Bead Society of Orange County

08/31/2026

Get ready for one of the most surprising craft sales for 2026! The Bead Society of Orange County is holding their annual "Member September" sale on Saturday, September 26th from 10 am until 2 pm.

This is where the Bead Society members de-stash, offer hand-made treasures, tools, books, findings, and so much more for sale to the public. If you're looking for something wonderful, and a great deal, this is the event to find it!

The Date: Saturday, September 26, 2026
Time: 10 am until 2 pm
The Place: The Bowers Museum - outside, in the covered arcades where it's nice and cool.
The Address: 2002 N Main Street, Santa Ana, CA
Parking: Available on site for a small charge.
Cost: The event is FREE! Museum entrance is additional.

Come on down. Make a day of it. Have lunch. Meet Bead Society members and treat yourself to something special!

08/31/2026

Monday's Beady Child - a weekly creative shot in the arm for beading enthusiasts.
Tama (Cliff) Swain-Salomon is an off-the-loom seed bead weaver known for creating pieces that mimic fine jewelry techniques. Their work combines engineered and organic structures to preserve cultural traditions and recount their personal journeys.
Having over 30 years of study with several renowned spiritual teachers of various backgrounds, Tama incorporates the cultural wisdom and imagery imparted to them with a sense of fashion handed down to them by their great grandfather, a tailor to Hollywood stars.

Their work has been exhibited internationally, including at the Toho Bead Galleries in Osaka and Tokyo, Japan. They have been the grand prize winner of the Bead Dreams People’s Choice Award and have won grand prize for both the Facet Jewelry Reader’s Choice Award and the Judge’s Award.

08/25/2026

Monday's Beady Child - a weekly creative shot in the arm for beading enthusiasts.
Bobby Dues - Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate
Tucson, Arizona

A Complicated Relationship with Beads
Bobby Dues is a self-taught beader whose works have deeper meaning. “I learned through an instructional text that I found at the homeless shelter where I was working. The book was called Quill and Beadwork of the Western Sioux. I’m not Western though, I’m Eastern Woodlands,” he says. He evolved his craft through friends, family, and YouTube (a common tool, it appears), developing a particular interest in his tribe’s nature-oriented approach. “My ancestors from the Eastern Woodlands had an aesthetic which was beautifully informed by the flora and terrain around them,” he says. “Medicinal recipes were woven into our design vocabulary and displayed through adornment. I strive to remain thoughtful in my own work.”

While his work can be beautiful, Dues’s beading is rooted with darker statements. “Beads are fu**ed up. I just want to address that,” he says. “The historic threads of the slave trade, land theft, and community displacement are strung through glass beads from Europe. Needless to say, I’ve got a complicated relationship with those beautiful little bubbles of glass.”

08/10/2026

Monday's Beady Child - a weekly creative shot in the arm for beading enthusiasts.
Felandus Thames
Vibrant, Beaded Portraits honor memories and the Black diaspora

From thousands of colorful hair beads, Felandus Thames conjures vibrant patterns and portraits. He takes historical photographs as a starting point, focusing especially on Black and Indigenous figures whose stories have largely been underrepresented in American historical narrative.

Thames emphasizes powerful associations with materials. In the case of these portraits, he employs beads frequently used to style braids.

Pictured, “Let’s dance (portrait of Alvin Ailey)” (2025) hair beads on coated wire and aluminum rod, 60 x 41 x 4 inches.

07/31/2026

The Bowers Museum is having a Quilt Fair, and we'll be showing our new quilt-inspired jewelry. Come on down and see the Bowers Quilt Show, and the Fair for a full day of all things Quilt.
Museum

07/29/2026

During an unfulfilling decade spent working in tech, ants began forming in the mind of Tanya Korobkova- each tiny insect representing a different anxiety, phobia or unrealised creative thought.
One day, Tanya quit her job, picked up a needle and- I quote-
“Started sewing like someone was chasing me.”
Korobkova KEPT on sewing, drawing those ants one by one from the confines of her overwrought brain onto soft textile cords designed to grace the wrist and adorn the neck.
The results are unsettling, yet UNFATHOMABLY captivating: regimented lines of bristling bead-bodied crawlies that draw you in with their gleaming abdomens and make you itch with the spidery realism of their tickly textile legs.
Entitled ‘Arkan Cords’, Korobkova’s antworked pieces put me in mind of a stitchified version of Japanese Shibayama insects; Trompe l’oel-worthy inlaid gemstone beetle bodies made flinchingly real with the addition of engraved limbs and thread-fine feelers.
Aside from Katrin Veegen’s LEGENDARY anodised titanium brooch, Tanya’s Arkan Cords are- without a doubt- my NEW favourite iteration of the wearable ant! 😄 🐜😄 🐜
https://www.instagram.com/omage_lab/

07/21/2026

Monday's Beady Child - a weekly creative shot in the arm for beading enthusiasts.
Jóh Ricci
Gettysburg, PA
Elegant sculpture in glass beads and knotting-
This piece by artist Jóh Ricci is among a select number of creative works accepted for Fiber Reimagined IV, an international juried exhibition. What drew us to the piece was its negative space and the harmonious incorporation of thread knotting with fine beadwork.

07/16/2026

The Museum of Beadwork attracts some fantastic talent!

Winners announced!!
Please join us in congratulating the 2026 MOB Challenge winners!
This exhibit is now on display until June, 2027, so now is the perfect time to come see it and vote for "People's Choice" in person. Voting will be held until August 16th.
Today's image is our Grand Prize winner "The Mycelial Heartwood" by Melanie Mosher.
Click the link bellow to view the other winners or stay tuned for their posts throughout the week!

www.museumofbeadwork.org/pages/microbe-challenge

07/15/2026

A spectacular example of traditional Turkana beaded adornment. The assembly and stacking of beaded necklaces is used to great effect.

04/13/2026

Monday's Beady Child - a weekly creative shot in the arm for beading enthusiasts
Welcome to the first of many weekly posts dedicated to giving your beading skills inspiration for out-of-the-box creativity.
Today, we're featuring the work of Liza Lou that incorporates beaded brushstrokes with paint. The artist constantly asks in her work "When does a painting become not a painting? Can a brushstroke be more than a brushstroke?" Enjoy Enjambment, Lou's recent work (2025). Be sure to enlarge the image to see the intricate bead work!