Welp, that’s everything! I’m raring to go to the post office! I hope you find something you like!
In other news, my website is currently offline. I’m surprised it has been active as long as it has, under the circumstances, which I will not get into. I knew this day would come, and there isn’t much I can do to immediately fix it without contacting people from my past. If that was the only way I could resolve it, I would opt to do without it. Luckily, it is not. I could/should/would have dealt with this sooner, but I’ve had more pressing things in front of me. I will be weighing out my options and will figure something out soon, but it may take some time. If you need to see some beads, I have links to my flickr, my pinterest, my instagram, and there are past beads to peruse on my blog. I just started building a gallery on instagram that vaguely resembles my website gallery, in case that ends up being the only thing I can manage for a while. (I just finished the 2002 portion – what a trip down nostalgia lane that was.) The other side of this may yield my ability to update my website, or build an entirely new one. Not that I have time for any of that, but you never know, time may land on my side for once.
Thanks for having a look, and if I don’t see you again before the xmas monster strikes, happy holidays! xo Sarah
the gory deets: when: Monday December 1st, 2025 @ 12PM Hawaii Time 1PM Alaska Time 2PM Pacific Time 3PM Mountain Time 4PM Central Time 5PM Eastern Time (I was today years old when I realized I’ve been leaving out Alaska and Hawaii, and I feel like a jerk. Apologies.) where: my online shop (bigcartel) what: BEADS! Fly-eyes, spikes, smooches, party balls and more! See the class photo below!!! Another email will be sent to subscribers on Monday the moment everything is ready in my shop! It hasn’t escaped my notice that this falls on Cyber Monday, as I recall happening last year or the year before, but I do not recall it being either a good or bad thing. It just was, and is. I must roll with it.
Lately has been fraught with trial and tragedy, so I beg you to pardon any possible brevity or typos in some of the bead descriptions; there’s a lot going on. Job, thanksgiving prep, cleaning, and other un-fun et ceteras hang over my head. The worst being Mom’s cat Mr. Grey passing from feline leukemia just over a week ago. We didn’t really know how old he was or where he came from. Never before seen, he just showed up at mom’s patio door one evening in the fall of 2021, very emaciated and yelling his fool head off, so we gave him chicken scraps meant for Nelson, and subsequently rushed out for Fancy Feast and kibble, and mom’s litterbox was retrieved from the recesses of past feline-related heartbreak. Mom soon discovered a pretty nasty wound on his chest, which she and my sister doctored with Neosporin and they put a round of doxycycline in his food, and it all healed up very nicely. The vet even commented on it. When he became sick most recently, he didn’t recover with the antibiotics administered by the vet. My other sister assisted Mom at the final vet visit, which was when they figured out it was leukemia. I was at work and could not be there, and I was a total mess about it all day, knowing how horribly sad mom was to lose her best little friend, but I was also relieved that his suffering was ending and my sister was there to help. Looking back over the last few years, it makes sense because he seemed to have stretches of days when he wasn’t very perky and his coat would get a little rough for a while. Mom was feeling an awful amount of guilt over his illness, but there is no way that it was her fault. She gave him a better life than he would have had otherwise, he had already been through some real crap, and we loved him and he loved us and he was such a sweet, chill little guy (once his trouble nuggets were removed, of course.) He is so missed. Kiss and hug your fuzzy family members – as much as they’ll allow, that is. Boobookitty does not like kisses, Nelson does not particularly care for hugs, and to be perfectly honest, as much as I try to respect their wishes, I do not always care because they’re so stinkin cute! They’re just gonna have to deal with it, they could endure much worse for Fancy Feast and I think they know it.
