By CARA LORELLO
Staff Reporter
Shoppers should be prepared to spend a few hours perusing each nook and cranny for the perfect present at Celtic Hearts, a new beading and gift shop opening this week in Airway Heights.
Why so long? Well, many of the store's merchandise and accessories are one-of-a-kind, hand-made treasures not found anywhere else, as store owners Deana Garnes, Debora Hinshaw and Patricia Stevens either craft or special order the pieces themselves.
From bracelets, rings, earrings and necklace sets to beading supplies, handbags, ornate figurines and artwork, the store is its own little shop of wonders where one can always count on finding something striking and wholly unique.
“We're are an eclectic shop. If it's out there, we'll bring it here to sell,” said Garnes, a previous employee of Rings and Things, a popular bead and gift shop located in Spokane. “We want to fill a niche here with what we can bring to the community.”
Eclectic is the perfect way to describe a stroll through Celtic Hearts. The kinds of precious gems, jewels featured in their jewelry indicate as much: mother of pearl, garnet, opalite, sterling silver, quartz, amethyst, amber, carnelian, fuse glass and several types of crystals are what you'll find if accessories are on your shopping list.
And if it isn't jewelry you're looking for, there's plenty of other products to browse such as locally bought and/or manufactured handbags, amulet purses, wallets and eyeglass chains.
For the creative shopper, there's a whole slew of craft products for making jewelry, which include tools, glues, stock beads, magnetic clasps and hooks, polishes and storage bins.
There's also a large selection of home décor items such as glass and crystal wind chimes, Celtic-themed knickknacks, and framed scenic photographs taken by Stevenson, a freelance photographer and resident of Cheney. The store also carries card collections and bookmarks featuring her photographs.
Garnes and Hinshaw design jewelry themselves, and Garnes also commissions original art clay silver pieces, a type of fine, 99.9 percent Mexican silver clay used for making fine art.
What began as hobbies turned into something more, Garnes said of her and her co-worker's craft businesses.
“You can only gift your family and friends for so long, then you have to do something else with it,” she said.
Garnes added that in a few months if business is going well, they would like to start offering how-to classes at the store on crafts, beading and jewelry making, and possibly art clay sculpturing.
“We also want to open it up to people who have something they can maybe teach to a class, if there's enough interest,” Garnes said.
They plan to offer merchandise and craft class punch cards as a way for new shoppers to earn some store credit. The store also has gift certificates. Prices run anywhere from 75-cent stock beads to $6-$30 bracelets, depending on the jewel type. Necklaces and necklace-earring sets can start at $12 and go as high as $125.
Special orders for jewelry can be made upon request for pieces not found in the store.
Celtic Hearts is located at 12720 W. Sunset Highway, Ste. B, in Airway Heights. Business hours are Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturdays 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information, call 244-6412.
Individual business inquiries may be directed to:
Patricia Stevens Freelance Photography, (509) 235-6352.
Designed by Deana: Handmade Jewelry, Art Clay Silver Commission Pieces, (509) 230-1532.
Catching Rays: Jewelry by Debbie/Custom Hand Crafted Art, (509) 328-5936
Cara Lorello can be reached at clorello@cheneyfreepress.com
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