If you thought macrame was all about boho wall hangings and seventies plant hangers, think again! Macrame jewellery puts decorative knotting and simple jewellery making skills together to create some incredible pieces of jewellery.
Meet Chloe Menage from Pinkhot Jewellery
Some of you may already be familiar with Chloe, she’s visited us on many occasions and it’s been lovely seeing her more regularly at our Virtual Bead & Craft sessions on a Monday evenings. We thought it’d be lovely you for you to get to know her better so we to invited Chloe to write a guest blog.
Needle felting for the mind
Hi, Alex here!
For a while now we’ve been wanting to produce a new needle felting kit to add to our ever growing collection of crafting kits here at The Bead Shop. Steph and Emma are our needle felting experts but we wanted to aim this kit at complete beginners. So for the production of this kit I thought I’d have a go! Needle felting is something I’ve always wanted to try. Inspired by seeing Emma’s adorable needle felted bunny Ralph, I was keen to get involved and I also had a slight ulterior motive…
How to make your own Mala Beads
Buddhist prayer beads or malas are a traditional tool used to count the number of times a mantra is recited. They are similar to Catholic rosary beads used in prayer though they tend to have 59 beads and finish in a cross or crucifix. Misbahah are muslim prayer beads, usually in strings of 99 beads.
Mala necklaces consist of 108 beads plus a 109th Guru bead and are used to count the number of times a mantra or breaths are repeated.
The history of 7 Market Street Nottingham
7 Market Street Nottingham is a beautiful Victorian shop and has been The Bead Shop’s home for the last 14 years. I fell in love with it when we first looked around it in 2005 and have been fascinated by its history ever since. I knew it had always been in the care of various independent shops but had never quite been able to piece together all of its history.
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.
How to make your own beaded felt bowls
Hi Steph here, I thought I’d show you how to make your own beaded felt bowls! You may have seen these beautiful bowls in our bead shop or on our social media. We launched them for our 20th Birthday party back in January. We wanted an alternative to the plastic tubs that customers use to collect their beads in whilst shopping.
Joining us virtually with Zoom
Hi it’s Steph here. I thought this blog post could be useful in these unprecedented times. Especially if you’re anything like me and having to quickly learn how to use technology and find it little daunting.
Fun craft projects so you can keep the kids happy!
I was going to be teaching a series of craft workshops for kids during the Easter holidays at Handmade Nottingham. Unfortunately Covid-19 has other ideas so these have been postponed until the Summer holidays. However I thought as everyone is going to have to be creative in keeping their children entertained at home it would be helpful if I shared the projects with you.
Did you know you can hire our beautiful workshop room?
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.
We’re hiring! Want to join our team?
We currently have 2 part time vacancies to join our team as a sales assistant.
Sales Assistant
We are looking for 2 enthusiastic creative individuals to join our friendly and knowledgeable team as a sales assistant. No two days are ever the same and even after working her for several years they’ll always be new skills and techniques to learn.
My 20 favourite things to do in Nottingham!
Hi it’s Hana here, I’ve noticed recently that we’re getting more people coming to visit us from outside Nottingham. I’m not sure if it’s because there are now less bead shops in the UK or because beading and crafting are becoming more popular. Either way we often get asked what else there is to do and see in Nottingham so I thought share some of my favourite places with you.
How to find the perfect intermediate bead weaving project
Hi Steffie here!
One of the things I love about my job here at The Bead Shop is when new books come into the shop. I get a chance to review them before putting them online and on the shelves for sale. I love flicking through our book collection and finding inspiration.