About Bead Designs PLUS

Why would I want to spend my time writing about beads and the like? Here is my story:

My day job is in an office working in Administration, Sales and Marketing in the Pacific Northwest. I have raised two children who are both very artistic and intelligent human beings, although I am their mother so I can say that. I was looking for some sort of creative outlet. Mind you, I have an artistic mind, but could not draw or paint a picture to save my life. I felt a great deal of frustration because I have always had some sort of project going but never really found one that invoked any sort of passion, then came the land of beads. I have a tremendous love of jewelry and decided that it was time to try my own hand at design and production.

When I started making things with beads, it opened up a whole new world of creativity. The colors and shapes, the textures and sizes, the unlimited variety of styles made boredom with the design and creation process nonexistent. You know the feeling when you go into a bead or jewelry store and all you can do is walk around with eyes wide and touch everything in site. Each piece has a different feel, a different vibe, a different style. My real passion started with the jewelry and artists of the American Southwest. The Native Americans have been making bead jewelry forever. I personally have never seen a piece of turquoise that I didn’t like.

I call my site “Bead Designs Plus” for a very good reason. I want it to be far more than just a bunch of pictures of beaded jewelry. I want it to be “A celebration of creativity in bead designs”. There’s so much more that just a bunch of beads on a string or wire. In the future, I am looking forward to including:

Interviews with artists, both audio and video
Information about bead stores and galleries
Fresh and timely bead designs and trends

The most intriguing part for me, however, is the artist. Everyone has a story! How many times have you bought something because you liked the person who made it? They told you a little bit about who they are and you felt a connection. I have made a promise to myself to not buy any piece of art from someone I did not like. I want us to have the opportunity to meet some of the bead artists and store owners more personally. When we look at pieces on the internet or even in the store, we have no sense of the personality who put their time and love of their art into that particular piece of jewelry or other art form.

I would bet that there are very few people out there in the bead world that grew up wanting to design with beads. I have read a few stories and only a few because that is not at the forefront. Let’s discover together how that corporate executive switched gears and decided to delve into his or her creative side. What prompted the stay at home mom to become an artist? There has to be a million stories and I am going to take it one at a time and hopefully you will follow along. What inspires us to play with beads? That is really what it is. We are playing a creative game and ending up with little baubles that bring happiness to ourselves and hopefully to the people who want to share our little gems. I dream that this can be a place that brings the readers, collaborators, authors, artists and bead designers together. Let’s make it fun and maybe just learn something about each other along the way.

I invite you to share your own personal stories, designs and photos with us and if you have artist friends who you think we should meet, please have them contact me. We intend to keep this site ever changing and bring ideas to you, but to also give you a forum to share what you have going on.

Come back, visit often and remember it is “A celebration of creativity in bead designs”.

Welcome and all the very best,

Jill