sweet mr. grey’s grey toes, nose and whiskers
But. As I was working on photo editing just today, feeling overwhelmed as usual, a strand of christmas lights I keep up all year on my mantel – who, on a couple of occasions, have stopped working for days or weeks at a time just to come back on later – came on for the first time in months. Yes, I have tested the outlet, and it appears to be functioning properly. I was sure they were toast, but I hadn’t found the time to remove or replace them. So that made me feel just a bit better about things in general. (I’m trying to stay optimistic and look at the bright side instead of thinking the darned things are about to burn the house down.) I find the holidays stressful for a number of reasons, and it might just be me sensing the energy of the American holiday mindset at large. In recent years I’ve started stocking up on toilet paper and other staples so I won’t be forced to go out in it when it gets too thick. Now that I work retail, which believe me, is something I never thought I would do, mainly because I wasn’t confident they would even want me, I’m out in the thick whether I want to be or not. Not that I take it personally when people are rude. I know rudeness is about them, not me, especially since at this point in my life I know for a fact that I do my best to be considerate and helpful. I may fail at times, but I do try to stay aware of the human struggle. And that’s probably why I’m so overwhelmed all the time.
Thanks for reading to the end. I hope you can at least pop in and see what’s new on Monday! xo Sarah
Here’s you a big ol’ update! (and shop update info at the very end)
At long last, it’s sweater weather! Every fall, after a looong drawn out summer, after begging the heavens for cooler weather the whole time, the first day it’s 70 degrees I’m all shivering and complaining about how chilly it is. But I turn on the wall furnace, fish my winter loafing wardrobe out of the laundry basket the little black cat has been sleeping in all summer, and get back to it.
I was busy to the point of overwhelmed this summer, as usual. Starting new jewelry projects and taking my time finishing them, tending to hairballs, thrifting, hanging with Moms, moving stacks of craft supplies around, and, of course, working at the department store, and a plethora of other less than interesting things. But I did finally do one thing that I can finally mark off of my Crafty Bucket List…
You know how I’ve been yammering on about trying painted denim? I finally stopped overthinking and just did it. I had slowly been gathering all the accoutrement: plastic sheet, small disposable bathroom cups (for mixing the paint with the fabric medium), fabric medium, stuff to make my own fabric medium, a few colors of paint I didn’t already have, and of course, thrifted jeans to practice on. Additionally, my ironing board had been at moms for years so I had to jam that thing into my sedan. I located the iron I bought new 20 years ago that had probably only been used once, and finally, I had everything I needed. And I still put it off for months. (I don’t know why I do this.)
One morning I woke up and I decided to just do it. I used a pin I had saved on pinterest and tried to sort of match it, just to get the feel of it with a pair of old navy skinny jeans in a beige color. They have quite a bit of stretch to them and are pretty lightweight fabric and are a cotton polyester blend. I used several different types of acrylics in my collection, some mixed with my homemade fabric medium, some with the store bought, and some of the paints didn’t seem to mix well with the homemade medium (vinegar+glycerin+water), but I suspect some colors aren’t as compatible with medium as others.
The other pair is a dark navy denim, old navy og straight jeans, a much heavier fabric with only 1% spandex, and I don’t think I used fabric medium, just heavy body, high quality acrylics straight out of the tubes, and just kinda smeared it around. I only used two colors. On these, since they have manufactured holes, I decided to try my hand at sashiko mending. It was quite an undertaking and I’ve learned a thing or two. It’s a bit sloppy, but it fits with all the paint splatter business. I still haven’t finished them, but I’m nearly done.
I let both dry on hangers for several days before I heat set them. I found a piece of an old sheet to place between the iron and the jeans and set it fairly high, between 5 and 6 (7 being the highest setting) and went over them twice. I turned them inside out and washed them in cold water with minimal soap. The only flaking I had was from the beige pair, where I had mixed stark white with the homemade medium and it didn’t mix well and got kind of chunky. I suspect the polyester made them less absorbent. A few small chunks of that had fallen off, but everything else stayed put. I hung them up to dry.
