DUCKS OF THE CARIBBEAN!!

2011-09-06T19:37:00.000-07:00

Say "AHOY" to the Ducks of the Caribbean!

Aye, mates, these here be the Ducks of the Caribbean! Sailing the Seven Seas in search of swag and decent rum-flavored acquatic plants, these heroes of duckdom pillaged, plundered, and quacked their way into the history books. Each has a tale and each is their own mallard but their exploits are infamous among the avian world!

Now, here they are . . .

First, we have Cabeza de Pato, the famous Spanish explorer, navigator, pirate, and stifftail. He is most famous for being the first duck to migrate to Iguazu Falls. He also named numerous types of New World acquatic plants and small fish . . . just before he ate them!

Next is Sir Francis Drake, English sea captain, privateer, and politician. Drake was one of the vaunted "SeaDucks" made famous by the Daffy Duck film of the same name (or was that Errol Flynn?). Drake was a hero to his countrymen but the Spanish called him "El Eider," for reasons known only to them.

Now, here is L'Mallard, the infamous French whistling duck, scalawag, and defrocked priest! Renowned for his cruelty to his prisoners, L'Mallard once made one of his captives eat another prisoner and accidentally discovered Duck a l'orange!

And, finally, CAPTAIN QUACK SPARROW! One of the most famous of the Caribbean pirates, Quack has been the subject of books, comic books, movies and recipes. He is the only duck to have ever sailed off the edge of the world without having his goose cooked . . . figuratively speaking!

Keep a weather eye out on this page because these winged, billed "Gentleducks of Fortune" will be traveling the world and having adventures that will thrill you, excite you, and make all your cares disappear like, well, like water off a duck's back!

And, if you have your own set of these Ducks of the Caribbean, feel free to post pictures of them taken wherever you travel! If you don't have your favorite seaduck or you want the whole set, come see me at any of the shows where I'll be setting up and I'll be happy to provide you with all four! For just a few bills, of course!

Check out our calendar at www.Blackbead-jewelry.com!

Blackbead's Treasure Chest Sets Sail!

2008-12-18T12:56:00.000-08:00

Ahoy, mates! Welcome to me blog! I’m hoping that this is going to be a long, fun, and interesting voyage for all of ye that hop aboard as we set sail on the grandest adventure of me life! I be simply a humble pirate who, along with the rest of the crew of the Adventure, run the finest pirates market on this, or any, side of the Spanish Main! I specialize in jewelry but also carry treasures from around the world, books (Blackbead Books (http://stores.lulu.com/Blackbead) provides the greatest original pirate poetry in existence today!), pirate toys, hat pins, leather goods, and other treasures from around the world! Anything which strikes me fancy and which I think might turn a profit.

“But,” you say, “where did ye get your name? What does ‘Blackbead’ mean?” Well now, that be an interesting story and one I’ll gladly share! It all began several years ago. Back then I was simply called “The Beadmahn,” since my principle merchandise was and still is beaded jewelry, and I was showing me wares in arts and crafts shows, flea markets, festivals, and the like. Me lovely wife, who now goes by “Captain Jane Jasper,” and I decided that we’d try our hands at one of the smaller Renaissance faires. It being the middle of spring when we made this decision, the next one on the list of Renaissance faires (http://www.renfaire.com/Sites/state.html) that I found was Scarlet’s Mid-Summer RenFaire in Oklahoma City . . . and that be another story! This was their one and only Mid-Summer faire and I’ve often wondered if it were something I said or did that caused them to decide never to have another one! I heartily recommend their Mid-Winter show! (www.scarletfest.com)

But we had to dress as something Renaissancey (hmm, I don’t think that be a word but we’re going to have to go with it!) and so we put our minds to the puzzle and decided that we would go as pirates! Pirates who had come ashore to sell off their plunder (and selling jewelry as I were this made a pretty picture of the whole enterprise, as it were!) Well, now, that was a great idea but what would we call ourselves? I proceeded to ask everyone I knew who was the most famous pirate in history?

Everyone answered the same thing: “Blackbeard.”

So, I decided that me wife and I would be a couple of ol’ Blackbeard’s pirates who had come ashore to sell off the swag from the last raid in order to raise capital to finance another expedition, buy another ship, get rum money, whatever! We would call the business “Blackbeard’s Treasure Chest” and the whole booth would be done up like a seaside pirate’s or smuggler’s market! It would be perfect and easy to do!

I sat down and was writing me wife an email to tell her all of the above . . . and I misspelled “Blackbeard.” Blackbead and Blackbead’s Treasure Chest was born! (www.Blackbead-jewelry.com) It was perfect! The name suggested both pirates AND beaded jewelry. We’ve never looked back and the business has been “sailing along” for over three years now and keeps getting bigger and bigger and more and more successful! But, more about that later! For now, ye know where the name comes from and why me wife says, “Ye be the pirate without the ‘arrrrrrrrrrr’!”