If you’re new to beading, or you’ve been away from the beading scene for a while, you may be wondering what National Beading Week is. Well, it’s an initiative started by the Beadworker’s Guild in the UK in 2015. So this is in fact our very first National Beading Week. It’s all about spreading the word about beading, maybe giving it a try if you’ve never tried before, finding out what beading is all about and just celebrating it if it is already your passion. You can read more about the initiative here. Right now, it’s all about the celebrations!
National Beading Week Bead Bombing
Back when I was announced as an ambassador for National Beading Week, I found my little profile on the website had bee
n placed on the ‘Bead Bombing’ page of the official website. So this gave me an idea. I created and published a free pattern for ‘Letter Beads‘ which has been proving very popular this year. Now I would love to see what everyone has been making with their patterns, so here’s your chance for a bit of internet bead bombing! Post a photo of your letter beads either on Facebook or Twitter and make sure you tag me in the post. On Facebook you will need to tag ‘Katie Dean’, my Twitter tag is @myworldofbeads. Or you can post your image to my Facebook page. I’ll be keeping a look out for these photos and my favourite will win a pattern of your choice from this website, for free! I might offer a few more special prizes along the way as well, so keep your eyes open!
National Beading Week Teaching
Of course, for me, NBW wouldn’t be complete without teaching a class to spread a bit of beading love. So on Thursday I am going to be teaching my beaded snowman tree decoration at Gerrards Cross Summer School. This workshop was announced back in the Spring, so it has been taking bookings for a while, but I had a word with the organisers and I believe we can squeeze in an extra person or maybe even two, so pop on over to grab those last couple of spots. Yes, I know it’s only July, so why would we be beading snowmen…? Well, it was
a request from my students last year, so I do hope lots of them will be coming along again this year! Plus, if you have aspirations to make Snowmen to give as gifts, you probably want to be starting now in order to be ready for Christmas. If you want some inspiration there, then I have to share the photo of one of my student’s projects. Every year she makes a different Christmas decoration to give to around twenty friends and family members. Last year, the chosen project was my snowman pattern. She brought in her little army of snowmen, each with his or her individual hat or scarf, and I managed to grab a photo! So, I challenge you to start your own collection…
Of course, if you really want to keep your beading to something more appropriate for the time of year, you can check out the beaded rose workshop I’m going to be teaching the following week, or the French beaded flowers course at Missenden Abbey Summerschool. There’s no reason why the beading fun has to stop because National Beading Week is over!
National Beading Week Prize Draw
You may already have noticed the prize draw announcement at the top of this page, alongside the special 10% discount to celebrate this week. Well, basically every customer who makes a purchase on this website during NBW 2015 (that is between 25th July and midnight GMT on 2nd August) will automatically be entered into a prize 
draw. So what’s the prize I hear you asking? Well, it’s actually a choice of prizes. I know that everyone’s beading needs (or desires!) are a little different, so I thought it would be good to let the winner choose the prize that most suits them. All the prizes are of roughly equal value, so it’s just a matter of which one most takes your fancy.
Option 1: The Sweet Treats Collection – a copy of Sweet Treats book and your choice of either the Cookie Pendant Kit or the Donut Pendant Kit (you can find more details of these on the kits page!)
Option 2: £30 worth of patterns – you get to choose the patterns you want, up to a value of £30
Option 3: If you like beaded flowers and want a little love, know someone who wants a little love, or you’re just super-organised, then you might like the Valentine’s Rose gift
Option 4: If jewellery is more your thing, then how about a special pendant necklace?
National Beading Week Surprise Sale
Last, but by no means least, in an effort
to spread the beading love, I’m organising a surprise sale this week. Every day on the website there will be a few items on sale, the surprise is, you have to look for them! Some of them will remain on sale for a few days and some will just be on special for a really limited time, so grab a bargain while you can…and keep your eyes peeled because you never know if your favourite item will be dropping in to the sale!
I might throw a few more surprises into the week, so make sure you’re following me on Social Media to keep up to date. I also have some new patterns to add, so keep your eyes open. Most of all, have fun enjoying all the activities that are on offer around the UK this week, and online…and happy beading!
