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Who are we?
A little bit about us and how we got to where we are.
Spellbound beads was born out of a desire to find new and interesting components to make jewellery with and to share our passion for making with other people. Over the years we have taught hundreds of workshops, helped thousands of people with all sorts of queries and had very many useful suggestions brought to us, for us in turn to pass on. Through the shop, workshops, shows, web-site and phone line we have met many wonderful people who have shared their enthusiasm, ideas, praise and criticisms with us and we hope that the combination of our desire to bring you the best and your feedback combines to bring our customers a great experience however they choose to shop with us.
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Above – Julie working
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July 2009 saw us celebrating 25 years since the day that two Birmingham teenagers first took a stand on their local market selling jewellery and clothing that they had made. The jewellery soon edged the clothes out and the need for beads saw us pounding the streets of the world
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Below – Christine recovering from the cold after a day at the market
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on one of the many markets we attended , note the many layers to cope with the cold!
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(ah, the good old days before the internet!) searching for bead factories that could fulfil our seemingly insatiable desire for new and interesting items to make our jewellery with….
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The jewellery eventually gave way to selling the component parts and teaching our customers how to make jewellery, and we also collected a fellow market trader along the way. Originally selling records and tapes Kevin fast became an essential part of the bead business, firstly as neither Julie nor Christine could drive there were only so many places we could get to by bus and train, but, as many of you will know, he is a key member of the team and has the dubious pleasure of looking after the books, keeping our wilder buying urges in check, and producing the catalogue as well as being one of the core members of our show team.
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Above – Julie and Kevin on a buying trip to India in the early nineties. They are in Delhi on their way to our longest serving Indian supplier who has offices there.
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The people who have helped us along the way have been many and varied – from our parents without whose time, help, encouragement (and driving skills, again) our path would have been a lot harder. Many of you will know ‘mum’, Pat, who, fifteen years ago finally gave up the day job and came to take over managing the shop full time, after many years of fitting in weekend shows for us (up to thirty weekends a year at one point) around her proper job as a laboratory technician. Years of experience with chemicals and materials both in industry and education have given her a fantastic knowledge of materials properties and give an extra dimension to her beading knowledge.
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Likewise with ‘dad’, Bob, who some of you may know. Again, many years of giving up most of his weekends to drive us all around the country. He also has a very critical eye on materials (he is a metallurgist and engineer), and a devoted DIYer, he not only comes to the rescue for domestic plumbing crises but has also built almost all of our shop and show fittings over the years. He retired from his proper job five years ago but can still be found huddled
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over a balance or a spreadsheet at many hours of the day and night as retirement from Spellbound is simply not an option!
The rest of the current team are (in no particular order)
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Lisa: Assistant manager, who joined us two years ago after many years of running her own business. Lisa has a special interest in textiles and can be easily spotted with her gorgeous curly hair and never dull clothing. Lisa works both in the shop and mail order and also attends some of the shows.
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| Vicky: Trained in chemistry, Vicky has a lifelong passion for all things crafty and has been with us for several years– familiar to many of you from her chirpy telephone manner and, for shop visitors, her usually purple tinged hair. Small beadwork is Vicky’s real passion and if you have a query with anything small beadwork and she is in she will be the first person we take you to. Vicky is also one of our regular kit testers for the beadwork kits and has a great in-depth knowledge of our product range.
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Erika: A trained stained glass artist, Erika has brought a whole new dimension to the shop since she joined us a year ago. Passionate about everything, Erika is an enthusiastic tutor for several classes held at Spellbound and she not only enjoys playing with the beads but has also started to make her own. Erika’s real speciality in the shop is wirework and she never stops trying out new ideas.
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Jodie: The semi-precious and charms queen! Jodie has been with us for a few years and, apart from tidying up of which she is extremely fond, she is also second in knowledge only to Pat when it comes to the semi-precious beads. Jodie loves making jewellery for herself and friends and you can guarantee that she will be the one with a necklace to match every outfit.
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Gill: Not often seen by the customers, Gill is a teacher by profession, and an essential part of the team who comes in once a week to help with the essential behind the scenes organisation – and indulge her passion for beads at the same time.
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Beth: our 'senior' Saturday girl. Beth has been with us for almost two years, little did she know that a work experience placement would lead to a long term commitment! Aiming to attend Jewellery College once she completes her A levels Beth is interested in learning all aspects of beading, has attended most of our workshops and now assists with the beginners classes as well.
Particularly interested in wirework Beth has had several projects featured in magazines, including this stunning assymetric tiara
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Rowena is a complete dynamo in the shop, keeping us topped up, stocked up and looking after customers. Not only interested in all aspects of crafting, she is also a keen musician and will be missing for most of summer 2010 as she travels with her other commitments throughout Europe Morris dancing and with the school band.
Emily - has only just joined us and has thrown herself into learning all about the shop and beading.
| Robert - our resident IT person who looks after a lot of the web site back office things that keep us functioning, as well as having the special 'kick' that fixes the printer when it plays up! Before you ask, yes he is in a cheese factory in the photo, hence the white hat, but why he wears his sunglasses indoors no one has ever dared ask! |
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On the left Erika, Bryony, Katie, Lisa and Jodie getting in party mood for ... well, we can't remember the rest of the day so it must have been good!
Bryony was a Saturday girl for three years before joining us full time after A levels in her gap year. Now leaving us to take up midwifery she will be much missed by staff and customers alike.
Katie (centre) helps out in the shop and assists in workshops too. A stickler for tidyness she helps to save us from disappearing under random mess. She is also an accomplished artist and enjoys many areas of crafting.
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Also, not currently regular members of staff but still important members of the team:- Lynn, Jean and Edna - all of them excellent teachers, kit testers and emergency help without who life would be a lot less fun, and Daniel who attends a lot of shows with us.
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Edna is our chief kit tester, loves bright colours and designed this beautiful delica mat which will be appearing on the Project page later this year. Edna is the fastest small beadworker we have ever met and made most of the beaded baubles that are photographed in our new bauble book.
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Lynn - one of our fabulous tutors who specialises in small beadwork, macrame and knitting and crochet with wire
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Jean - teaches the wonderful crystal beaded beads class and produces stunning small beadwork, some of which was featured in the Beadworkers Guild exhibition in Daventry in 2009. Jean is also a highly critical proof reader and pattern tester who helps to ensure that what we publish makes sense.
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Daniel, one of our two 'charming young men' who represent us at shows (the other being Kevin).
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And off duty ... there are still a lot of beads involved but a fair bit of play too
  
Above - Kev playing at the 100 club in London in a previous incarnation as singer with The Sect (Kev still sings and his band Skimmer have toured extensively in the UK and Japan; their most recent album 'Self harmony' was released at the end of 2008); Christine in party mode and Julie and Kev still almost upright after one of the many gigs that we have all gone to over the years.
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