My advice after this limited experience: use 100% cotton denim, and if that isn’t possible, try to avoid cotton+polyester blends. The tiniest bit of spandex, 1-2% with the remainder being cotton, seems okay. Just avoid the polyester, it doesn’t absorb and hold the paint as well, and the heat required to set the paint can warp the fibers. I want to do more, time permitting.
Next thing on the list of things to try is resin! Man oh man do I want to make big, fat, glittery resin beads. There are sphere molds aplenty, but very few actual round bead molds, so I will have to drill the holes myself, which is a whole other thing I’d have to figure out. Also, resin does better in warmer months, so that might be a good thing to focus on next summer. If anyone has any advice or knowledge to impart on this subject, I’m all ears.
OH, and I was leaving to go do something a couple of weeks ago, and only a block from my house I spotted something I immediately identified as a well-made hard wood *something* on someone’s curb. As I got closer, I saw that there was also a nice chair that sort of went with, and it turned out to be a small desk in the early american style that (I think) was everywhere in the 60’s or 70’s. There was also a small rolltop chest and a sizeable red ottoman. All were in fantastic condition, had quality furniture stickers and stamps on them, and passed the sniff test (vitally important when curb shopping). It had been raining for a couple of days almost nonstop, but all of the items were bone dry, as if they had been put out only moments before. I put the ottoman, chair and drawers into my little car (the drawers to ensure the thing would still be there when I returned). I noticed seed beads in one of the drawers as I was pulling it out, so it seemed meant to be(ad). I wrangled Sprinkles into helping me put the desk into my car, but it would not fit. So. We carried it a block back to the house, luckily it wasn’t too heavy. It is the perfect sewing machine table, and it just so happened that I got my sewing machine out a few days prior and have been trying to work up the nerve. Perhaps it’s a sign. We’ll see what happens. The rolltop chest thingee had to stay behind because it was too dang heavy, I couldn’t get it into my car, and I really had nowhere to put it nor could I think of a use for it. I drove by a day later and the chest was gone, which gave me relief that someone else picked it up.
(a blurry zoom in on the latest beads from the sewing table photo)
Annnnd, last but not least, I’m planning on putting many things in my shop at the end of the month, I’m shooting for Monday December 1st. I spent the majority of my vacation on the burner, because, let’s face it, sitting on my hiney doing nothing ain’t my style, so my time off was indeed productive. But. I am also quite aware of the way things are for the majority of Americans at the moment. I fear that even attempting to sell these non-essential items will appear out-of-touch and tone-deaf, much like constructing a costly ballroom while people starve. I really, really don’t want to come off that way. I have to keep doing what I truly love to do, which is create pretty baubles, and just hope for the best. For everyone in the world.
sprinkles got me this really pretty cake that seems straight out of 1980’s Floridaone of my b-day presents to myself, i’ve been wanting dotty sobral beads for many years now
There will be further announcements in the coming weeks, so make sure you’re subscribed to my blog for email updates. Better sneak peek photos are forthcoming, for sure. Thanks for sticking with me, we’ll chat again soon! xo Sarah
It’s 5PMish my time (central time) and all of the bead auctions are now live! Since I knew time would be tight for me today, I got them all ready to go ahead of time and scheduled them to list starting at 4PM Central Time, with 15 minutes in between each one (and 30 minutes between the last two, not purposefully, but you’ve met me, right?). They will start to end 4PM Central time on Sunday, September 28th 2025. Click here to see everything (and I do mean everything, as I have other listings unrelated to beads).
I am only shipping to the US for these auctions, mainly because ebay makes it difficult to establish a dependable shipping cost for international shipping, and they want to get into the middle of it by having me ship it to their hub. The last time I shipped internationally through ebay, I paid an unexpectedly high dollar amount to ship a laptop bag made of rubber bicycle tubing. Ebay told me it would cost around $20, but I ended up getting dinged for $56. To be perfectly blunt, I don’t have the mental space for that sort of aggravation at the moment. I hope you understand. However, if you are in another country and want to buy some beads made to order, contact me, perhaps we can work something out depending on your location, and I can ship it the way I choose to ship it. You may or may not be aware, the United States’ current foreign relations are not good and could conceivably affect mail delivery, and if you are aware, you know why. If you know me, you know my opinion is that people should be kind, respectful and mind their own business, naive as that may be. I am quite sure that for most of you who are reading this, I’m preaching to the choir.
