Sleeping with beads

So  I have accumulated beads and equipment over the past 3 days. And made friends with 2 bead shop owners. And here is what I learned. Copying this antique lamp is one of my ambitious desires.
I found that the only contemporary beads that are exactly the same as antique ones are the little seed beads.

To copy the long beads, my stores only had them in silver tube or bigger bone. I also looked on ebay. My clever owner at Taos Beads suggested cutting coffee stirrers. Apparently they are hollow and come in different colors. So tomorrow out for coffee.

After I assembled one strand (the longest example) it was clearly the wrong scale for my dollhouse, even though the beads closely approximate the antique ones.

                                     
                             Hence the workshop on the bed.

                 I found these pieces at the bead store and made this.

And here is the cruel example that set me off on this phase. From
                                        Belle Epoch site.

My version.

Another piece of advice... don't put on hand cream before starting.

So I may have been absent for months but I am on a roll. 
 (oh my, I meant to blog this on http://Myrealitty.blogspot.com but this is good because you can go over there and hear how I moved to Taos, New Mexico. Can I still call myself "Leftcoastmini"? Do I have to become "Cactus Mini Casas"?

Cheers, CM