Bead groups are springing up all over the country. Perfecting their craft, entering competitions, drinking tea and meeting friends. You name it, they’re doing it!
Across the land, beaders are having a ball. Welcome to the second in our series on Britain’s finest bead groups.
Beading Barmy
The first thing that caught our eye about this month’s bead group was their name! Beading Barmy is the local bead group for Bicker near Boston. For those of you who are unaware, that’s Boston, Lincolnshire not Massachusetts! As Beading Barmy is not a million miles from the name of your favourite beading blog, we decided that great minds think alike and they must be an interesting bunch! We weren’t disappointed.
Warm glowing Beaders
The Beading Barmy ladies give off a warm, welcoming vibe from the start with their opening line:
Hello. We are Beading Barmy, a group of ladies who love to bead. We also talk and laugh a lot!
One of the most important aspects of joining any kind of group is, apart from learning a new skill, to have fun and make new friends. This lovely introduction would entice even the most nervous beginner to join their happy throng.
- Beady ideas from Beading Barmy. The scissor cases were made by Maureen for The Bead Workers Guild with the collar in square stitch and the body in brick stitch.
Amanda Crago, who now lives in Cornwall, started the group two years ago. They used to meet in The Haven Gallery in Boston. When they were no longer able to use that venue they moved to Bicker village hall. They now meet there on the third Saturday of every month with Maureen Julian at the helm.
Democratic Beading
Although Maureen runs the group it is a very democratic affair with members able to help out, chip in and demonstrate their own skills. Louise Lody is also an active member of the group along with Jackie. They have regular ‘tea and scone’ meetings where, along with Maureen, they discuss the agenda for the year. Louise told us:
Our skills range from complete beginner to experienced beaders and there is always someone on hand to give help and advice as each one of us has her own favourite weave.
Louise herself does beautiful chainmaille and recently the members had a go at it. They thoroughly enjoyed it, with one member becoming “hooked”. She is now going on to more advanced chainmaille. They are all looking forward to trying a more difficult project later in the year!
- Fabulous chainmaille headdress made by Louise Lody
The picture insert shows a fabulous headdress made by Louise. If you would like to see more of Louise’s stunning makes you can see them on her Flickr page. We love the idea of utilising items other than beads to make ‘beady’ things! Louise certainly subscribes to this way of thinking and recently made an unusual purse out of can pull rings!
Beading Co-Op
The Beading Barmy co-operative style goes even further. Louise went on to say:
Each month we have a different project led by a member of the group. One of our members has three small boys and she joins us for three or four hours of uninterrupted beading!
A member was given a large amount of black beads, which were divided between the group for our first challenge. Some very attractive pieces were produced and we now have a monthly challenge, for those of us with lots of time to spare! Finding inspiration for the word chosen ‘out of the hat’ certainly gets the grey cells working!
Beady Challenges
We were intrigued by the idea of pulling ideas out of a hat and Louise told us that this is quite literally what they do. They all put an idea in the hat which can be anything from a stitch, or just a word or a colour. So far, for their monthly challenges they have had ‘ocean’, ‘bag’ and ‘mail’.
- Beaded bag projects from Beading Barmy
The bag challenge showed results which were many and varied with group members approaching the task from a myriad of angles. Pictured are just three of the stunning designs they came up with. A tribute to Marilyn Monroe makes a stunning statement on an intricate amulet purse. This was done by group member Jackie worked in peyote stitch from a graph. Pretty lacework over a pink clasp bag completes any outfit for a special evening. Beaded tassels on a drawstring bag is a great idea for little bridesmaids as an alternative to flowers and doubles up as a permanent keepsake.
This demonstrates another great advantage of joining in with a group of like-minded people. Ideas are swapped and before you know it, you are on the path to a whole new beading experience you may never have thought of by yourself. Louise said:
We also have a table at the meetings, a ‘bring and show’ where we can display what we have achieved since the last meeting or something that was made a while ago that may be of interest to others.
Prizes to be had!
- Ring Pull Bag – Thinking outside the box!
So impressed are we by the beading groups we’ve encountered, that we have decided to give Beads Unlimited gift vouchers to the ones who really catch our eye. If you’d like to see your group’s name up in lights and be in with a chance of acquiring some goodies, please contact jo@beadsunlimited.co.uk and blow your own trumpet. Full details are at the end of this blog.
- Listen up ladies! There’s beading to be done. Beading Barmy members enjoy a joke.
This month a £50 Beads Unlimited online gift voucher will be given to Beading Barmy – The Boston/Bicker Bead Group for their innovative methods in getting the creative juices flowing! We would love the group to intergrate their spoils into one of their monthly challenges and show us the results!
Sign Up!
If you would like more information on Beading Barmy – Boston/Bicker Bead Group, please contact Maureen Julian at dolly_mo@hotmail.com
Beading Barmy 2010 meeting dates: 15th May, 19th June, 10th July, 21st August, 18th September, 16th October, 20th November, 11th December.
Stop Press! – New bead group – Helston/Falmouth
As mentioned in this blog, Amanda Crago used to run the Beading Barmy group. She is hoping to start a new group in the Helston/Falmouth area. She is currently seeking a venue and new members. If you are in the area and can help out or are interested in joining please contact Amanda at beadqueen@hotmail.co.uk
Blow Your Own Trumpet!
If you run or belong to a bead group and would like to appear on our blog please contact jo@beadsunlimited.co.uk
We would like a bit of background info – how the group began, what you do, any competitions you enter etc. plus two or three pictures including one of your group in action! Pictures should be good quality jpegs and no bigger than 5mb. We welcome any entries, whether you’re a team of two chatting about your latest purchases or a well oiled beading machine with a cast of thousands! A Beads Unlimited gift voucher could be winging its way to you for your efforts.
Posted by: BeadsUnlimited
Great fun! I love the ‘random words out of a hat’ idea for inspiration. I might just try closing my eyes and sticking a pin in the dictionary!
We are starting a beading group at our new shop in Brentwood, Essex. Can anyone give me any tips or advice on how I should run this group please?
Hi Nina,
We would love to follow your progress and do a report on the blog. It’s always interesting to hear of new groups popping up.
As for advice, there seem to be some good ideas coming from the groups we have featured on here so far. I would think it depends on how informal or formal you want it to be and how big you want the group to be. If you want it to be large, I would suggest some small website or at least a facebook page so that you can post up dates of meets etc.
I personally loved the way all the Beading Barmy beaders were allowed to pitch in ideas and take it in turns to lead the group. However, you may wish to stick to just one teacher. I think it’s all down to personal preference.
Do any bead group people have anything they’d like to add?
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