I wish I had more beads to list, but the good news is, I have vacation coming up sometime in October, so I will have some free time and cooler weather for bead making. I hope. I’m always reluctant to announce any intent because it seems like as soon as I do, an obstacle lands in my path. I swear I’m not trying to whine, but I sure would be grateful for some peace and quiet. So if my wishes come true, I should have some fabulous new beads for you at some point before Christmas!
Thanks for checking in on me, and to those who plan to participate in the auctions, I appreciate you and wish you happy bidding! And for those who don’t, I still appreciate you and your continued interest! xo Sarah
Save the date: Sep 23-28! Keep on reading, it isn’t too long this time…
toadstool village
Thank you for another successful bead sale (back in late June, yeah, yeah, I know. Time is really getting away from me these days, and it was made even more obvious by the fact that I was fairly certain for several hours today that my last shop update was in March). I know I say thank you a lot, but I feel like I don’t say it enough. Thank you for coming to my shop updates (whether you buy anything or not), thank you for the made-to-order inquiries that some of you actually think you’re bothering me with (you’re definitely not) and the various kindnesses you have bestowed upon me over the years. The last several years have been rough on all of us, and I have done my best to put decent beads together to bring a little brightness, and so I can feel productive and satisfy my creative compulsions. These shop updates are a lot of work… the making of the beads is the easiest part. Writing the descriptions, taking the photos, editing the photos, putting things together in the shop template, writing blog entries that seem even vaguely interesting… and all on a laptop that has outlived its life expectancy and moves slower than owl droppings in the winter is frustrating and adds extra stress to an activity I once found enjoyable. Sprinkles will regularly hear me impatiently growling at my screen, while I wait 30 seconds for folders to populate (something that should take 2 seconds max), or a literal minute for webpages to load. This brings me to my next point.
Windows, though a cryptic popup called “campaign manager” that suddenly, randomly appears in my taskbar, has warned me about 3 times in the last several months that they are no longer supporting Windows 10 after some time in October of this year. My PC is too old to handle Windows 11, so I decided I would start thinking about getting a new one sometime “soon”. Since I’m a procrastinator extraordinaire, I’ve been putting it off because I’m not sure what I’m doing when buying something like that, and that is a huge investment for me. So several weeks ago, I really started researching what I could afford vs what I really needed in a laptop, and decided I should just get the same thing as what I already have, just more modern. Nothing fancy, lower midrange capabilities, with a numeric pad, etc.
Exactly what I have now, but a newer version, was not in stock. So, I found something comparable with a bit less storage and a less attractive finish that was in stock, and I was to receive it in a few weeks since it was technically a custom order. I was notified two weeks later that it couldn’t be produced, presumably due to no stock on one of the specs, accompanied by a heartfelt apology and a 3% off coupon. Back to the website I went, and, lo and behold, the one I REALLY wanted, with better storage and features than the one they couldn’t sell me, was available and ready to ship immediately.
And thanks to your interest in my beads, I was able to make myself pull the trigger on this rather sizable, nerve-wracking investment. Now I have it, have been using it for about a month now, and everything is a breeze. Photo editing now takes a fraction of the time it once did, and I actually want to get comfy and stream a fictional thriller series and crop, resize and save for web into the wee hours.
