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! 

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
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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! 
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Faking It – Plastic Imitations of Organic Materials
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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
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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. 
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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. 

Bead Society Member Renée Raymond is teaching a class on the Arezzo Cuff Bracelet for the Bead Society on Saturday, June 5th at 10 am Pacific Time, rescheduled from May 8th. The class will be held virtually! Attend and make a bracelet for yourself or a friend! You have seen Renée at our Bazaars demonstrating all sorts of exciting things. Renée has been teaching jewelry making classes in the Culver City area for over 15 years. She has taught classes for us, most recently the Photography class, Smart Phone Jewelry Photography: Tips & Techniques for Success!   

The class is $29 for Bead Society members, $35 for non members. A discount is also offered to CCRMC members, and Renée's Newsletter and Facebook contacts. Register here, and you will be sent the materials list and the link to the virtual session. There is quite a range of colors and beads that you could choose for this lovely bracelet!  
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The class will be about two hours. Any questions, contact admin@beadsocietyla.org. 

The May 5th meeting will focus on Crystals. We will talk about the crystal world, protective qualities of crystals, and use of crystals in jewelry making. Bring your crystals to share! We hope to see and appreciate beautiful objects that many of you have created or collected! 

Join us May 5th at 7 pm Pacific Time for the program. ​
Zoom Meeting ID: 899 883 2615, 
Passcode: Beads

What is it about crystals that attracts us? Is it the sparkle, the bling, the various facets of light reflecting through them? 

As you have probably heard by now, the crystal world is undergoing some changes. Most notably, Swarovski, one of the major crystal suppliers, has made adjustments as to how they will distribute their crystals in the marketplace and will limit the sale of Swarovski crystals to select luxury branding partners. They will no longer be offering Swarovski crystals to DIY (do-it-yourself) and other retail customers as in the past.

The quality of crystals from China is also excellent. Are there design considerations when putting together a piece of jewelry with crystals? 

From Lois Sherr Dubin's book, The History of Beads: From 100,000 B.C. to the Present, 2009, crystals are considered as powerful materials for protection. (Other materials are coral, agate and amber.) I googled "crystals and their meaning," and discovered lots of interesting links. I encourage you to try that also! 

Come join us and share your crystal collections, and objects made with crystals!

The Bead Society Business meeting is at 6:30 pm, same Zoom info, all are welcome! 
Crystal picture from Max Pixel.  

Matthew Brody, aka Tiger Tiger will speak on the history and culture of people and their beads, including Pyu and Chin beads. He’ll also have Robert Burkett’s designed beads. 
April 7th, 2021
​Join us at 7 pm Pacific Time for the program.
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Zoom Meeting ID: 899 883 2615, Passcode: Beads
Bead Society Business meeting at 6:30 pm, same Zoom info, all are welcome!