This is the third year for National Beading Week (NBW) and our preparations are already under way. A number of people from the world of beading have been eager to accept our invitation to be Ambassadors and are already featured on the website. We have more guest designers lined up this year to take over our Facebook page again, another competition with amazing prizes and lots of free patterns from some of our favourite designers.
We want to encourage everyone to get involved in NBW, so whether you’re an individual beader, a beader with friends or a full grown beading group, there are lots of ways to take part. Maybe you need inspiration? If you have a local bead or craft shop, see if they will allow you space to bead and promote NBW, or if you don’t have a bead shop nearby, why not have a day trip to one?
Other places you could visit for beading inspiration might be museums or your local garden centre: lookout for colours, textures and shapes. So many of these places have lovely cafés now, maybe you could arrange to have a tea party and bead in the café? Think about having a local group competition to boost involvement or a small exhibition of your group’s work. There are lots of places to mount a small exhibition: your local library perhaps, a craft shop or even a local school. Some groups hire a hall, invite a trader or two and have an open day with tea and cakes to raise money for their favourite charity. What better way to spend the day - beading, eating cake and chatting to like-minded people, whilst introducing newbies to the delights of beading.
There are more options for you to consider on the 'Beaders' page and don’t forget to let us know what you have planned so we can publish your event on the website. If it’s an open day then it helps spread the word and if it’s a private function tell us anyway, it may inspire others to get involved. The more events there are, the more you help us to engage with the public and promote beading to a wider audience.
The Guild always needs new members to stay viable for the future and with your help we hope to welcome lots more during National Beading Week. So please don’t forget to encourage new and old beaders alike to share our passion for beads and support the Beadworkers Guild.
To help encourage new members we have a special membership offer during National Beading Week: any new member signing up for a full year will receive a free set of our three Introductions to Beadwork books (necklaces, bracelets and earrings). This is a fantastic offer and we hope it will help you to recruit even more new members this year. Full details of the offer and a downloadable membership are available on the 'Bumph' page.
Free information packs are also available for anyone organising an event, large or small. These contain Guild leaflets, membership forms, information on the membership special offer and free Basic Beading Booklets for you to give away to interested newcomers. Just email nbw@nationalbeadingweek.co.uk for your free pack.
Whatever you have planned for NBW we hope it will be fun and remember to keep an eye on the website for all the latest news, events, special offers and freebies.
Lets spread the beading bug!
NBW Ambassador: Heather Kingsley-Heath (Bath)
It's no secret that I love beads! but it goes way deeper than that, beads are my creative tool and means of self expression. But it’s not just me, beads are also a universal language reaching back through time and across many cultures. Right now bead lovers all over the world have built a community of friendship which welcomes everyone who’s tempted to pick up a needle and thread and scatter their first seed beads onto a bead mat. Established artist or absolute beginner, everyone can join in.
National Beading Week embraces all of that and one more thing, it’s the perfect excuse to get the beads out and party on. I'm hoping you'll all have fun beading my new National Beading week pattern on the Goodies page - lets spread the beady love!
NBW Ambassador: Marcia DeCoster
National Beading week! What could be better?
This is a wonderful initiative by The Beadworkers Guild. It showcases how the beads unite so many of us worldwide. The Guild first came to my attention when the lovely Heather Kingsley-Heath contacted me for an article. I've since had the pleasure of meeting many members both online and in person. The breadth of knowledge and creativity is deep and this idea to create a week long focus on beadwork is brilliant. I am happy to be a small part of this excellent endeavour!
