As I mentioned before it’s really difficult to get any real variety of jewelry making materials in Costa Rica. So of course I was super excited this week to go downtown LA and check out what used to be some of my favorite places for finding goodies.
I must say, downtown has changed so much. I felt a little like a stranger on the streets that used to be my own neighborhood. I used to feel like I belonged here, but now that I live in such a small town, with a slow beach vibe, it’s not the same. I know it’s not only that LA has changed, but I have changed – we’ve both moved in opposite directions. It’s gotten faster and busier, and I’ve slowed down.
That didn’t stop me from enjoying my supply run! Sadly though, I was a little disappointed at the selection I found. I thought there would be better deals on quartz and amethyst and that I’d find some interesting focal beads to incorporate. But I wasn’t successful. I did, however, get to go to my favorite leather shop.
This place is right smack downtown on Maple and 9th and he’s got an amazing selection of leather and accessory hardware. Normally he’s got a ton of boxes filled with scraps of all different colors and textures. One man’s trash is another woman’s treasure!!
This time he had lots of black (which I have tons of still) and just a bit of colored/textured scrap. He offered to cut up some of the huge skins, but the pricing is a lot higher than his pricing for scraps – so I had him cut me off a 12×12 piece some gorgeous red and a piece of marbled turquoise. I also found a few bits of other stuff in the boxes. You never know what he’s going to charge for the pile you pick. Luckily he was being generous the day I went and I got all of the following for $20. I wish there had been more of what I was looking for!
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