craftgrrl | "It's on the bracelet on your ankle." (Reply)

my craftiness seems to be seasonal -- i spent most of last fall/winter crocheting kittyhats and matching scarves and selling them around town. now that the weather's warmed a bit, i've transitioned over to wire crochet and experimented some with wire and bead jewelry-making.

i'm in search of:

1. opinions my pieces -- what you like, what you don't, how you'd improve them. i know there's only two pictures below, but if you're interested in seeing more, i'll post them. i don't want to bombard people with massive pictures of things they'd rather just scroll past.

2. i'm in search of a not-insanely-expensive supplier of large-ish glass beads, like the ones in the photo below. when i'm putting upwards of 300 large glass beads in a necklace or choker, i can't really afford to be paying $.30-$.50/bead (that's almost $100 in beads alone, not to mention charging for labor and such.)

3. also looking for something bead-like to use as a clasp. i happened to have the oblong bead below on hand to use as a toggle for this bracelet, but don't have any more to use in the future, and the tieing of the ends really wasn't as clean as i'd've liked it to have been.

4. sources for more wire crochet patterns. i make some nice pieces now, but i'd like to work on something more complex, and lack idears. creative bits, please!

also, how much would you pay for the pieces below? i have an inkling of what i'd like to charge, but some seem more "boutique-priced" than everyday-selling prices.