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| The Need For Beads |
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| Put down your knitting needles, beading is the newest trend weaving its way through craft clubs |
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IN THE 60s they stood for love, in the 70s Bo Derek put them in her hair and started a sensation. Now, beads are back. Big time. Theyre on our wrists and around our necks. Theyre on our shoes and handbags, and cell-phone cases. They dangle from our earlobes, and caress our ankles. But this bead craze isnt being fueled by the counterculture, or some wardrobe department in Hollywood. Its homegrown, largely suburban, and totally mainstream, having become a hot do-it-yourself hobby thats got millions of women stringing and knotting for fun. "I started heading as a way to make gifts for my big family," said Tammy Honaman of Collegeville, Pa., who has seven siblings. Honaman, 37, has been a serious beader for more than 10 years. "We go through cycles, where one category is popular for a couple of years, and then another," said Bill Gardner, editor of Craftrends magazine. "For the last five or six years yarn has been going like crazy. Now, beads are taking off." Across the US, bead stores have increased by 150 percent over the last four years. Two Philadelphia-area heading magazines recently sponsored Beadfest, a sort of all-you-can-buy banquet of beads. "When we started Beadfest four years ago, we had 100 booths," said Joseph Breck, publisher of Lapidary Journal and Step by Step Beads magazines. "This year well have 330 booths, and 2.500 people attending more than 100 classes." The classes have titles such as Wirewoven Beads, Right Angle Weave Bracelets, Pattern Peyote Points and Loopy Birdnest Earrings. Which proves that if you still think beading is just lining up baubles on a string, you need to think again. Todays headers not only weave beads into intricate patterns, they also work with wire, metal clay, crimping tools and needles.
Jennifer Wechsler, who owns Beadworks in Society Hill, Pa., said the craft is popular because its easy to begin, and inexpensive to continue. Beadworks sells everything from simple wooden beads, colorful African trade beads, and beads made from recycled tires to beads made of diamonds, with prices that range from 5 cents to $1,700 per item. The hottest trend at the moment is lampworking, or making individual beads out of molten glass Lampworking, according to the International Society of Glass Beadmakers, is an ancient technique, originally practiced using oil lamps. Today, artists use propane torches.
At Jubili Beads & Yarns in Collingswood, Pa., lampworking classes sell out quickly, said owner Judy Weinstein. When she opened the store in 2003, she thought the yarn portion of the store would attract most of her business. But within a year, bead sales accounted for the majority of her revenue. "Now I know why," she said. "People can come in here, spend less than $10 and make a necklace with literally no training, and walk out with a wearable piece of art. If you want to go beyond that, you can do bead weaving and bead lace. Its really fun, sometimes therapeutic, and people just love the handmade element of it."
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