Shipwreck Beads!

Okay, so I took a grand roadtrip to Shipwreck Beads in Lacey, WA yesterday (about 83 miles south of my home in Everett!) with my good friend Chivahn of Toxic Heart Couture and her hilarious friend Rue of Dreadful Designs. This place is nothing short of awe-inspiring, and totally worth the insane drive. It boasts the largest collection of beads in the world and has a grand total of 33 aisles split in two, two rooms off to the sides, and it has its own little cafeteria! First off, the sidewalk outside is paved with beads. What?! When you first walk inside, it appears to go back forever. Literally! At the bottom of this collage, you can see a sampling of some hilarious food and beer beads I found. They have everything!

(And please forgive my awful photography skills!)

Here we have some shots of our fabulous treasure piles. If you're expecting to leave with a haul (and why wouldn't you?!), they supply you with a cart, bead trays, a little tree thing to hang your strands from (the post facing the camera is full of my strands, you can tell by all the turquoise...) and a pile of slips of paper to write down item numbers of loose pieces. So amazing. The bottom is a shot of some little loose charms I grabbed up! Sewing machines, lightning bolts and swords, among other things! SO AWESOME!!!

I'm really hoping to make this a regular thing. As if going shopping in the world's largest bead store isn't badass enough in and of itself, it's just good for me to get out and socialize with friends every once in a while :D That REALLY doesn't happen very often! And next time I'm taking a LOT more money!

On a side note, a winner was picked for the cherry blossom necklace! Jenna of Jacksonville, Florida! YAY! She'll be receiving her prize very soon! <3

Until next time!
xoxo, Bre