www.thebirminghambeadshop.co.uk

The lovely Sam has finished the website, so its up and running and attracting lots of compliments! The shop itself has also been open for a month now and is doing ok. There are lots of slow days mixed in with lots of really good days, and everyone who actually finds the shop and comes in is really nice about, I just need to spend September actually getting people to know that its here!

The first beginners workshop was on Wednesday and was a really good evening, and ‘beading club’ starts this tuesday so hopefully that will be equally as successful. Little bits of new stock are arriving all the time, and I’m going to order a load more at the end of next week. And then I’ll be ordering stuff for christmas (!!!!)

As always, thanks to everyone who’s been to visit or has told anyone else about the shop,

Kate xxx

Website

The proper website is very nearly finished and so very soon you’ll be taken to the lovely new website when you type in www.thebirminghambeadshop.co.uk, rather than just here. Thanks to everyone who’s been to the shop in the last week or so, there’s been lots of customers come in response to the ad in Beads and Beyond magazine and everyone’s been really positive about the shop and made me feel loads better and alot less scared about the whole thing!

If you’re coming to the shop or town at the weekends, parking is only £1 for the whole day in the custard factory carpark, there’s always loads of space and its only 5 minutes to the bullring from here. (It doesn’t say its a pound on the machines but if you put £1 in and press the button it gives you a ticket valid til midnight!)  And on sundays you can park in the carpark for £1 or at the bottom of Gibb Street itself for free!

The shop will be closed next Sunday – there’s loads of massive all-night club nights across the whole Custard Factory site over all 3 days of the bank holiday, so the marquee and all the PA equipment will be up and the shop will be pretty hard to get see or get to. So we’ll be open Saturday, but closed Sunday (and closed as usual on Mondays).

Workshops are starting on Wed 2nd September and ‘Beading Club’ starts on Tues 8th Sept, please get in touch or join the facebook group/event ‘The Birmingham Bead Shop’ if you’d like more info.

See you soon!

Kate xxx

Beading Club

An informal and fun evening at the shop where you can come and meet some like minded people, share ideas and eat some cake while working on a project or starting a new one. Suitable for people of all abilities and experience – bring your own materials, tools and ideas or buy some beads or a mini-kit from the shop on the night and use our tools.

7 -9ish every other tuesday, starting september 8th. There’s no cost and no catch, I promise – I just thought it’d be a nice way to spend an evening…

Please get in touch if you’re interested or have any ideas or preferences to dates, activities or cake types!

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=148431635914&ref=nf

WORKSHOPS!

Workshops for September

Beginners ‘dangly necklaces’ workshop

An informal and fun workshop for beginners, making a beaded necklace like the ones in the pictures below. Learn how to use basic tools and materials, and have something that you’ve made yourself to take with you and wear at the end of the session!

Cost: £16 per person – includes all materials and instruction sheets to take home, a 10% off voucher for the bead shop and use of our tools and equipment. And as much tea and cake as you can eat!

Wed 2nd Sept   6.30pm – 9pm

Sun 6th Sept    3.30pm – 6pm

Wed 9th Sept    6.30pm – 9pm

Buttons Workshop - Sun 13th Sept 3.30pm – 6pm or Wed 16th Sept 6.30pm – 9pm

Learn how to make amazing jewellery, accessories and decorations from buttons.

Buy some from the shop at the start of the session or raid your Mum’s button box and bring your own! Suitable for all abilities, including beginners.

£14 per person (includes findings and stringing materials)

Rubbish Beads Workshop – Sun 20th Sept 3.30 – 6pm or Wed 23rd Sept 6.30  – 9pm

Learn how to make your own beads from scraps of paper, fabric and other ‘rubbish’.

£16 per person (includes materials)

All workshops include instruction sheets to take home, a 10% off voucher for the shop and use of our tools and equipment. And as much tea and cake as you can eat!

To book a place email Kate at kateonorman@hotmail.com, call or text 07709491680, or pop into the shop. We’ll need your contact details and a £5 deposit to secure your place.

workshops and beading club

Thanks to everyone who’s  been to visit the shop since it opened on monday! Lots of people have asked about workshops and the ‘beading club’, both of which I’m going to start in september. The club will be a weekly/fortnightly informal group – maybe held one evening or afternoon – where you can just come and work on any project you want, have some cake and a chat to some other like minded people. The workshops will be sessions of 2-3 hours based around making a particular item, so you have a finished pice of jewellery to take home at the end and instructions of how to make it again if you want to. There’ll be specific children’s workshops aswell as adult ones, and if there’s any interest in it I was going to start a regular jewellery making group for younger people – aged about 11 -15ish to come and make things and socialise, like the beading club.

