NEW BEGINNINGS, A CORNER TURNED

I AM A CRAZY BEAD LADY. I HAVE BEEN THIS WAY FOR MOST OF MY LIFE. I LOVE GLASS BEADS THE COLOURS, THE DEPTH, THE VARIATIONS. IT BEGAN SMALL LIKE MOST THINGS, I WOULD SEE ONE INTERESTING BEAD IN A SHOP OR FLEA MARKET OR YARD SALE AND I WOULD BUY IT. SLOWLY MY HOARD GREW. AT FIRST I DID NOT WEAR THE BEADS OR CREATE WITH THEM BUT MY NATURAL CREATIVITY BEGAN TO ASSERT ITSELF GRADUALLY. BY MY LATE TEENS IT WAS ALREADY AN OBSESSION.. I WOULD GO INTO A BEAD SHOP AND MY HEART WOULD LEAP WITH JOY. FOR ME IT WAS LIKE PIRATE TREASURE AND I WAS THE DRAGON COLLECTING THE HOARD SO i COULD GUARD IT AND SURROUND MYSELF WITH IT. i WAS FORTUNATE TO HAVE A VERY CLOSE FRIEND WHO LIVED IN HAMILTON ONTARIO AND THERE WAS A WHOLE STREET ALMOST COMPLETELY DEVOTED TO BEAD STORES. IT WAS INTERMIXED WITH FABRIC STORES WHICH WERE ALSO VERY INTRIGUING BUT NEVER HAVING LEARNED TO SEW I DODGED THAT BULLET. SOMETIMES I WOULD BUY BEADS AND IMMEDIATELY BE INSPIRED TO CREATE SOMETHING WITH THEM, OTHER TIMES I WOULD HAVE THE BEADS FOR YEARS BEFORE I KNEW WHAT THEY WERE MEANT FOR. I CREATED A WORK SPACE IN MY LAUNDRY ROOM TO CREATE AND STORE MY TREASURES BUT SOON FOUND THAT IT WAS NOT ENOUGH ROOM FOR IT ALL AND MY OBSESSION WAS TAKING OVER. I STARTED TAKING ITEMS TO FARMERS MARKETS AND CRAFT SHOWS WITH MIXED RESULTS., THE WEATHER AND SMALL OBJECTS AND TENTS WERE NOT ALWAYS A GOOD COMBINATION AND MORE THAN ONCE MY DISPLAYS BLEW AWAY INTO PUDDLES OR BROKE ON THE GROUND. CHURCH BAZAARS AND OTHER INDOOR EVENTS VARIED IN THEIR SUCCESS DEPENDING ON THE TIME OF YEAR AND WEATHER THEY HAD BEEN WELL PLANNED AND ADVERTISED. I EXPERIMENTED WITH ETSY AND EBAY WITH LUKEWARM RESULTS AND FINALLY TOOK THE PLUNGE AND OPENED A SMAL RETAIL OUTLET IN THE TOWN OF MIDLAND ONTARIO.. I WORKED HARD FOR 2 1/2 YEARS NEVER TAKING A WAGE AND EVERYTHING I MADE WENT BACK INTO THE BUSINESS IN THE FORM OF RENT OR ORDERING SUPPLIES. I FINALLY HAD TO ACCEPT THE REALITY THAT THE TOWN WAS SIMPLY TOO SMALL TO SUPPORT THE SHOP. I DID VERY WELL IN THE SUMMER BECAUSE OUR TOWN IS GORGEOUS AND ATTRACTS PLENTY OF TOURISTS, BUT IN THE WINTER IT WAS A GHOST TOWN.. I MADE THE VERY DIFFICULT DECISION TO CLOSE THE PHYSICAL SHOP AND INSTEAD CONCENTRATE ON ONLINE SALES AND SOME FARMERS MARKETS AND SUCH IN THE MORE REWARDING SUMMER SEASON. SO HERE I AM TODAY STRUGGLING TO DESIGN MY VERY OWN WEBSITE USING WIX. I WOULD APPRECIATE ANY HELPFUL FEEDBACK ON THE SITE AS I AM A COMPLETE BEGINNER. LOOK FOR FUTURE POSTS ON MY PROGRESS AND I PLAN A SERIES ON SOME OF THE VERY INTERSTING AND UNIQUE BEADS THAT CAN BE FOUND OUT THERE.I ALSO PLAN TO ADD SOME SHORT VIDEO ON BASIC BEADING TECHNIQUES THAT I HOPE PEOPLE STARTING OUT WILL FIND USEFUL.