Bead Blog

The Big Bead Show is coming to the Midlands!

I can’t believe its May already, which means it is just over a month until our next Big Bead Show hits the Midlands! The date for your diary is Saturday June 25 at The International Centre, Telford. Get your tickets now and save with our Early Bird rates, rather than paying full price on the door! You can also take advantage of a group discount rate if you want to bring your bead group along for the day (call us to find out more 01903 884988). We also have an exciting new offer which means that kids and 'bag carriers' (e.g long suffering husbands) go free!

This Big Bead Show promises to be just as exciting as our other popular shows at Sandown Park, Esher. You can see the full list of exhibitors here, but just some of the fantastic suppliers bringing all their beady goodies along include: The Southampton Bead Shop, Bead Merchant, Tuffnell Glass, Nostalgia and The Bead Shop (Nottingham) Ltd (who are proving they are hardcore beaders as they have stock take the next day – no mean feat when beads are involved!) As well as this we also have The Beadworkers Guild attending with their beautiful and inspiring displays including award-winning pieces. To go alongside this we are offering 50% off the ticket price for all Beadworkers Guild members!

 

Free demonstrations on the Bead stand from top designers confirmed are:

Liz Thornton - Liz is a beadwork artist who has written several books and teaches workshops around the country. She is chair of The Beadworkers Guild and has had lots of projects published in Bead magazine. She will be demonstrating beaded charms.

 

Joanna Barchet - Jo loves creating fun designs with polymer clay. She is a self taught artist and beader, specializing in polymer clay and has had several of her tutorials published in Bead magazine. Jo will be demonstrating polymer clay techniques.

Marie New - Marie loves colour, texture and form - something she is able to explore daily as a Textiles teacher and tiara/jewellery designer. She made it to the finals of the British Bead Awards 2011 with her beautiful wire crochet jewellery. Marie will be showing how to create wire crocheted flowers. Look out for her first published project in Issue 31 of Bead.

 

Get your tickets now and come and join in the fun! Look forward to seeing you there! If you missed the April show you can read all about it in the next issue of Bead – on sale May 25.

 

x Chloe x

 

What a week!

This week has flown by! Last weekend saw The Big Bead Show at Sandown Park, Esher – hundreds of keen beaders descended on the racecourse in Surrey to shop shop shop! (Were you one of them? Check out our photo album on Facebook to see if you can spot yourself!)

 

This was our second of the April shows and was a huge success – everyone I spoke to had a cracking day – there were lots of special offers, with brilliant offers on the Bead stand. The bargain back issues flew off the shelves and our vehicles were much lighter on the way home! Loads of demonstrations took place throughout the day – from wirework to beadweaving to PMC - our expert designers all really enjoyed themselves and I dragged Bead.TV’s resident wirework expert Linda Jones out shopping with me to help me buy a hammer and block!

It was a hectic two days (Friday setting up all the stands!) so Sunday was spent recovering! I moved house the weekend before so had a double whammy to catch up on and slept for 11 hours on Saturday night! Everyone was very quiet in the office on Monday as you can imagine. Now we’re busy planning for Telford on June 25!

 I took Tuesday off and had a great time pottering around in my new bead room and bashing wire with my newly purchased hammer. My best friend is getting married soon and I’m creating her fascinator and jewellery (eek that’s crept up!). I’m very excited about it but am not allowed to post pictures yet as she doesn’t want the groom to see any of it!

 Issue 30 went off to print yesterday – it’s our bonus summer edition – The Glorious Glass Special! This was a lot of fun to put together and really made me appreciate just how much glass we beaders use in our creations! Here’s a sneak peek of some of the projects you can find inside, it goes on sale April 20.

     

 

And suddenly it’s Friday…crikey! This weekend I’m off to visit friends in Lincoln, I’ve heard there’s a bead shop so I’m sure I’ll be popping by there too – well its got to be done hasn’t it!

Enjoy the sun, happy beading!

x Chloe x

 

Behind the Scenes at the Big Bead Show

It’s just two weeks until the Big Bead Show at Sandown Park, Esher, Surrey on April 2nd which means its all systems go go go! I love bead fairs – there’s just something about them that gets my heart racing. I’ve been to almost every Big Bead Show and I have to say (although I am slightly biased now) it’s always been my favourite. There’s just soos much to look at and so many stalls, I always come home with a buzz having met new people, learnt something new, bought beady treats and had a generally tiring but exciting day!

