The Bead Society Holiday Pop Up took place on Saturday, November 13 at the Veterans Memorial Complex. We had a steady stream of interested people seeking to view the wares of our many different vendors.  We had a colorful array of necklaces, art objects, exquisite designed brooches, and pendants. 

Check out some of the photos from the event below! 

The Holiday Pop Up sustains the artisans, vendors and interested bead and jewelry community! The Bead Society is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that supports the study, discussion, and shared knowledge of beads in the United States and throughout the world.  Based on the success of this Pop Up, the Bead Society is looking into planning more Pop Ups. Stay tuned! 

JEWELRY, an episode that will show on PBS, explores the history, artistry, and impact of personal adornment. Terry de Castro from Craft in America contacted us recently to let us know about the PBS Premiere on December 10, at 9 pm and/or 10 pm (check your TV listings). 

Featuring classic jeweler Tom Herman; Harriete Estel Berman who creates jewelry using recycled materials; the legacy of modernist jeweler Art Smith; bead artist, Joyce J. Scott; nature-inspired artist Gabrielle Gould; and Navajo/Hopi master jeweler Jesse Monongya. The editors of Ornament Magazine, Robert Liu (Bead Society founding member) and Patrick Liu are also featured! 

It is now streaming on the PBS Video App, craftinamerica.org, and pbs.org/craftinamerica. Work by the featured artists will be exhibited at the Craft in America Center from December 11, 2021 through March 19, 2022. Check it out! 

Craft in America Center  
8415 W. Third St., Los Angeles, CA 90048
Hours: Tues–Sat, 12:00pm–5:00pm
tel: (323) 951-0610
www.craftinamerica.org/center

The Bead Society is planning a one-day Holiday Pop Up highlighting Finished Jewelry and objects on Saturday, November 13, 2021. from 10 am to 4 pm at the Veterans Memorial Complex, Rotunda Room, Culver City. 

Admission is free. All are welcome. Masking and physical distancing required. If you would like to be a vendor, the application is here. 

Get all your Holiday gifts here! ​So far, we will have exquisite designed brooches, stained glass, necklaces, bracelets, rings,  Stop by! 

Exploring Beading on the Internet!
The November 3rd meeting of the Bead Society will focus on the Internet. We will explore websites, YouTube videos and more.  Many of us are familiar with purchasing beading supplies on the Internet, but in this session, we will explore training and educational opportunities on the World Wide Web! 

This will be a sharing session, so bring your favorite websites and YouTube videos as well to stimulate our creativity!  
​
Come join us!  7 pm Pacific Time. We will be virtual! 

Wednesday October 6, 2021 7 pm Pacific Time

Why Did I Buy That?  This sharing session is open to interpretation! Feel free to bring items such as beads that you have collected that you can't remember why you acquired them. You can show beads that you purchased for a particular reason and either didn't wind up using them for that purpose, or forgot about them. Items that you bought that you thought would be useful and were not are also of interest. Do you ever find beads that you didn't remember that you had gotten because it has been so many years. 

We will be sharing insight, camraderie and angst! Join us! All are welcome! 

October 6, 2021 7 pm Pacific Time
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/8998832615?pwd=UktmV0dKcXRsZzE1Z0JwM1FKMmdiQT09

Meeting ID: 899 883 2615
Passcode: Beads

Bead Society Business meeting at 6:30 pm, same Zoom info, all are welcome! 

Wednesday, September Meeting 1, 2021 7 pm Pacific Time, virtual! 
Zoom Meeting ID: 899 883 2615, Passcode: Beads
​
The Bead Society September meeting will focus on tools! It will be a sharing session! All are welcome. 
What tools do you use in your jewelry making or beading? What is your favorite tool? What did you wish you knew when you were first starting out, in terms of equipment and tools? 

In your jewelry making, what have you improvised, such as using kitchen funnels for returning seed beads to their containers? Have you used tools such as Seed Bead Spinners or Thing-A-Ma-Jigs or a Coiling Gizmo?  What have you learned not to use?

Bring your tools to show to the camera and the audience! 

Join us! 
September 1, 2021 7 pm 
Zoom Meeting ID: 899 883 2615, Passcode: Beads
Bead Society business meeting at 6:30 pm, same Zoom info! 
​

Faking It – Plastic Imitations of Organic Materials
​
The August 4th Bead Society meeting will feature Rosanna Falabella, as our speaker. She will talk about fakes and plastic imitations of materials in Jewelry.  Many examples of the fakes along side the "real thing" will be shown for ivory, pearl, amber, tortoiseshell, coral, and jet. Check out the following pictures! 

Rosanna Falabella has created a Plastic bead identification guide available here. 

August 4th 7 pm Pacific Time

Boxes, Containers & Things: Where do You Keep your Beads?!!!​

The July Bead Society meeting will focus on containers, boxes, and furniture that we all use to store our beads and jewelry materials. Come share your resources that aid you in being more creative,
or protecting your valuable beads! 

July 7th 7 pm Pacific Time
​
Business meeting at 6:30 pm, same Zoom info! ​

It's been an interesting year since the Bead Society stopped having in person meetings last April, 2020. We also cancelled our April and October Bazaars! What have we all learned during this time? Have you made more jewelry with the time that you had? Have you spent time organizing your collections of beads? Have you made masks? 

The June meeting, the last meeting of our fiscal year (July 1-June 30), will focus on sharing what we have accomplished in the last year. Come join us to share our hopes and plans for the future! 

June 2nd 7 pm Pacific Time 
Zoom Meeting ID: 899 883 2615 
Passcode: Beads

The Bead Society has a collection of about seventy books on beading, jewelry and jewelry materials. We are in the process of downsizing the library, so if anyone is interested, please contact us. The picture shows some of the covers of books that we have. 

In 2017 the Bead Society set up a lending library. We had gotten some wonderful donations from members and former members. In fact, the daughter of Helen Sjoberg donated a huge collection of her mother's bead and jewelry books. We even acquired some books such as Robert Lui's book, Photography of Personal Adornment, Beads: A Reference and Price Guide by Sindi Schloss and the African Twilight  by  Carol Beckwith and Angela Fisher whose film we premiered in 2019. .

We input the titles of the books through a service called, LibraryThing. One can browse the titles or see a listing of covers like the illustration above. The Library can be found at http://www.librarything.com/catalog/Bead_Society. Check it out! 

Kay Deeney would bring some of the books to meetings, and some members borrowed them until the following meeting. At one time, the Bead Society was very engaged in helping members obtain interesting books about beads. We recently came upon some Bead Society books that were to be sold to members. They are also listed in LibraryThing. Many of these are how-to-bead books such as Dimensional Flowers, Leaves & Vines or The Complete Guide to Beading Techniques. 
​
Take a look at the listing of books by going to LibraryThing. If you are interested in obtaining any of these books, please send a message to admin@beadsocietyla.org.