There's a new bead store in town — The Beading Heart of Santa Fe, owned by Barbara Butcher, is in the Solana shopping center, 939 W. Alameda St.

It's in the same location previously occupied by another bead store, Beauty and the Beads.

The former owner of the store moved to California, Butcher said, adding that she relocated to Santa Fe from the Golden State.

Butcher is a physical therapist who has been beading for years. This is her first store.

Before moving into the store, Butcher and her store manger, Gabrielle Thornton, renovated the space, building display cases themselves and putting in a "husband area," with two chairs, reading material and a reading light.

"It's very funny," Butcher said of the nook for husbands. "Men walk right to the chairs for them. ... They're far enough from the cash register so husbands don't know how much their wives are spending."

The store also includes a community table in the back where shoppers can practice beading and which serves as the center of beading classes that meet in the store on Wednesday and Friday and, coming soon, at night.

A two-hour class will cost $10 and will feature "a lot of beading techniques," Butcher said. "We feel if we offer classes and people like the atmosphere, they will come back."

Butcher said she enlarged her inventory with a recent buying trip to Tucson's big gem and jewelry fair, the largest in the country.

Store hours are 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

For more information, call 988-8961.


The 15th annual Santa Fe Pen Fair, presented by Santa Fe Pens, is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, March 13, and noon to 5 p.m Sunday, March 14, at Sanbusco Market Center, 500 Montezuma Ave.

The event promises to bring together pen aficionados and the state's largest selection of pen manufacturers' reps with the latest in fine-writing instruments and writing accessories, said Neal Frank, co-owner of the business with his wife, Violet Frank.

Available at this year's event is the premier of the Santa Fe Edition XII line of fountain and roller ball pens.

The show is also appreciated for its large grouping of fine writing manufacturers, including Aurora, Bexley, Caran D'Ache and others, Neal Frank said.

For more information, contact Santa Fe Pens at 989-4742, or visit the store's Web site at www.santafepens.com.