 Exciting News: We are thrilled to announce that The Bead Society is part of ACT Insurance’s Top Arts and Crafts Events directory! This distinction highlights the Bead Society’s ongoing contribution to the beadwork and arts community, bringing greater visibility to our events, especially our upcoming Bead Society Cultural Arts and Bead Show on November 1st, 2025! ACT Insurance: Supporting Arts and Crafts Professionals ACT Insurance is a trusted provider of liability insurance for artists and vendors in the arts and crafts world. Their Top Arts and Crafts Events directory is a valuable resource that connects professionals with opportunities to showcase their work and build their networks. We are proud to be featured in this directory, alongside some of the country's best arts and crafts events. Why This Recognition Matters Being featured in ACT Insurance’s Top Arts and Crafts Events directory is a huge honor for The Bead Society. It reflects the impact of our work and our dedication to the bead community. We’re excited for what’s ahead and look forward to connecting with even more artists and craft lovers at this year’s Bead Society Cultural Arts and Bead Show. This event will be held on Saturday, November 1st from 10 am - 4 pm at Veterans Memorial Auditorium - 4117 Overland Ave, Culver City.  For more information about ACT Insurance’s Top Arts and Crafts Events directory, visit the ACT Insurance's website.
Thanks to ACT for supplying information for this article, modified by us.
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 Lucille Ball A big change! The June Progam Meeting of the Bead Society will be on Zoom! It will focus on Fabulous Fashions in the Movies! It is Wednesday, June 4th at 7 pm, (It had been scheduled for in person during the day.) The Lecture is titled “A Look at Fabulous Fashions in the Movies.” Greg Schreiner will share stories from his collection of over 500 movie costumes. Among the stars he will be talking about are Bette Davis, Marilyn Monroe, Lucille Ball, Julie Andrews and Susan Hayward. Greg did this talk to an audience of 150 in Chicago recently. He has spoken to our group before, and shared beautiful costumes for our amazement! Many of the costumes have intricate beaded patterns, an art that may be disappearing! Bead Society Meeting & Program! Wednesday June 4th, 7:00 pm Join Zoom Meeting: Meeting ID: 899 883 2615 Passcode: Beads Business meeting at 6:30 pm. Join us!  Speaker had to cancel. He will be back in the fall. Cancelled!  Chris and Rod Miyata The May Bead Society Program Meeting will be rescheduled on Zoom. Our speaker is Rod Miyata of Ace of Diamonds in Culver City. Mr. Miyata will talk on Custom Jewelry Manufacturing and will present a slide show to inform our members of the processes. He is also tempting us with some items, such as earrings, that he will have for a raffle. Join us!
Rod is a gemologist who along with his wife, Chris run the Ace of Diamonds jewelry store in Culver City. They are dealers of Fine Jewelry and Custom Design Manufacturing, provide expert jewelry appraisals and repairs and are members of the prestigious American Gem Society. The Bead Society Business meeting is at 6:30 pm PT at the same Zoom address! Elections will be held! Members, be there to vote!  The Bead Society was recently approached by Sage Phillips with the Makwa Studio about the Hospital Gown Project-- a community-based collaborative beaded artwork. They are currently seeking remote & in-person contributions of blue brick-stitch bead swatches! Remote swatches have a deadline to be sent by April 30th.
"It would be lovely if you could share this information and opportunity among your organization, students, friends, loved ones, or to anybody who would be interested! We invite anyone who has been impacted by alcoholism within their families or by their loved ones to join us in the creation of a new work titled “Hospital Gowns”. These will be exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, Santa Fe NM in July 2025. Any sales of work will have a portion donated to the Minneapolis organization, Southside Harm Reduction. Swatches can vary in size and vary in shades of blue (as long as they are blue!) We ask that the swatch is no bigger than 4 inches on either side. They can even be as small as .5" x .5" -- any size within 4 inches is great! Please make sure they are constructed using the brick-stitch beading technique! Swatches can be mailed to the following address: Makwa Studio 1500 Jackson St NE Studio #238 Minneapolis, MN, 55413 Makwa Studio is so excited to see the contributions! Please don't hesitate to reach out with questions, or for more information about the project and how to be involved. Thank you, Sage Phillips | [email protected] | they/she | www.makwastudio.com  The April 2nd Bead Society Program meeting will be held in Culver CIty at the Veterans Memorial Building at 12:30 pm. Our guest speaker is Renée Newman, gemologist and a frequent speaker for our group. The title of her talk is Evolution of Diamond Cuts & Qualities in Jewelry from 1300 until Now.
