barbara

Bead & Polymer Clay Habitué

There is a very fine line between a hobby and mental illness. (Dave Barry)

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Reply to
Barbara Forbes-Lyons

Waving to Linda -- yep, I actually knew how to find her. Just wanted her to post her link here so that we could ALL shop there!!

Thanks all -- good discussion and good help.

Becki

Reply to
Beckibead

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