the leatherworking subreddit makes the last person in the world who needs a new crafting interest (me) say in a delusional frenzy of inspiration “why buy and sell handbags when I can make them myself”
On to my next ponder: how many of you guys still buy things on ebay? It’s been so long, but I vaguely recall lampwork artists/sellers and buyers getting frustrated with Ebay and jumping ship for Etsy in about 2008. I still buy on ebay and sell boots, bags and fragrances when I get overwhelmed with my clutter and need to make some room, but I haven’t sold my beads there in over 15 years. Some folks still sell lampwork on ebay so I reckon the market there hasn’t completely dried up. So here is what I’m going to do: I have a handful of bead sets that did not sell over the last few years, and I think it might be fun to put them on ebay just like ye olden days… a throwback replete with 5 day auctions that start Tuesday and end Sunday evening, starting at $35 with no reserve, giving you an opportunity to get some z-beads at a lower price. I’m giving all interested parties a week to get their ebay ducks in a row before I list them for sale, so try to gather all your pertinent information with time to spare! (So rich, coming from the Grand Procrastinator Extraordinaire herself). This, of course, is not something I plan on making a regular habit of, since I think people generally find auctions less preferable to just buying something at that moment. Truth be told, I personally could use something of a break in the monotony of how I conduct my bead business, and checking the progress of my auctions will give me a nostalgic thrill. I hope you’ll be willing to humor me and help me declutter the bead box.
(see us and possibly more!)
The details: The 5 day auctions will run Tuesday September 23 through Sunday Sep 28th 2025 Starting at $35 for sets, and No Reserve! They will end at approximately 4pm Central time on Sunday September 28th Ebay seller id: z-beads If you’re interested, get your ebay ducks in a row. I will post here to remind you once they’re listed on ebay, and if you’re subscribed to this blog you’ll be the first to know!
In other news, I now have three more Brahmins… yes, I have a problem. It isn’t too bad when they’re marked way down and it coincides with extra employee discount day.
Alden Road Percy in BlueLeia in LuggageDuxbury Satchel in Multi Piaffe
The Alden Road series is a softer, more matte leather than the more common Melbourne embossed glossy crocodile, and this particular blue comes off quite a bit warmer than it appears to my eye; I see a much more cobalt leaning blue. I had been craving a somewhat more medium sized boat-drawn-by-a-six-year-old type-deal, and there it was, being blue at me every day until I finally caved.
it wasn’t enough to convince mom that she needed it, but it was enough to convince me that *I* needed it
The Leia in the Luggage color quickly became one of my favorites, it goes with a lot of things I wear, particularly my leopard doo-rag and my New Balance 327’s with the gum colored sole. The high-quality adjustable webbed strap is also a plus. As for the Multi Piaffe in the Duxbury Satchel (a smaller version of the standard Duxbury) is better in person. The store clientele kind of slept on this one, and I did too until I really looked at it. The snakeskin backdrop maintains a smooth neutrality with small floral bursts in secondary colors, but what you can’t see in the photo is the transparent iridescent snakeskin pattern overlay. This thing is brilliant. The Duxbury Satchel shape and size, and the pockets inside, offer a generous amount of room without being too bulky. Also, whatever leather was used is lighter in weight than the standard Brahmin bag, and feels somehow more like suede. I wasn’t overly thrilled with the Duxbury shape at first, in fact, the whole duxbury/snakeskin/flowers/glitter affair sort of went over my head until it all really clicked into place – coincidentally or not, on the day it got marked down to 65% off. That’s the beauty of me, I don’t even notice things until they’re in my price range.
Speaking of which, this old dayglo green polyester thing was $10 dollars (way too much on $1.29 Monday) and a second opinion was required, hence the face and the phone+mirror selfie. Much to anyone’s surprise or lack thereof, I have things I can wear with it (jump boots with green bows, first of all). So I got it, even for the jacked up price, but the clerk telling me I had a great sense of style made it slightly easier to pony up the dough. Thanks to midlife creeping in, I might not be able to stand it until the dead of February, unless I just find myself in the mood to sweat like a neon green booger.
