Anyone can dress up a drab handbag or make a pretty necklace with beads from All About Beads & Crystals, a new store that also offers classes.
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By Marcia Freidenreich
Special to the Herald
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A chance meeting at a Christmas party in 2004 led to the opening of a new bead and crystal store in Pembroke Pines.
Acquaintances Karen Neice of Southwest Ranches and Jennifer Morgan of Pembroke Pines struck up a conversation about how they both love beading and how they each planned to open a store.
"It was funny. We both at the same time said we wanted to open a bead store, and we both told each other, 'Well, don't open in my area!' So we just decided to open one store together, " said Morgan, a beader for two years.
Neice first flirted with beading in high school in the 1970's.
A few years ago she took up the craft again, but with more ambition and new ideas.
She became addicted to collecting beads and amasses so many, her husband advised her to open a shop. Neice will wake up in the wee hours of the morning with a beading design in her head and she'll jump up to draw it or start beading before she forgets her inspiration.
"Beaders are an elite group," Neice said. "They really get into what they do."
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Now that
All About Beads & Crystals
opened in far western Pembroke Pines, people won't have to travel as far to get the beads they want to make their own jewelry. The store carries a full line of Swarovski crystal beads, flat-back rhinestones in all colors and sizes, seed beads, hand-made intricate lamp-work beads made by bead artists, glass Czech beads, strands of semi-precious gemstone beads such as amethyst, turquoise, quartz and jade, beads made of pearl and vintage beads.
The store also carries beading accessories, such as watch straps, chokers, artistic wire in different colors, thin leather straps for necklaces and bracelets, cellphone charm holders and gold-filled or sterling silver chains.
The store sells ready-made jewelry, including beaded necklaces and bracelets, sterling silver charms and glass pendants in heart and other shapes, fired in a kiln, which feature one-of-a-kind designs made from layers of intensely colored glass.
The store has a softly lit wooden beading bar with grooves to hold loose beads. It's where customers can relax with a cup of tea or glass of wine while they work.
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The store lends its tools to customers for free. The shop also provides classes ($15 each) in beading and rhinestones.
"We want people to come and enjoy beading. It has a calming effect," Morgan said. "We also have birthday parties and bridal parties, where the bride and bridal party can make their own matching jewelrty for the wedding. We want people to know you can bead or rhinestone anything."
The store sell flip-flops that people can embellish with rhinestones. Neice suggests that before anyone attempts such a project, they take a rhinestoning class first. Want a prettier cellphone? The class teaches how to attach a rhinestone design.
The store picks a different charity every month and donates a percentage of its profits for items related to the cause, such as products featuring pink ribbon designs for breast cancer awareness.
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