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Steph

International Beading Week – Rainbow of Colours

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International Beading week - rainbow of colours

International Beading Week is just around the corner (26th July – 3rd August 2025). It is a celebration of beading and a lovely way to hopefully encourage a few more people into this wonderful craft. There’s further information about IBW on the Bead Workers Guild website including an international project you can get involved with … Read more

Floral décor and jewellery Inspiration

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Trailing flowers virtual workshop

I love having splashes of floral colour in my garden. But I can’t really have flowers in my home as it sends my hay fever induced sneezing into overdrive. However this is where Floral décor and jewellery come into their own. I have collected a few ideas, products, kits and free projects together for you … Read more

100% recycled plastic beads – fun & quick jewellery examples

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100% recycled plastic beads - Jewellery Examples

We’re really excited to start stocking these beautiful 100% recycled plastic beads. Available both in our Nottingham Bead Shop and online on our website. We really love them, not only do they make use of otherwise discarded plastic (they’re all made from 100% post-consumer recycled plastic). But also the use of different plastics together have … Read more

Re-creating a favourite necklace – see the end results

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Leila's Finished Necklace - Re-creating a favourite necklace

Last week one of our customers Leila joined me for a 1-2-1 session to start re-creating a favourite necklace. Leila’s already a keen beader and makes stunning brick stitch and fringed earrings (a technique learnt in another 1-2-1 session last year). She also has a keen eye for beadwork and has picked up some gorgeous … Read more

The Bead Shop Teams creative inspiration using our Rubberised Acrylic Beads

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Beaded Sunflower Necklace - The Bead Shop Teams creative inspiration using our Rubberised Acrylic Beads

When you work in a bead shop you can’t help but get excited about new products & the endless possibilities with them. It was no different when our new Rubberised Acrylic bead range arrived last week. So as everyone’s creative cogs whirred into action I thought I’d share our creative inspiration on using our Rubberised … Read more

What is Paracord and what you can you do with it?

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fishtail knotted bracelet

You may well have heard of Paracord, without really knowing what it is and what you can do with it. As the name suggests, it is used to make parachutes. Made from Nylon, it is very strong and durable. It is created from several fine cords, with a woven cover, it gives it extra strength … Read more

Mix it up – Christmas Jewellery and Decorations

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Mix it up - Christmas Jewellery and Decorations

Believe it or not, our Christmas Czech glass mix is popular ALL year round. It is often used in our introduction to jewellery making workshop, to create earrings and bracelets. Collectively all the beads make a lovely festive mix with greens, reds, golds, creamy pearls and silver shades. When you pick out the individual beads … Read more

Autumnal vibes – here’s some great crafts for a cosy night in

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Felt Fox Kit

September signifies so much for me. Back to school vibes, Autumn (my favourite season) cosy evenings on the sofa crafting. Decorating my house with autumnal foliage. Planning my hand made gifts for Christmas and of course Halloween. There’s something so fun about crafting and decorating your home for Halloween and Autumn. I’m no expert but … Read more

Where to start your beading journey

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where to start your beading journey blog post

As it is International Beading Week, which is designed to share the joy of beading with others. As well as hopefully encourage more people to try this creative art form. We wanted to help complete beginners to discover the love of beading. As it can sometimes be overwhelming. There’s often different opinions of where to … Read more

Why brick stitch is better than peyote stitch

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Why brick stitch is better than peyote stitch might seem controversial statement. Especially since I would say that Peyote stitch is my favourite stitch. It’s easier to teach, and satisfyingly quick to bead, once you’ve got going. However there are some things that brick stitch is just better suited to. For example when you’re making … Read more

Silversmith & Sculptor Claire Zwozny-Bestwick – Guest Tutor

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Meet Silversmith & Sculptor Claire Zwozny-Bestwick

We have a guest tutor, Claire, joining us at the end of February to teach a 2 part copper clay workshop. So I took the opportunity to find out all about Claire and her work; “Often, I’m introduced as my business name ‘CRZyBest’ and that’s great, because I am Claire R. Zwozny–Bestwick I’m an eco-friendly Silversmith & Sculptor, … Read more

Raising funds to fix vandalised shop front

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When we arrived at the shop on Monday morning we were confronted by our large window having been smashed. We believe it happened on Saturday night and unfortunately having a shop in the middle of a busy city centre this is something we have to contend with. We are fortunate that it has only happened … Read more

How I approach designing with 2 hole beads

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Original Ginko Bead Design - The Bead Shop Nottingham

I’m often asked, particularly when I’m teaching workshops “How do you come up with your designs”. So I thought you may find it interesting to find out how I approach designing with 2 hole beads. Which is exactly what I’ve been doing recently. We have just added the lovely 2 hole Ginko beads and 2 … Read more

Beading on a loom

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Beading on a Jewel Loom

Beading on a loom is a great place to start beadwork. It’s how I first played with beads, with a bead loom kit I was given as a child. A familiar story with many I have spoken to in workshops too. I thought it would be useful to collect together all our resources to help … Read more

New Preciosa crystal bead range; our first impressions ahead of our launch

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preciosa beads category image

Obviously we were quite shocked and upset by the seemly abrupt decision by Swarovski last year, to stop producing loose crystals for the DIY market. There was lots of initial panicking, from both us, having many kits which use Swarovski components. As well as customers who use a lot of Swarovski in their own businesses, … Read more

How to make a reusable Snowflake decoration

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Snowflake decoration

I love snowflakes, they’re a natural phenomenon, each one unique and sparkly and their shape lends themselves so well to loads recreating it lots of different crafts. You can see our Swarovski snowflake kits here. One simple and effective way to create a reusable snowflake decorations is to use a snowflake wire form.Produced by Beadsmith, … Read more

Inspiration for how to decorate natural wooden beads

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Sometimes being faced with a blank canvas, whether it’s an actual canvas or a bead, can feel a little daunting. So I thought I’d share some inspiration for how to decorate natural wooden beads. Sometimes wanting to find the right colour to go with a particular garment can be enough to spark your inspiration. I have been known to paint my own beads for that very reason.

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What you need to know about healing crystals

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What you need to know about healing crystals

Have you ever wondered about the benefits of healing crystals or which birthstone is associated with each month? Semi-precious gemstones have been used in jewellery and accessories for Millenia. But some people believe semi precious stones and gemstones have specific meanings and uses. Recently there has been a renewed interest in natural crystals and their potential healing qualities. They are thought to help balance energy and enhance wellbeing. Semi-precious gemstone beads can not only be used to make beautiful jewellery, but the stones themselves may have many benefits and properties.

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Did you know you can hire our beautiful workshop room?

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Hi, it’s Steph here to talk about our workshop room. It’s a lovely, bright, airy space in our listed Victorian building in Nottingham City Centre. It retains many of its period features like the fire place, coving and picture rail. Though probably its biggest asset is the wonderful, bright big bay window.

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