Biggest Beading Class!…The Beadalong…

Have you heard about my National Beading Week 2017 beadalong yet? I hope you have and I hope you are planning to join me. It’s promising to be the biggest beading class I’ve ever taught!

I announced this back at the end of May. Then I shared the class projects in June. I’ve started taking enrollments and I already have more students than I’ve ever taught at once before!

So, I am about to explain how the ‘biggest beading class’, aka ‘beadalong’ will work. Plus let you know what you will get out of it.

The Projects

First up, I have four fabulous projects. You can just choose one, or you can try all four.

The French beaded flower is my beginner level French beading project. It is taken from my beaded strawberry pattern. So, I’m going to be taking you through step-by-step with lots of tips.

I also wanted to offer a more advanced French beading option for all of you who already love this craft. So, I thought, why not also teach the strawberry itself?

Then, I know I have a lot of bead-weaving fans out there. So, I’ve created a lovely little project that can be worn as a brooch or turned into a necklace. Or, maybe you can see another use for it… It uses peyote stitch and is for anyone who has already done a bit of bead-weaving.

Lastly, as with the French beading, I wanted to offer a beginner’s project using bead-weaving. This is all about introducing someone to beading who has never tried it before. So, you’ll get a pretty bracelet – or necklace – from this design.

How will the biggest beading class work?

I will be teaching my biggest beading class via my blog! It’s the only way I can manage to reach out to this number of people all at once…

So, I will be giving you the steps for each project. Over the course of seven days, during National Beading Week 2017 (29th July – 6th August), I will publish a new set of steps.

I will be teaching all four projects simultaneously. So, on day 1 you will get the first part of every project. On day 2, the next part and so on.

The steps are written out and illustrated with photos and diagrams, so you can see what you need to do.

Plus, I will be on hand to answer your questions. So, I’ll be encouraging you to leave a comment, or email me if you’re stuck or something doesn’t make sense.

I also want this to have a sense of community. So, even if you’re not stuck, please use the comments to introduce yourself and hopefully make some other friends in the group. I want to know how you’re getting on, just as I would in a ‘real’ class.

Lastly, this isn’t going to be a big time commitment. I know that one of the biggest problems you face is finding time to bead. So, I want to show you that if you can put aside less than half an hour each day, you can get a beautiful project done in just one week!

What do you need to do next?

Once you’ve signed up, take some time to decide which project you want to do. Remember, you can do as many as you like!

Then, sort out your tools and materials.

Materials

You can find the materials list for each project right here.

You probably have most of them in your stash already if you are a beader. If you’re trying this for the first time, then I have put together kits for each project. So, you need only invest in what your require. If that sounds good to you, then buy a kit here.

If you just need to find a few bits and pieces, then I do sell all the materials separately as well.

Tools

Whichever project you choose, you are going to find a beading mat very helpful.

If this is something you’ve never used before, then read this blog. It will explain the different options that are available to you.

For the bead-weaving projects, you just need a beading needle and a pair of scissors.

Again, if you are new to beading, then I can recommend a couple of blog posts to explain your options. You can find them right here.

For the French beading projects, you really only need wire cutters.

I have suggested using flat nose pliers for the flower, but they are not essential. Also, if you want to string your beads quickly, you can use a bead spinner. But again, this is not absolutely essential if you don’t already have one. If you are new to this, then find out a bit more about the pliers right here.

What will you get out of this?

I hope you’ll get a lot of benefits from my biggest beading class! So, let me keep this brief. You’re going to get…

Free project: A brand new beading project…for free!

New skills: The opportunity to learn something new, with personal tuition from me if you need it.

Achievement: You are going to feel a huge sense of achievement as you move through the week.

Grow in confidence: Possibly you will start the week feeling uncertain and a little fearful, but by the end of the week, you will feel confident and proud. I see it happen over and over in my beading classes. This is something that you will take forward into the rest of your life too.

Time to bead: I also want to prove to you that you can find time to bead. I will help you show yourself that you can put aside just a few minutes each day and see a project come together. So, by the end of the week, I hope you will have learned that you can use a system to get through all those UFOs and start enjoying more new projects again too.