Whether the tops are sculpted wood, the woods are exotic and multicolored, the style is geisha, or a lampwork bead is on top, modern hair sticks are bold, brightly colored, and full of imagination. My favorite artist is Susan Maxwell Schmidt of Longlocks Hair Sticks.

I’m not doing this post because she needs new customers or because she’s a wonderful human being, even though she is. :-) Susan has a mailing list of over 1000 people, and when she makes a batch of new sticks, they and the special orders sell out in about 5 minutes. It’s infuriating. ;-)

What makes Susan’s work so coveted is that each customer gets a handmade, unique piece. And she decopauges and/or paints the hair sticks to go with fabulous lampwork beads.

The first pair in this picture, “PlumWild,” uses beads from Australian artist Suzanne Booth, who sells on ebay. The hair sticks are bone, “hand painted in satiny plum purple with an ultra metallic drizzle design of jet black and gold, under layers of protective clear enamel.” The other Special Edition lampwork beaded sticks in Row 1 are decopauged. Their names are WildMeadow and Nottingham. In Row 2 are HolidayBloom, SpringWhispers, and SurfSide.

Special Edition pieces sell for $85 to $90 a pair. However, Susan has sticks in all price ranges and a lockaway plan, which allows people to pay for a set over 3 months. Gorgeous? Or, what? I think she should be on HGTV’s Modern Masters. :-)