Anyway, that’s enough for now, I do have photos to edit, and quite efficiently, I might add! Hooray! If you’ve gotten this far, thanks again for your continued interest. xo Sarah
Click here to get to my shop and see everything all at once, or on the links under each picture below. Nelson had to go to the vet TODAY for a booty-bite and there was a long line. If things are a little behind, please forgive us, we were in a parking lot praying for clouds until the 99th hour, instead of all comfy in bed like usual.
That’s everything! I hope you like them. I’m raring to go to the post office!
We’re smack in the middle of early summer, which means less time on the bead burners for the next few months. (That does not mean I would turn down a made-to-order order for something you missed out on or have been craving for a while – just ask!) I’ve gathered more gumption + supplies to give denim painting a twirl. I said I was going to do that last summer, but as it usually does, time got away from me and I think I’ve been a little nervous about it. I just need to do it and not overthink it. If anything good comes out of it, I’ll show it off here. Thanks for stopping by and having a gander! xo Sarah
what: new beads will be in the shop! when: Monday June 30th 2025 2PM Pacific Time 3PM Mountain Time 4PM Central Time 5PM Eastern Time where: my online shop (zbeads.bigcartel.com) who: new ideas and long time favorite colorways in velvety Goofballs, tabs, hollows, smooches, etc!
(By the way, there may have been a small miscomminication regarding the jewelry in my last entry – I had not intended to add any of those to my shop, I was just showing off and making conversation because I don’t do enough of that here any more. I apologize for the confusion. It’s just the beads this time!)
This is just an early reminder. All blog subscribers will get another notification when the new beads are available. See you Monday! xo Sarah
First things first… as usual, I’m scampering in here breathless after a few months of silence to let you know a z-beads shop update is coming up soon. Very soon! Here’s the plan:
what: new beads will be in the shop! when: Monday June 30th 2025 2PM Pacific Time 3PM Mountain Time 4PM Central Time 5PM Eastern Time where: my online shop (zbeads.bigcartel.com) who: new ideas and long time favorite colorways in velvety Goofballs, tabs, hollows, smooches, etc!
come see us next monday!
In other news, I’ve been working on a few jewelry projects…
Atomic Lilypad
Shimmer Spike detail
You probably remember these beads, they had been in my shop for longer than I care to admit with no takers. I personally thought they were pretty great, so I decided to make something with them. I made a coordinating barrel and a Shimmer Spike and combined them with turquoise, coral, japanese picasso seed beads and what I guess is probably lemon quartz with a couple of deep vermillion glass shards.
Most of you know how much I love pearls. I have a favorite black pearl necklace that I’ve had to restring twice in the last 10 years because I wear it almost every day. They’re not mikimotos or anything, but they seemed to be of better quality than the other $5 strands they were bunched up with when I bought them. I even asked the guy and he assured me it was the correct price. I do love me some cheap bead show pearls in just the right color and shape, and I string them with the traditional silk knotting technique. Every now and then, I will combine them with other stones for a little extra something special, as seen above, and the two bracelets are strung onto memory wire – the dark blue one is a long continuous wrap with square czech montana blue rhinestone rondells, and the deep taupe one is a vintage style cuff combined with separator bars and czech purple iris faceted rondells.
Floopy Flowers in sunshine and grey + giant 25mm lucite mellow yellow beads + light smoky quartz rondells. These enormous lucite beads were on a crappy chain I found at a thrift store for $3. This yellow doesn’t photograph well, it leans slightly more grey poupon than that intense sunny yellow I’m seeing on my screen. Sorry Mom, I had to keep these, this shade of yellow looks great with grey and hopefully those Frye Banana Campus boots my sister loaned me. Now I just need a scarf this shade of yellow so that I won’t be all yellow up top and down bottom and all grey in the middle.
