I Bought A Bead Shop!!

Poppyfield Bead Company, my long time seed bead source was closing. Margo Field, the owner, and a master seed bead artist, was ready to retire. On Wednesday, she sent out a one sentence announcement, and within minutes I was at the shop offering to buy it.

I live in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Eleven months a year, it is the bead capital of the United States (except February when Tuscon enjoys that distinction). We have Rio Grande Jewelry Supply, Thunderbird Jewelry Supply, Indian Jewelry Supply, Thomason Stone Company, Bead and Fetish, and at least 2 other retail shops, which cater to the individual. There are a slew of wholesale shops selling in bulk to the trade. But no shop offers Poppyfield's extensive supply of seed beads. When I sat at Margo's counter on Wednesday, the phone rang off the hook with desperate callers. Yesterday we agreed on terms and shook hands. Margo turned her closing sale into a one day celebration sale. I started receiving emails thanking me for "saving Poppyfield" and pleas to keep up the seed bead supply.

In my 48 hour whirlwind research of bead shops nationwide, I discovered a trend...bead shops are closing, and have been since 2007. Internet sales at low prices have seriously undermined the viability of local bead shops. The economy has hurt stores that have not managed their risk well. Still I feel confident about my venture and here's why:

Margo's mission is my vision: Offer the best supply of seed beads and delicas. These particular bead prices remain competitive in local shops because buying bulk bags allows owners to offer better price points than one could ever find on the internet. Individuals are not going to order bulk bags of seeds. Projects usually require 5 -10 grams of a color. Bulk bags come in 100-500 grams. The best bead stash is the most varied stash. Only a shop can manage both bulk quantity and extensive variety. Of equal importance is that nothing compares to being able to stand in front of a vast array of beads of myriad colors, finishes, cuts and textures, and pick and choose the "just right" combination for the bead weaver's dream design. Seed bead projects are extremely time consuming. The ability to start with the choice beads makes it a pleasurable labor of love. Having the selection at your fingertips is key. Poppyfield has always offered that.

In addition, Margo and Bobbie Yoakum, her assistant in the shop, have offered the highest quality classes and wonderful customer service. Both are avid beaders and teachers, as am I. I've taught at Poppyfield in the past, and it has been a blast. Margo will continue to teach intermediate and advanced level classes. I will also offer basic beading classes and some of my more advanced designs as well.

I really look forward to helping new beaders get comfortable with technique and materials. For the uninitiated, it can be tempting, but overwhelming. Just as in the past, there will always be a bead artist at the shop to assist customers with bead selection. Thats the fun part for me. Helping others enjoy what these tiny points of color and light have to offer.

Because Margo has filled this very specialized and unique niche for so many years she's got a very loyal customer base that knows how to find the shop at 2531 Jefferson St. NE. It is centrally located, but on a quiet street (click here for map). For now, Poppyfield will stay nestled where it is. Margo will close on Thanksgiving weekend for inventory. I will re-open on Monday, December 6th. Classes will resume in January. Bobbie has other commitments, but has offered to stay during December.

To my local beading community, I say come by in December and say hello, and tell me what you'd like to see at Poppyfield. I am already ordering inventory to have at the shop. Feel free to leave a comment here. Introduce yourself, tell me what's important to you and what your wishes are. I will continue to update you via my blog. For those reading from afar...tune in to follow my journey.

Follow Your Heart

Sandia Mountains, Albuquerque, New Mexico

The last weekend in September I will be selling my jewelry in an outdoor show for the first time. The Northern New Mexico Arts and Crafts Guild has 3 shows a year in Cathedral Park in Santa Fe. Recently, I went to scope out the show, in preparation for my show in September. It is a sweet fair, not at all overwhelming, with 35 booths of very high quality art and craft. I walked the fair, examining the set-ups for ideas, meeting the artists,and introducing myself. I met another seed bead artist, Elaine Sutton, who does fabulous bead embroidery collars. We talked for quite awhile.

The next morning I woke with a start. I remembered something my mom told me when I was hating junior high school. I grew up in a town on the east coast where I felt i just did not belong. I hated living there and felt like a misfit and also "unsafe" in some way. I remember my mom telling me that I would find my place in life and that I didn't have to live there forever. She mentioned some friends whose daughter had moved away to New Mexico to make jewelry as an example. That seemed far-fetched, exotic, adventurous, and mind-blowing. It didn't really help me figure out how to live day by day. But it did give me a sense that I could explore the world and find my own place. Something I've been doing ever since I left that town. I never did meet the girl who moved away to make jewelry.

I was interested in art but never pursued it seriously. I thought I should do something brainy and prestigious and I became a doctor. After medical school, when I was contemplating where to train in my speciality, pediatrics, I remembered that girl who moved to New Mexico and applied for a residency position at the University of New Mexico program. It was strange because I had never been to the state. But, the exotic idea was planted in my head 18 years before by the notion of this girl from my town who followed her heart and found happiness far away. When I interviewed in Albuquerque I saw the full moon rise over over the pink Sandia Mountains and find its place in the indigo sky. That was it. I have been living in New Mexico ever since - 15 years. It is only this past year that I have stopped practicing medicine to give my creative life a chance to blossom.

It seems while I was sleeping, my brain put this together with a face I saw at the fair. One of the artists makes beautiful "modern botanical" silver jewelry. We spoke a bit. That next morning, it was her face that I saw when I woke with a start. I rummaged through the cards I had collected at the fair, and there was hers. I sent her an email, asking if perhaps she could be the girl my mom had told me about. It was a shot in the dark. I got a reply and guess what? She is, in fact, the girl from my town, the daughter of someone my mother knew 20 years ago, whom we'd never met, who followed her heart, moved 2000 miles away, and makes jewelry in New Mexico. She is the girl, who just the notion of her, influenced my life, in ways neither of us knew.

Cheers to us (all of us), to self -exploration, to following our hearts, and to the wonderful ways we help others, by just having the courage to be true to ourselves.