The cutting styles and quality of the diamonds in estate and antique jewelry provide important clues about when it was made. Renée’s PowerPoint will show
used in high-end designer jewelry while industrial diamond users are now enjoying much higher qualities of lab-grown diamond in their industrial products.
even uncut octahedrons. Come see her slides and insight!  The Bead Society went to the "Beads of Courage" studio for the SoCal Flame Surfers. It was exciting! The SoCal Flame Surfers support Beads of Courage in making special glass beads that can be given to hospitalized children. Bead Society member, David Keith was our host. Beads of Courage (BoC) is a non-profit organization that is dedicated to improving the quality of life for children and teens coping with serious illness, their families, and the clinicians who care for them through their Arts-in-Medicine Programs. BoC has established collaborative partnerships in caring with hundreds of hospitals nationally and internationally and worked with several community organizations to make healing happen through the use of beads as a historical art form. After our safety orientation, we were guided in making simple beads by Steve and David. We could add more glass to an initial bead, add dots, or do something else equally creative. We were willing to donate our beads to Beads of Courage, the non profit that David's group works with. After working with making beads, we had a pleasant potluck lunch with David's quiche and interesting conrads. Here are some pictures from the two days we went to the Studio. Here are some videos of making glass beads.
 Some pics on So Cal Flame Surfers Facebook page show us hard at work! The pictures of beads donated even include our little contributions (on the far left). No, the ice cream cones are beyond our skill set!
We all felt that we learned a lot about making glass beads. David does this twice a month, so let us know if you are interested.  Kristen Greer is our March 5th speaker for our online program. She is an avid collector of antique-vintage beads and treasures. She will be speaking about antique beads and beaded purses. Here's a list of what she will be covering: 🌼A brief history of the cut steel & metal micro beads. 🌼A brief history of Georgian cut steel jewelry. 🌼A brief history of the micro metal beaded misers purses & later handbags. 🌼She will show examples of the Georgian cut steel jewelry, cut steel & metal micro beads, and the many different styles of purses that the women of the day carried from the Georgian era through the early twentieth century. March Bead Society Program Meeting! Wednesday March 5th, 7;00 PM Pacific Time Meeting ID: 899 883 2615 Passcode: Beads Join us!   Pictured from left to right, Bridgette W, Nikki D, Lisa S, Angie C, Kay D. Missing is Carmen L. Several members of The Bead Society went on a field trip to the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana in late January. The highlight of the trip was the exhibit, The Eternal Garden: Titanium Art by Aka Chen. "Aka Chen (Taiwanese, 1965-) is one of the premiere artists around the world today working in titanium. His debut solo exhibition in the United States, The Eternal Garden: Titanium Art, showcases an exquisite assembly of 20 sculptures that ingeniously combine the intricacies of contemporary jewelry with fluid compositions of brush paintings." We all were impressed, inspired and excited to see this exhibit! There is a video on The Bowers website that shows parts of the exhibition. It clearly does not compare to seeing the objects up close. The exhibit is on until April 13th, so be sure to check it out! In addition, we were able to view Gemstone Carvings: The Masterworks of Harold Van Pelt. This exhibit showcases the natural quality and colors of agate and gives quartz the transparency of glass. It was amazing! Here is a link to a docent led tour of this exhibit. The Bowers Museum which also hosts the Bead Society of Orange County is located at 2002 North Main Street, Santa Ana, California 92706. Here are some pictures from our trip.  The February 5th program meeting of the Bead Society will be In Person! The theme is BEad My Valentine, a subtle play on words! This will be a sharing session, and we are hoping that you will bring your red beads, Valentine inspired beads and jewelry, and hearts! We will discuss and talk about these wonderful treasures!
The meeting will be in the Kaizuka Room of the Veterans Memorial Building. That room is to the left and down the hall when you come in the main entrance. It is not the room where we used to meet before the pandemic. We will be meeting during the day, see the times below. February Bead Society Program Meeting! Wednesday February 5th, 12:30 PM Pacific Time The Bead Society business meeting is at 12 pm PT. Come hear about our plans for the Bead Show March 1st! And opportunities for field trips! Picture is from The Book of Beads: A Practical and Inspirational Guide to Beads and Jewelry Making, by Janet Coles and Robert Budwig. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1990, p. 61. The Bead Society has a copy of this book. Program is cancelled due to multiple fires in the Los Angeles County area. Business meeting will be held. This month's Bead Society Program Meeting is on Resolutions for the New Year! Come share what your plans are! Do you have any UFOs, unFinished Objects that hopefully you will complete this year? Do you have resolutions to organize your bead collection better so that you can find things easier? Do you plan to try new materials or patterns, view more YouTube videos or read books or magazines about beads and jewelry? Do you hope to attend more Bead shows, such as ours on March 1st at the Veterans Memorial Complex in Culver City? Are you going to try different venues to sell your jewelry or beads?  Come to the online meeting to share your perspectives! It will be a fun and entertaining evening. You may get inspired by your colleagues!
January Bead Society Program Meeting! Wednesday January 8, 7;00 PM Pacific Time Meeting ID: 899 883 2615 Passcode: Beads The Bead Society business meeting is at 6:30 pm PT at the same Zoom address! Come hear about our plans for the Bead Show in March! |
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