Mountain Beadworks

I clicked «5 stars» because this lovely shop, its owner and sales assistant, are simply marvelous. I love bead stores but rarely go in because I don’t have a good «eye» to put things together. And, until I went to Mountain Beadworks, I couldn’t find salespeople willing to help me. I understood the problem because, with the narrowest of profit margins, most owners-​salespeople don’t want to spend time with someone who is going to purchase only a few, small items. But what a difference I found in Mountain Beadworks! I was visiting from upper western Washington and my friend thought I might like to see Julian. On the way she suggested a quick stop to check-​out this bead store. Well. .. our «quick stop» turned into a fun-​filled afternoon. First of all, we were greeted (if three dogs who barely look up can be called a greeting) by the «watching» dogs — two sweet golden Retrievers and a black Lab who was a former guide dog. For someone who loves dogs, this was already a great start. Then, I explained my problem to the sales assistant, Emily — that I can only wear a very particular type of earring and I never find them anymore. Both the owner, Patricia, and Emily, spent hours helping me to find the various types of stones that would work for me. The owner even (and I thought very graciously) let me select stones from pre-​made strands that she offered to pull apart. She put each set of beads into earrings for me as I waited and I came back home with a bonanza of earrings — thrilled with my «finds.» A big THANK YOU to Mountain Beadworks for their extensive selection of stones and, most of all, for their kindness and helpfulness to someone they were unlikely to ever see again (although, now that I think about it, if I drove straight through, stopping only for gas, I could do it in two days. .. and I may need more special earrings now that I’ve found «The Source for All Things Beautiful.»)

So, I went to this beadshop July 5^th 2013… I was doing a show near town and decided to check the place out while on an outing… Greeted by the most awesome retriever at the door (good thing) bad things were: Limited selection, overpriced beads identical to ones found in LA for half the cost… and passive aggressive owner (older brunette) that tried to get over on me… She told me beads were 20 percent off today but yesterday they were 30 percent off (I thought why even say that if u weren’t offering the greater discount) anyway there was a string of overpriced crystals quarts beads for 65 dollars … I told her I needed only half of what she was offering and she said ok cut it and after turning her back to ring them up she softly says «I’m only giving u ten percent because ur buying a half strand» I reluctantly said ok… She then said since there was an odd number of beads on the strand she would charge me for the extra one… Again I said ok… She then rung up a price gave me the beads in a bag and then replied «I rang that up wrong and decided to up charge the price almost nine dollars more … At this point I was exhausted with her greed and told her forget it… She replied but I’ve already cut the strand… I replied simply «So…» Mind u my aunt bought 42 dollars worth of goods in this store !!! Un real service… And not in a good way…

AWESOME bead store. Right outside Julian. Yes they have dogs, really that’s a problem. Solution for me because hubby and son get to play with the dogs while I shop. WIN WIN!!! She has an amazing variety of beads and other items. Shop owner showed me how to make a bracelet on site! LOVE IT!!! She has many classes available and can cater classes to you upon request. This is a bead paradise! She also has many hand made items for sale and for ideas…

Nice organized bead shop. Wasn’t expecting to find a bead shop just outside of Julian on our way to Borrego Springs. The ladies in our group enjoyed it as they all three bought an assortment of beads. My girlfriends cousin kept mentioning lets get out of here before I spend more money. It is right by a Orfila winery tasting room off highway 78. The prices are solid for the location and the selection is good for what it is — a small, but very organized bead shop!

Patti and crew are awesome! My daughter hates being dragged into bead stores, but when she found out about Ruby and Winston, she flew out of the car and into the store to see the puppies. I shopped as long as I wanted, irritation free, and got some great stuff.
When we have our getaways here (the SD Bead Meetup group), Patti and Dale spoil us rotten. I may not be on the beaten path, but it’s next door to a pie shop and a winery, so who cares!
I love the place and consider it my personal treat to leave the city-​life and hang out at a bead store with neat people and puppies. You can’t beat it!

This was our favorite bead store for the day of Bead Shop Hop. It’s definately a drive, but we think it was so worth it!
There was a nice selection of unusual beads, not seen elsewhere. Even some handmade paper beads from Africa I think.
The examples of projects for classes was outstanding! Everything we saw, we want to take their class for it!
Projects are displaced in antique cabinets with glass doors and vintage doily/​table runners.
Their class rooms will hold large numbers, something like 40 plus people! And they are willing to schedule classes to fit your personal schedule, as long as there isn’t something already scheduled for that time.
We signed up for a class and hope to take a few others!

For bead hunters, it’s a little expensive. Though they did have a nice selection of real turquoise, and other stones as well as beading materials. The owner was very nice as were the two golden retrievers that greet you at the door. They also sell beads made by the locals from other parts of the world, and they offer many classes on site.

This bead store was alright. I didn’t really like the way a lot of the beads were organized. I felt sort of lost. It disappointed me that they had imitation turquoise. I feel like that’s just blasphemy. They had a good selection of crystals. The staff seemed nice.
I would have hated coming here when i was little because i was deathly afraid of dogs and they had 2 golden retrievers in the store. I love dogs now though and they were really sweet and beautiful animals. I think the main drawback is that this store is so hard to get to. It’s far away from most places in san diego. It’s 4 miles from the main street i julian, so you have to drive instead of walk which kind of sucks when you had a good parking spot on a busy day.

the selection is great!
they are well organized. majority of the beads are organized by color. if they aren’t, it’s because it’s the material it was made of. there is a wood display, stone, bone, gems, etc.
fair pricing. some of the fancier stones are expensive, but that is to be expected with what it is.
there is an antique bead section for making some funky jewelry.
the staff there is really nice. they give you honest opinions and tell you want you need, not what they want to sell you.
they sell the wire and string by length so you don’t have to buy a full roll.