Dumpster Diamonds
detail
Gutter Gold
detail
I had been planning both of these bead crochet pieces for literally 7 years until I just finally made myself. The center knot turned out looking even better than I had hoped. These are definitely chokers, but surprisingly comfy, and look great with something a bit more delicate underneath, like small pearls or a pendant on a beaded chain. The Dumpster Diamonds combines Japanese seed beads in clear with a rainbow/AB finish or a lining that seems cream rather than white, with very sparkly faceted labradorite rounds that stick out here and there. Gutter Gold combines a very rainbow’y rootbeer Japanese seed bead with gold hematite rondells in the same pattern. Both are finished with interesting vintage glass buttons. I’d be modeling these for you but I just can’t with the makeup and hair today…
If you’ve wondered lately what to do with the Shimmer Spike Trios I so love to make, here’s a gander. I had been wearing both of these spikes-on-a-sterling-keyring situations on a ball chain until just a couple of months ago. The blue/purple/black trio includes a little Alicia Abla headlight charm, strung with Thai silver and lapis rounds. The red/aubergine trio has a little PMC skully charm made my Melissa Lee, and strung up with Thai silver, rubies I found at TJ Maxx of all places + what was sold to me as raspberry quartz eons ago. I thought I’d be more likely to wear both of these if they were strung up into a proper piece of jewelry. We’ll see what happens.
As promised quite some time ago, I want to finally tell you about my Brahmins! At my day job, I have been working with Michael Kors, Coach, Kurt Geiger and Kate Spade bags along with pre-owned Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Prada and the occasional Dior… but none of them have captured my heart like Brahmin handbags. I hadn’t even heard of or noticed Brahmin until I started working around them. At first I wasn’t sure what to think of the designs or colors or who these bags were even for until I had the chance to sell them. The majority of the people who buy these bags have an independent, self-determined style, and most of them have been collecting Brahmin for many years and have a remarkable trove of textures, colors, finishes and shapes that have not only held their value quite well, but may have increased in value with diminished availability. Yes, they are leather, they are stiff, heavy and luxurious, and as pricey as some of them are, they’re surprisingly inexpensive for their quality, artistic design and workmanship. Each one is unique: say you have more than one Brahmin Cami in a certain color – they will be slightly different from one another, sometimes the eye being slightly different or in a different position on the bag, or in a few cases, completely absent, and some collectors are quite picky about this. We haven’t even discussed the storage features inside these bags, which are efficient and generally quite spacious and the lining is smooth nylon, which is easy to clean and items slip in and out with ease. (Can you tell I’ve been spending enough time with handbags to compare their pros and cons? I have a Hammitt, which I love, but the lining is a thin faux suede and it sort of clings to everything in there, and I would have much preferred nylon.) The hardware is also quite nice, it’s gold but not too yellow, or too big or bulky. Occasionally the hardware will be offered in silver as well as gold for the same style. I’ve seen Brahmins get some hate on the interwebs, and I’m sure they’re not for everyone, but their artistry and cohones must be acknowledged. If you are fine with your handbag entering a room before you do, check them out. Look on ebay for the most expensive ones and you’ll see some crazy stuff. Keep in mind, photos do them no favors, you gotta see these things in person for the full effect. I have collected two, and I can see myself ending up with a few more thanks to markdowns combined with my employee discounts.
The Brahmin Small Finley
the other side
details!
more details!
THE EYE!
The Brahmin Small Finley in Chrome Azurine Melbourne… this is my first and my favorite. Goodness gracious, I love this thing, every time I look at it I fall more in love with it. Look at that detail: the chrome washing over the ivory with contrasting black valleys in the crocodile embossed leather (not actual crocodile), and the coordinating snakeskin (also not actual snakeskin) piping around the black trapunto edging. It’s a work of art. On employee day I was about to buy a neon rainbow leather Kurt Geiger, but the night before I had an epiphany. I remembered this Finley sitting on the bottom shelf of the 65% off table and decided I would try it on first thing. I felt like it might be almost too big, but it was so fantastic I just didn’t care and it held all my purse junk with room for some more so I went for it. Instead of the somewhat thin adjustable crossbody strap that was included, I opted for my more comfy wide Antonio Melani nylon webbed silver leopard strap. So now we have three different critters!
