Lucite/Plastic Beads

This is just some free writing about lucite. I was racking my brain to come up with something to write about to update. I thought, well what the heck, I'll ramble about lucite! I was never a fan of plastic beads until recently. Lucite is so pretty! I have some lucite beads that look like they could be gemstones! The blue ones remind me of sodalite. I have seen a lot of flower type lucite beads and whatnot lately on both Etsy and eBay and they seem to be very popular. I have to clue as to what to do with the large fancy ones that can be stacked on top of other flowers. I look at them and think..."huh"? You gotta be kidding... I have stumbled across some really cute plastic charms, like cats, hearts and even some cute striped round beads that I may consider buying. I made some basic heart earrings for Valentine's Day and added white pearls to them for extra color and have them listed on Etsy as seen in the Etsy mini over there>>>>>>>>.

I made another pair of earrings and a necklace from the same hearts and hoping to sell them at upcoming shows.

I also learned an interesting tidbit about Lucite beads. Apparently they are cut from a huge mold and aren't pressed, so they don't have a seam.

Bakelite was used for beads around the 1920's and became obsolete after WW2. I am sure these are highly collectable and pricey. I wouldn't know the difference between Bakelite and Lucite. Maybe I will do some more research when I am bored on a Saturday afternoon...

I tried to find some info today, but most of what I found on the net was for shops that carried lucite beads. Didn't help much. Drat.

By the way I have some lucite available in my supply shop BeadsOutWest!

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=38436&section_id=5185387

Editing to add a nice tidbit about Bakelite from http://Beads2string.etsy.com:

Bakelite is a plastic which was made around the time they were making things out of a plastic called catilin. It was used for a variety of things from jewelry to utensils and handles on dressers and appliances. It is very collectible. To tell if something is made of bakelite you can rub your thumb against it and you will smell a certain chemical smell.

Awesome! Thanks so much.