The Bead Crawl

(aptly named…) 

Our first stop was a familiar haunt, Tinsel Trading.  Full of bits and bobs, artfully arranged and presented, we soon got into the groove!

Had I not already got more than my fair share of heavy books and magazines in my suitcase, this beautifully photographed book would have found its way home with me.

Leaving it in place, we crossed 37th St to our next port of call, York Beads.

This was interesting.  I must have walked up and down this street many times, been into Tinsel Trading and walked straight past this incredible bead shop.

Not any more.  A great stock of all kinds of interesting beads at very reasonable prices.  Good place!

Back across the road was City Beads, another treasure trove of all kinds of Delicas, seed beads and crystals.  Surely, I couldn’t have walked past this shop front without noticing it?  Perhaps these stores have all spruced up their shop windows recently, to attract more attention?

Final store along 37th was Margola, where there was a fine selection of cut stones alongside the cheapest seed beads I’ve seen, in every colour imaginable.

Thank you, Bad Cat Designs for a few more additions to my NYC address book!

Our next stop was an old favourite, Toho beads on 6th Avenue.  I had bought a cheapish pendant which had a few “diamonds” in the design.  As soon as I wore it, a couple dropped out, so I was in search of replacements.  The assistants in Toho are excellent and sure enough, I left with exactly what I was looking for.

Hoping that this lady, dressed as a Hershey’s Kiss wasn’t being abducted by the two gentlemen marching her across 7th Avenue, we left the bead stores behind and headed for Mood.  Never an easy place to find, because it doesn’t have a shop front, we joined a crowd of fashionable types and waited for the cranky metal lift to take us to the 3rd floor heaven.

Busy as always, what we were looking for was right in front of us. 

But oh my goodness, there was so much more…

and more.  Rows and rows of rolls of fabric like this, every colour, fibre imaginable.  We bought what we needed and worked our weary way back to the hotel.

We had dinner to look forward to!