The Brahmin Hallie in Heavenly Blue Melbourne
details
more details
The Brahmin Hallie (regular size, not small) in Heavenly Blue Melbourne… it’s my homage to Grandma Moran. It’s so very New York to me somehow, and she definitely would have worn this, but more likely in black. A customer came in wearing this exact bag, and I loved how it looked in action so much that I had to have one. It has a decadently classic shape, ever so slightly trapezoidal, with that luxurious embossed crocodile leather and outlandish color. It’s a true blue somewhere between periwinkle and sky, only the slightest bit pearlescent, perfect to coordinate with just about any shade of blue jeans. The buckle is purely decorative, there are magnets under the flap. The only drawback is that if it’s stuffed just a slight bit too full the magnets under the flap don’t easily connect all the way, and the only problem with that is that the handle is attached to the top of the flap. I wish the crossbody could be attached to the sides rather than the cover because then the clasping wouldn’t matter so much if it wasn’t all the way closed. I suspect that isn’t the case thanks to the accordion style sides. The upside of this bag is that it’s very comfortable to wear crossbody, especially with my own collection of straps, such as this webbed nylon black/white/silver tiger(?) strap.
The Brahmin Cami in Lemon Drop
details
the back side
The Brahmin Cami in Lemon Drop… be still my heart. When these came in shipment to the store I just about fainted from excitement. This is Mom’s current favorite color – she has collected as many scarves, socks, pants, t-shirts, sweaters and other handbags in this shade of mellow yellow as will fit in her closet. And this shape/size is so her, it’s not too big or small, in a nice, classic almost square shape. I treated her to a similarly shaped magenta Betsy Johnson Eiffel Tower small square rigid tote thing for Mother’s Day last year, and while she loves it, it doesn’t zip. This one does! I told her all about it, I even took her to the store to show her, and of course she liked it, but she felt like the price was too luxurious. Fast forward a couple of months, this one had been marked down to 40% off just one day before employee double discount day, which yielded an additional 45% off and was undoubtedly meant to be. I called her from work, which is rare, to say “Mom! We can’t sit on our butts! We have to get it for you! We will never find this bag for this price again! It’s my treat! If you hate it, I’ll take it!” It took a bit of convincing, but she finally acquiesced. I took it to her, she put her things in it, and she seemed okay with it. A month plus later, I don’t even have to ask her, she just tells me every time we’re out with it how much she loves it. Get it into the sun and it glows. It’s that deep sunshine yellow that you see in the stock photos, but it has a pearly dayglo yellow luminescense all over that you can only see in person. It’s just beautiful. When I can get good in-person shots of it, I will replace the stock photos with those.
Well! That barely covers it but it’s all I’ve got time for. I’d better get to writing descriptions and building listings. Blog subscribers will get another email notification hopefully a couple of days before, but at the very least, you will get a notification once the beads are ready to peruse in my shop. Thank you for your continued interest in my work, I hope to see you next Monday!
That’s everything! I got it all done with only a moment to spare. I hope you like everything! I truly meant to have more light chitchat for you before today, like some of the new jewelries I’ve made and my recent Brahmin handbag obsession, but that will have to wait… you’re here for THE BEADS and that’s ok! By the way, if nobody nabs the Atomic Lilypads over the next couple of days, I’m keeping them. If you need them, don’t let that deter you because I’d rather release them into the wild. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate! Most of you know how to get a hold of me, but feel free to use the contact form in my shop, those seem to reach me efficiently. Thanks so much for having a look, and thank you for your interest! xo Sarah
these were fashionably late for the group photo, but still on time for the big party
Yes! It’s still happening tomorrow (Monday March 31, 2025) @ 2PM Pacific Time 3PM Mountain Time 4PM Central Time 5PM Eastern Time In my online shop @zbeads.bigcartel.com
You’ll hear from me again once everything is ready! I will see you tomorrow! xo Sarah
the z-beads blog