Semi Precious Bead Salon

Today Francis and I went to Santa Monica for a nice summer Saturday. The weather was beautiful! Sunny, warm, nice breeze. My Dad gave me a gift certificate to a place in Santa Monica for Christmas and I've finally had the chance to go down there. Well..I've had the chance, but, wanted to make a day of it. It takes at least 30 minutes to get there from where I live with traffic, and today's traffic was horrendous. I seriously hope people who were born and raised in Los Angeles know that this stuff is not normal.

Semi Precious Bead Salon (http://www.semipreciousbeadsalon.com/) is a cute little shop on Montana Avenue in Santa Monica, about five minutes from the beach and Santa Monica Pier. (Again, or 20 minutes with traffic.) It's not a huge space but it's got a great window in the front, currently with photos set up of photographer Gisele Lubsen (http://www.giselelubsen.com/). Lubsen specializes in Conceptual Underwater photography which is incredible and groundbreaking. The photos up in the shop are themed with shots of legends and fairytales, for example, Snow White and Red Riding Hood. Beautiful.

On the tables in the shop are bowls filled with different stones, all organized by color themes. The store has some premade jewelry that you can purchase, but the main idea is to design your own. They have scheduled classes on the art of wire-wrapping jewelry and beading on Saturdays. In addition to the beads and stones, they have different chains to choose from for your jewelry. I would love to go back and have a ring made, but while I was there I designed two necklaces, that I LOVE. One setback, it's quite pricy. Thanks to my dad, I could let my creative juices flow without worrying too much about prices! :D And thanks to the associates at the shop, since I don't know how to make jewelry, they are there to put them together the way you want it. I love them! Quality-wise, the jewelry you walk out with is comparable to anything you'd spend a lot of money on in a boutique or in Nordstrom's.
This place is definitely worth checking out! I feel like a genuine jewelry designer. It's similar to a post-Color Me Mine or Build-A-Bear feeling. Thanks Dad!