It was the year 2020 and it looked promising even with a menacing evil lurking in the shadows. I had a new job, one where one has to wear an ID at all times. So, I needed the perfect lanyard. The ones online were either dull or would easily snag or were just the “wrong” pattern. I decided I would make mine. I could just string a few beads and have the rainbow lanyard I wanted.

Meanwhile in the world, there were whispers about this super contagious virus and people were already obsessively wiping down counters. A friend, who introduced me to beading, took me to a local bead store in the neighborhood where they obsessively wiped down their counters and sanitized their products (please go to A Place to Bead and show them some love). I picked up beads that I thought I wanted without any knowledge of beads. The lady at the store was very helpful but I was way too overwhelmed to retain any kind of information. I picked up some seed beads, a loom, some thread and needles that the lady said would fit the beads. I was set to make my one and done project. A week later the world came to a screeching halt – everything shut down. Fortunately, I still had a job and I could work from home. This lockdown is only for a month, we were told. So, I started making my lanyard on a bead loom – I’m going back to work in the office in a month! However, ten rows into the project I realized I had beads of different sizes and having a design in your head is probably not the best way to go. I reached out to the best teacher I could find at that moment – YouTube and guuuurl, is that a rabbit-hole. Pretty soon I was learning about the various kinds of seed beads and the basic bead stitches and methods – the whole gamut. One month turned to a year and I had bead subscriptions from various places and boxes full of jewelry I made with my own two hands – a combination of original designs and some, eh, pretty basic. One would say I was extremely nerdy about beading and dove into the process head first.

Most of the original designs here are inspired by themes and ideas from books, television shows and movies, hence the Nerdy Beader.  However, if getting nerdy about TV and Movies doesn’t rock your boat, there are plenty of designs in the shop one would consider not-nerdy. But hey, no one’s here to gatekeep. One can be nerdy about anything! So, have a look-see and who knows maybe you’ll find something that you absolutely love. Nerd out!