The bead store has grown out of and around our workshops.
In January 2005, I was persuaded to run a course of basic beading at our local primary school as part of a fund-raising project. The course was very popular and was repeated for a second term.
When the project ended, the newly created bead addicts simply followed me home - my dining room became the beading workshop and gradually wall space was taken up with a modest stock of beads, findings and accessories.
A few months later, my neighbour, Carl, asked if I would teach him beading. It did not take long to see that he was a natural. He soon started helping by creating proper diagrams for the notes and then taking care of things when I visited my son in America.
As so often happens, the pupil soon outshone the teacher and I was happy to let him take over more and more of the teaching while I spent more time on the ever growing demand for beads. It was becoming clear that what had started as a hobby was going to take over my life and my house.
The beading addicts that we were creating with our classes, were becoming more discerning and were no longer satisfied with what was generally available in bead stores. I began stocking Czech seed beads and gradually moved on to Japanese seed beads and quality findings and accessories.
Carl and I suit each other perfectly as he has the patience to tackle things that I would never dream of making and his skill on the computer has resulted in beading notes and diagrams that are becoming famous.
We continue to offer workshops – both Carl and I teach beginners to advanced beaders.
Pupils may choose from a catalogue of almost 100 projects according to their level of expertise.
To download or browse through the catalogue, please click here (PDF-file 3 Mb).
Workshops are available from Wednesday to Saturday, morning and afternoon.
Once a month Petra van der Westhuizen, a very accomplished and experienced beading teacher from Cape Town, offers workshops on the third Thursday of the month.
Carl is now also teaching in Somerset West, Durbanville and Paarl.
To check his schedule, visit www.beadingwithcarl.com