If you’re interested in any of these or would like more information about them, please forward me your name and email address or phone number and I’ll contact you all when I have more details in the next week or so. And if you’ve got any ideas for clubs or workshops, or preferences to times and days, please get in touch – either leave a comment on here, email me on kateonorman@hotmail.com, call or text me on 07709491680 or pop into the shop.

We’re open until 6 tuesday – saturday, 11-3 on sundays and closed on mondays, so please come down and have a browse,

Kate xxx

First customers!!!

Saturday was a such a lovely day – I went to the Handmade Craft Fair that’s on every saturday a few doors down from the shop at the Custard Factory, run by Cow (Creative Open Workshops). Not only did I buy some great things (I wanted to buy EVERYTHING) but I also got to chat to all the stall holders who were really helpful with ideas and things for the shop and they also came to have a nose in the shop and became my first ever bead shop customers! They had to climb over all the boxes and step ladders but were really excited about the stock, and generally made me feel alot better about everything.

The shop will be open from about 11 tomorrow if you want to come and have a look around, all the beads and things are out and I’ve stocked up on tea and cakes, as well as wrapped lots of little presents for any visitors, but we will still be doing displays and fiddling around so please excuse any mess! Also, sorry if its a pain but I still don’t have a phone line so can’t have a working card machine, so will only be able to accept payments by cash for now.

Hopefully see you all very soon – the shop’ll be open everyday 10.30 – 6ish, 11-3 on sunday and closed on Mondays, and there’s a large car park next door to the custard factory in Heath Mill Lane if you’re driving here. I’d particularly recommend Saturday’s because you can combine a visit to the shop with a trip round the handmade craft fair…

Kate xxx

OPENING ON MONDAY!

The shop will be open from next monday – the 3rd of August. There’s a chance that I won’t have the PDQ machine to take card payments by then or a couple of other odds and ends of stock that are still on their way – but it’ll be nice to at least open the doors so you can all come and at least have a cup of tea and a browse! If you’ve seen in through the window you’ll know the shop is still a mess with stuff everywhere, but the beads are all out in their trays and all the boring paperwork is done (for now at least) so the rest of the week will be the fun bit of making all the displays and setting everything else up.

Here’s a few photos of the new stock, sorry they’re a little blurry – I lost my camera at glastonbury so am using an old one for now…

Any beading or crafting groups in Brum?

Does anyone know of any beading or crafting groups or clubs anywhere in Birmingham? I’m trying to get in touch with anyone who is in one/runs one/or would like to start or attend one, every other town and city seems to have them but I can’t find any anywhere nearby? I wanted to offer them the workshop space in the shop as a venue, as well as discounts and things… and if there isn’t one I’m going to try and start one…

Any thoughts would be much appreciated xxx

More shop-fitting

We’ve nearly finished the shop fit and I’m getting very excited about starting the fun bit of putting all the beads in trays and decorating the shop. I’m hoping to open in the first week of August so please come and see us in that first week for lots of cake and discounts to celebrate the opening. We’ll be open everyday that week and then everyday except mondays from the 8th onwards, from 10-6.30ish (11-3 on sundays). I’m happy to stay open later on week nights if people want to stay in the shop and work on something, or come down for a bit of shopping and tea drinking after work!

Here’s a few more photos of the rest of the shop fitting (including the new counter doubling up as the canteen!) and tomorrow I’ll add some photos of the new stock…

Thanks to everyone for all their nice comments and messages, and thanks for taking the time to have a look at the blog! Kate xxx

We’re on Twitter and Facebook

Jenny -who’s made my day by being the first person to comment on my blog who I’m not related to or friends with! – suggested I get a Twitter account, so I’ve set it up. The user name is brumbeadshop. I also set up a group on facebook ‘The Birmingham Bead Shop’. Please join the group and become a follower on Twitter – and tell your Mum, your Auntie or anyone who’ll listen about the bead shop!

Thank you!xxxxx