Creating Art With Beads And Rocks

By its name, I thought Beadazzled Beads & More is a store that basically sells beads… and it does. But surrounding the bins of these colourful and uniquely shaped beads is so much more. Necklaces hang from the walls, display cases are filled with shiny stones, rocks, gems and earrings – to name only a small portion of the merchandise. My initial reaction was that I could spend the day there, just looking around. A birdhouse decorated with stones quickly caught my eye and I leaned in to get a closer look. “Kevin’s mom makes those,” said a woman’s voice behind me. I turned around to a smiling face behind a counter.
Meet Sandy Smith and a few minutes later her husband Kevin, owners of Beadazzled Beads & More. As Kevin and I sat down at a table, which was obviously set up to make jewellery, Sandy continued to tend to the regular stream of customers. Kevin leaned back, looking content and we began to chat.

“Beads are all related to rocks and gems,” he said. “This was a component that led us to expand and add lapidary including cutting, polishing and tumbling. This side of the business started small and grew so I began to sell the equipment related to lapidary as well as tumblers, prospecting and metal detecting. The next step for me is silversmithing. If anyone is interested in learning about it, I’ll teach them.”

Kevin grew up in Boswell, moved to Calgary and met Sandy. Three and a half years ago, Kevin left his job appraising vehicles while Sandy gave up her career in customer service and moved to Creston. They bought Beadazzled Beads & More in August 2009. Sandy got her feet wet in the custom jewellery business working for the former owner of the store.

In the summer of 2008, a For Sale sign went up and as Kevin put it, they wanted something to do, so bought the building and everything fell into place.
“We have very different roles,” Kevin said, chuckling. “Sandy is, well the bead and jewellery lady while I run the coffee shop in the back. Well, actually I handle the lapidary, gold panning and metal detector end of things while Sandy works with the customers and teaches classes. But I do spend a lot of time in the back chatting with old prospectors. I have met some very fascinating people and heard interesting information. For instance, there are lots of dead mines in this area.”

Right then, we stopped talking as Sandy called out to us, “Look at this,” she said with excitement, while showing us a shiny stone necklace. “Lea made this at home, herself. Isn’t it beautiful?” A young girl, who looked shy, stood with her mom just behind Sandy. “Lea has taken some classes and is a fast learner.” The handful of customers looking around and shopping all stopped to look at the necklace.

As Kevin and I began to pick up the conversation where we had left off, a big puppy at the far end of the shop caught my eye. “That’s Rocksie,” he said. “We got her when she was six weeks old and she comes with us everyday. She is seven months old now and I guess our mascot.”

I mentioned to Kevin that I was curious about his knowledge of lapidary. “It was and still is quite a learning curve when it comes to rocks and gems. It is a huge amount of information but you can never learn too much. I’ve always loved rocks but I didn’t know much about them or their names. Gems have healing properties.”

As we talked, Kevin’s fingers played with a piece of copper wire. “This is used in wire wrapping,” he said as he picked up a rock and effortlessly manipulated and bent the wire around the rock, creating what I saw as, the start of a necklace. “Working with rocks, gems or beads is an art,” Kevin said. “It’s a person’s own creation from using their imagination.”
It seemed quieter in the shop so glanced over my shoulder and saw a couple of customers wandering around casually talking to Sandy. As I waited, I slowly walked around, looking at the amazing necklaces, bracelets, precious stones, gems, books, lapidary gear and gave Rocksie a scratch behind her ear. Next I wandered over to the bins that held thousands of beads and my first thought was, I better not knock this over. I looked at the beads, picked a few up, held some in my hand and then it hit me. I wanted to make a bracelet, with Sandy’s help of course, to help me understand what it is like to make a piece of jewellery.

As I approached her I noticed she was holding several precious stones. “Gems are used to help people’s health problems,” echoing what Kevin had told me. “I make jewellery for people specifically to help any health issues they have.” She picked up a book and flipped through it showing which gem helps what illness. “Kevin and I both sleep with a gem under our pillows,” she said seriously. “I have created jewellery to help a person’s medical problem and they have come back and told me how well it work.

But this kind of jewellery isn’t just for people with health problems. There are gems for stress, anxiety to help people sleep and more. These are custom made for every individual.”

Sandy is full of energy and although she is busy and moving around, I felt I had her entire attention. She gave me a quick, but thorough tour, and answered all my questions clarifying what a gem, crystal or precious stone is.

Sandy got me going on picking out the beads I wanted on my bracelet. We had decided it would be simple – two kinds of beads on a nylon string. She sat me down at the table where Kevin and I were sitting at and got me going stringing the beads. “We started classes late last fall,” Sandy told me. “There is a beginner and advanced offered. They have been full, six to eight people. We bring the instructor in, supply the area and sell the supplies. It’s not just women taking the classes, we had a young guy who really enjoyed what he was learning, advanced quickly and took the skills and continued creating at home. We also get some mom and daughter teams – like Lea and her mom. The classes have really taken off.”

I had finished my bracelet and frankly think it looks great. Sandy tied it off and glued it for me. I had to wait until the glue dried before I could wear it. I asked Sandy’s if her love for jewellery made its way into her spare time. “I don’t have any spare time,” she said laughing. “A couple of things I do are repair beads and cross stitch in beads. They are my hobby.” I found this interesting, as Kevin had mentioned he is a member of the Creston Valley Prospectors and Lapidary Club.

As I said goodbye, bracelet in hand, I wondered if Kevin and Sandy saw Beadazzled Beads & More as a business or an extension of their hobbies.

For more information on classes at Beadazzled Beads & More:
www.beadazzledbeads.ca/index.html

Show on front cover Lea and Faye Kempling