Beading Groups and Forums
If you are in need of people who have the same interest as you, namely beading, you may want to join a beading group or forum on the internet. You will find friends to talk beading with, support for when you feel like quiting or need help with learning a stitch, and pats on the back for the pretties you show off. Your friends on the internet become your support group.
There are many of groups and forums on the internet for you to choose from. You can find beading groups or forums by typing groups, beading groups, forums or beading forums in a search engine to see what is available beyond what I show you here. I know Yahoo and MSN have beading groups. Once you get to their group home, type beading, jewelry, beadwork, wirework, or whatever other phrase you can think of to find the groups that they have available.
Today, I am going to do a write-up about beading groups and forums to which I am currently a member or moderator of.
I started joining beading groups because there weren’t any beaders in my area. I now have beading friends from all over the world that support me and help me when I get stuck. They give me the encouragement to go on with my beading. In return, I am able to help them when they get stuck or need encouragement.
Ok, now on with the my list of beading groups:
The following groups are on Yahoo:
4TheLuvOfBeads was created in Jan 2001. It currently has 677 members. If you are looking for a place to find supportive beading friends, you have found a group. This group has a medium number of emails so you won’t be overwhelmed with emails.
Beadchat was created in Jan 2002. If you are looking for a group with a high volume of emails and interaction, this is the group for you. This group currently contains 2524 members. There are some wonderful designers and beaders on this group. Glenda, group mom, is very generous and has shared quite a few of her designs with us. As a matter of fact, in order to hold all of the patterns contributed by Glenda and other designers, this group has 4 sister groups (Beadchatwarehouse, Beadchatfiles, ArticleProjects, and BeadchatStorage). There is also a special group for the beaders in our group who are Lefties. You will join Beadchat first and then join the others saying you belong to Beadchat. I just recently became one of the moderators for these groups. For further information, go to my link page at Grandma Marilyn’s.
Beadingaholics created in Mar 2004 boasts 3329 members. I just recently joined this group but feel like I have belonged to this group forever. This group calls themselves a support group for anyone addicted to beading of any sort, clays for making jewelry, wire working, chain maille, lampwork, and all other types of sparking jewellry adornments.
BeadingWithHeart was created in Oct 2006. This group boasts 90 members. Again, this is a good group to join if you do not like a high volume emails. Here is another group that likes to do swaps. This is a very friendly group.
BeadToolLovers was created in Feb 2007 for the owners of the beading programs called BeadTool. This is a wonderful program for creating beadwork. The 141 members are a great bunch of people and very sharing.
Magic Jewellery Box was created in Jul 2006 by professional jewellery designers from different countries and boasts 445 members. They have a monthly design challenge with a theme. Once the designs are submitted, they are available for the group. There are some really creative designers in this group. Join in the designing fun.
Pamys Bead Swap was created in May 2006 by Pamela Welborn. Pamy sponsors beaded jewelry swaps. They are really great. I have joined 2 of them and received some wonderful necklaces and bracelets. If you like to create beadwork for others and love to receive beadwork created by others, this is the place to be. Remember, you must be part of a swap to belong to the list.
Ready to Bead is a group that was set up Apr 2006 by Sherry Wayt for beaders to have a friendly and fun place to talk about beadwork. She also hoped to inspire new designers and give overall support for beaders as a whole while making it really fun. We love to talk about wonderful kits and designers she has on her website, Ready to Bead and show pictures of creations from the kits or designs we have created. She has periodic contests for new designs. I was the lucky recipient of a tie for 3rd place in the first contest held by this group. Come on over and see what your designing abilities are. You never know, you might be one of Sherry’s next designers.
Seedbeadersters is a group that was recently set up for seed beaders. So far, it seems like a really fun group. They are trying to come up with some challenges and other ways to keep the group fun.
Starr Design Studio was setup Feb 2008 by Marie Starr (who makes some wonderful patterns) so that the members could discuss hints, tips, tricks, patterns, designs, or anything beadie they can think of.
Any of you live in Texas? If you do, you need to join Texas Beaders. This group discusses beading subjects, resources, classes and retreats here in Texas.
Here are a couple from the MSN arena:
Beading Fanatics is a group that Loretta Wood and I started in Jan 2006. We wanted a place for beginning beaders to go where they wouldn’t have to fear being put down because things had to be explained to them over and over. We have done such a good job that we now have 463 members. I remember when I thought we would never get 30 members. The group has a monthly swap run by Sam Hamilton. Periodically, we have a challenge for the members. Come join the fun. For further information, please go to my link page at Grandma Marilyn’s.Want to make your own beads and things? I also belong to a polyclay group where they show off some pretty jewelry made with polymer clay called ClayPlay. They are trying to get together some classes to learn how to work with polymer clay to make things.
Ok, my friends, that is the end of the bead groups that I belong to.
You might also consider joining some of the beading forums available online too. I belong to beadwork.about.com (general beading), HDPS: Histoire de Perles (a french website with some wonderful discussions and patterns) and Sewing Your Seeds (a forum for seed beaders).
NOTE: Beading Fanatics is no longer with MSN groups as MSN closed it down. They are now a yahoo group. As of Feb 18, ClayPlay will no longer be in existence. All files from ClayPlay have been moved to Beading Fanatics files.
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