 It was a novelty at the October show last year, as it was the first time that I was there having not done a four hour plus drive all the way from Nottingham, nor did I have to do a hefty amount of lifting and carrying to set up a beady stall full of goodies. (My arms were always impressively toned for about two days after a bead fair – sadly it never lasted). However that’s not to say all I did was sit and feel smug whilst all the exhibitors were setting up – I spent all of the Friday with show organisers Maria and Elizabeth ensuring the tables were in the right place for when the exhibitors arrived, measuring and marking out spots and getting all the last minute details sorted.

 It was great to see the other side of the show and I can safely say to all those beaders out there planning to visit the show – it is no mean feat! It is incredible just how much that goes in to organising a show like this, so that everything is perfect. Whether this is scheduling demonstrators for the Bead stand, making sure exhibitors have the space they require, sending out tickets, or on the other side of it ensuring you have enough stock to sell, that it fits in your van or car (!), enough double sided tape, signs for everything, directions, snacks!

The list is endless and preparation can take a lot of time and planning, Bead spends months getting everything perfect and exhibitors spend a lot of time too making sure they can cater to your every beady need. There’s nothing worse than getting to a show and someone asking for the one thing you didn’t bring! If you are coming to the show with something particular in mind to buy and know where you want to get it from – my advice would be to call the shop ahead of time and ask them to set it aside for you. That way you can ensure you won’t get there and have this happen. (It is physically impossible for most shops to bring every range they stock to a show!)

 This year we have some fabulous free demonstrations at the Bead Stand. These are an excellent opportunity to learn new techniques or discover a different material. These proved so popular when we introduced them at the October show that we now have more artists and are working on ways to make them even better for you! This time joining Jennifer Airs, Helen O’Neill and Linda Jones is Katie Dean. Katie won best in show at the Bead Awards in October and will be demonstrating French Beaded Flowers. For the full timetable visit the website.

 Tickets are still available for the show so to take advantage of special pre-event prices book now by calling 01903 884988 or by visiting www.thebigbeadshow.co.uk where you'll also find directions and pricing details.

See you there!

 x Chloe x

 

Beads as far as the eye can see!

Linda Jones will be there demonstrating designs from her lovely new book!

 

Issue 25 is back from the printers hurrah!

Its very strange seeing it in print – my first issue as editor of Bead was a bit of a whirlwind I have to say – talk about deep end! There was lots to learn and take in but I’ve enjoyed every second of it.

There’s lots of exciting stuff in this issue, including loads of great projects like Mel Brooke’s Dia de los Muertos necklace and Lynn Firth’s Tila Connections bracelet. You can also read about unique artist Lesley Todd of Bird Ahoy and our new Reader’s Profile feature. We had a fabulous response to this issue’s Readers’ Challenge so check this page out and see the deadlines and themes for the next few issues. 

I’m currently working hard on the next issue: our Winter Sparkle Special as well as being busy getting ready for The Big Bead Show and filming lots of new projects for Bead TV. I’m looking forward to catching up this week with Mel Brookes and Linda Jones who are both popping in for a spot of filming too.

It’s been an exciting month for me. I’ve been privileged to be involved in the judging for The British Bead Awards, as well as seeing Bead issue 25 come back from the printers. On a personal front I’ve been getting used to my new home and making plans for getting a car (Hurrah – no more crazy train commutes!) I’ve also been discovering all the local bead shops – there’s a new one in Arundel, which has a ‘shop kitten’ - he’s great and chases beads around the floor!

I hope you enjoy Issue 25. Don’t forget I really want to hear from you. If you have any feedback you can email me chloe@ashdown.co.uk

 
x Chloe x

 

Issue 23 off to print

So soon!

I know it was only recently I was telling you that issue 22 of Bead was off to print but going up to 8 issues a year means that issue 23 (which will be on sale the 26th May) is already on its way.

