See below for info on shop and mail order opening hours including bank holidays.

The Spellbound Bead Co has had a shop in the the historic City of Lichfield since 1995. First at number 45 Tamworth Street, where we existed quite happily for several years until we had so many lines we simply ran out of room … we desperately needed more space but didn’t want to move out of Lichfield. Then, after several years and with hopes of staying in the City starting to fade, the shop next door became available – twice the size and very convenient for the move! So, since 2006 we have been at number 47 Tamworth Street and would love to stay here - we just have to keep finding more and more ways to keep cramming more stock in so that we don’t run out of room again!

above - displays of semi precious bead strings, freshwater pearls, cut crystal glass strings, and Pat checking the finish on a necklace (Pat looks after our repairs service)

The shop is crammed to the rafters with beads and all things bead related – from floor to ceiling, wall to wall, in every available nook and cranny you will find beads, threads, kits, findings, books and magazines.

above the front room of the shop with its hanging bauble display, kit boards and seed beads and Nina concentrating hard on the task in hand

The back room at the shop has a fabulous range of semi precious on display as well as lots of metal beads, cut crystal and fire polished faceted beads.

above lots of kit samples and glass beads, the bead wall and some of the coloured wire we stock and some lovely freshwater pearls on display

The side room houses a gorgeous array of wire, in enamelled colours and silver and gold plate plus a range of knitted wire, the ever so tempting bead wall which is full mainly of lampwork beads but with a few pressed bead strings too, lots of books and the latest magazines, big bold ceramics, some kits including the Miyuki range, needlecases and animal designs and a small selection of wooden beads too.

above beads from floor to ceiling, early morning putting up orders before the shop opens and glass beads of all shapes and sizes

The middle room is home of the front counter – with drawers full of sterling silver beads, chatons, window crystal and assorted specialist findings. This is also where we keep most of our findings, threads of all types, glass beads and the fabulous Delica display.

above Delicas galore - they run the entire length of one wall in the middle room - and the C-Lon display of 104 beautiful colours

Moving down into the front of the shop there are glass beads galore, kits everywhere you look, lots of pots and 100g bags of seed beads and bugles, bead mixes, starter boxes, Spellbound Simples, palette boxes and Craft Kit Co boxes.

above trays and trays of glass beads and Julie, Erika and Edna on our official launch day for Spellbound Festive Beading

There are, of course plenty of things I haven’t mentioned on this brief walk through the shop, like bead mats, delica fifteens, plated plastics, the odd short run items that we only keep at the shop and, of course, all the lovely staff that work so hard to keep shop and mail order running like clockwork and making sure all of our customers are properly looked after.

above Bryony, Rowena, Nina, Emily and Beth with Santa, one of our occasional staff play days, this time with Clare John (see www.clarejohn.co.uk for more info on her classes) who provided an excellent days tuition in working with resins and Vicky and Lisa obviously deep in thought ... I wonder what about?

But they are all here, and we even get a visit from Santa each Christmas too so why not come and visit and find out why we were voted favourite Bricks and Mortar UK Bead Store by the readers of Beads and Beyond in January 2011.

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Please note that due to space constraints we do not hold wholesale quantities of all lines on these premises and although we endeavour to be fully stocked at all times we do run out of things sometimes too! 

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SHOP AND MAIL ORDER OPENING HOURS

About Lichfield - Lichfield is a fabulous place for a day out.  Crammed full of independent shops and an amazing number of cafes, pubs, coffee shops and restaurants.  Other attractions within the City are the 800 year old cathedral with the famous three spires; Erasmus Darwin House, the Heritage Centre and the Samuel Johnson Birthplace Museum and parks galore.  For the crafty minded we would recommend a trip to the Heritage Centre to see the fabulous Millenium Tapestries, a wander down Tamworth Street past number 45 - now an interiors shop crammed full of lovely things for the home, then down to Paraphernalia at number 43 - full of lovely furniture, lamps and more tempting things for the home.  Walking on you can choose Dam street for Tales Press, for arts and embroidery supplies, and The Place for general craft materials, or you could head to the market on Tuesdays, Friday and Saturdays (plus first Thursday in the month for the Farmers Market).  There is also an excellent selection of charity shops, a fantastic cook shop, second hand books, independent clothes shops such as Dame Olivers which is a real treasure trove for all items wearable, and, as mentioned earlier, more places to eat and drink than you would think possible for a place of its size.

Around Lichfield - as much as there is to do in Lichfield there is lots more in the surrounds.  Curborough craft centre is just on the outskirts, as is the Heart of the Country (shops/galleries/restauramts); Mitchells Arts Centre; Drayton Manor Park, Shugborough Hall and Estate; Letocetum Roman Site; Staffordshire Regiment Museum and the National Memorial Arboretum - and plenty more besides but this is just to whet your appetite!

If you would like more information about Lichfield the best place to start is the tourist information centre.  The web address is www.visitlichfield.co.uk and they usually have information that they can send out - in our experience so far they have always provided excellent information from parking to accomodation to travel directions and everything in-between.  Their email is info@visitlichfield.com or phone number 01543 412112.  They are based at Lichfield Garrick - our local theatre - and they are open Monday to Saturday 9am to 5pm.