As usual I have tried to pack the pages with as much beady goodies as I can and this issue continues our great mix of different technqiues and materials so some of the items we have are:

A wirework and crystal set

Inspired lampwork beads

Quick and sparkly seed beads

 

More advanced seed beads

Chinese knotting inspired seed beads

A sparkling tiara

Quick and easy polymer clay

Scrumptious stringing

plus 5 more projects as well as all of our usual profiles and articles.

Esepcially a great report back from the recent Big Bead show

Keep an eye out for it in your local bead shop or newsagent - or why not subscirbe to the paper copy or iMag to ensure you don't miss out?

Jean Power

Editor of Bead

Phew - What A Day

Well, our 4th ever Big Bead Show is now over and 2 days later I'm still recovering!

I had such a lovely day and got to meet so many readers and stall-holders and had great fun looking at what everyone had bought and what was new out there to buy.

We had our meet-up at 2pm so thanks to everyone who came (the crazy cupcakes were courgette (zucchini) and camomile- just right for summer!)

I got to see what everyone had bought which was a real treat and meant meant new items quickly went onto my shopping list.

In the end I bought-

- Some size 15 galavnised seed beads which were the only thing on my shopping list. I need these to finish a project I'm currently working on
- Some lovely rondels in bronze which I'm debating how to use
- Some lentils and square beads which I couldn't resist
- 2 cat bead from the lovely Keiara Wells (whom we profiled in issue 22) one of these was imediately given away as a present before I even had a chance to take my photo

Quite restrained I'm sure you'll all agreee!

Hope all those of you who came along had a good time- and hope to see you all on the 30th October for the next Big Bead Show!

Jean Power
Editor of Bead

12 Hours To Go...

Until I finally wind my way to the first ever spring Big Bead show.

I am very fortunate as editor of Bead to be able to attend the show and meet many thousands of readers throughout the day- and I always end up going home on a high, exhausted and with an aching face from smiling and laughing so much.

I have to say I contribute very little to the planning of the show (far better hands take care of that- fortunately for all you attendees!)

But as one of my favourite parts of the day is the forum meet-up (and anyone else who wants to come along) we have each show in the afternoon.

Last year of of our forum members kindly baked some cakes which we all enjoyed and as this year I am expecting many more people to be there I thought I better get baking too.

So far there have been two batches of brownies and three batches of a rather unusual cupcake combintion... you'll have to come to the meet-up (or check back here next week) to find out how they went down..

 

Jean Power

Big Bead Shows 2010

The next Big Bead Show is fast approaching- it's on saturday 17th April at Sandown Park, Esher.

It's Bead magazine's fourth show and our first spring event.

Stands are filling up fast with over 60 exhibitors confirmed and lined up.

This year we will be looking out to see what you're all buying for our show report article which will feature in issue 23 of Bead so if you're stopped by us, we're not just having a nose (ok, maybe we are!)

There are big changes in hand for our autumn show which takes place on the 30th October.

This year, as well as our usual stands and the display for the British Bead Awards there will be 2 days of workshops starting on Friday 29th October.

You can see full details of the workshops here.

Don't forget that if you buy issue 21 of Bead you can get two free tickets to the April show!

Jean Power

Editor of Bead

Issue 21

Issue 21 of Bead hits the shops over the next few days and as you can see not only did we decide on showing two items on our cover, but we've also got a great ticket offer for The Big Bead Show!

This issue contains the following:

- 13 projects (inclduing lampwork, PMC, beading, crystals, fashion, wirework and fabric)
- Profiles on Sylvia Fairhurst and Sarah Bedwell
- A new "Top Tips" feature
- All of our usual rticles, pages and fun

To see more about what's in issue 21 click here

To log into your iMag if you're a subscriber click here

Jean Power
Editor of Bead

Bead issue 19

Issue 19 of Bead hits the shops and letterboxes this week and it's a real jam-packed edition.

As well as all the finalist in the first ever British Bead Awards we have also crammed in 2 profiles, 13 projects and all of our usual articles and pages.

Amongst the projects we have three that are ideal for Christmas- one bauble, one card and one pair of earrings:

 

As well as a fantastic double project featuring two very different lariats based on the same techniques and an advanced crystal pendant from me:

In addition I'm pleased to announce our first ever additional free download project:

So make sure you get your copy to find out how to download yours.