What is Bead Retreat? A place to escape and bead for therapy? Not really, though you could make that argument. Let me tell you how I first encountered Bead Retreat and my reaction.

About 3 years ago a dear friend in my church sent me an invite to a home “party” to make jewelry. The first thoughts were Pampered Chef, Tupperware, Lia Sophia, PartyLite. I had been to so many of those already. Now, don’t get me wrong. I love Pampered Chef products. I use Tupperware. I like to wear Lia Sophia. I thoroughly enjoy PartyLite. But this one was so unique that I think that scared me off a bit. The hostess decides on a piece of jewelry to make, sends out the invite, and when you attend you actually make it yourself and you walk away that night with your piece. I saw the card with the name of the piece. I didn’t know what that meant. I had never seen one of their catalogs. I’ll be honest that when I attend some of these parties, I usually just buy the cheapest thing because I’ve been to so many already and spent so much money but I really feel like supporting the hostess. The cost listed on the invite was somewhere around $20 - $22 (cost of the product, tools, and instruction). I didn’t know if I wanted to spend that on a piece of cheap jewelry that would probably turn my skin green and give me cancer. So I declined. I declined again about six months later.

But I became my own “victim”. This friend and her daughter began to wear pieces of jewelry that I couldn’t help but comment on. Each time she informed me that it was a piece from Bead Retreat. My interest got piqued. The third invite came around in September and I gave in.

It was similar to those other businesses in that they come into your home and hold a party or retreat and the hostess can get freebies and discounted items. But the difference was that you were actually being taught something and it was all hands on. That scared me big time. I am not creative. I am a trained accountant. Being creative in that field gets you twenty to life.

The instructor, Mary, sat us down in front of these grey boards that I was staring at hoping that it wouldn’t zap me if I did anything wrong (like the game Operation). She gave a brief history of the company and her involvement in it (I’ll do the same in a little bit). Then she began to explain what we were about to do and the various tools we would be using. Fear was still there as I looked at these “surgical” tools.

Step one was to choose the color scheme of the chosen piece. Our dear hostess had taken pity on us and given us more reason to panic as we tried to decide on colors to operate on.

Step two was to open the kit OVER the bead board. Some of us did not do that and spent a few minutes on the floor looking for pieces.

In front of me were pearly looking things, crystal pieces, silver balls, small rocks, and I wasn’t too sure of the other things.

Step three was to design. Alright. I was ready to pretend to go to the bathroom and sneak out the window. Me, design? Yeah, and the sky is pink with purple polka-dots in your world. I sat there for what seemed an eternity staring at these pieces. She suggested that I look at the piece in the catalog and could follow that pattern. And what other pattern would I do?

She then proceeded through the rest of the creation process. Before I knew it, I was wearing a beautiful bracelet on my wrist that I made. That I made. Just in case you missed that, THAT I MADE. I loved it. It contained small natural stones, Swarovski crystals and pearls. Cheap old piece it was not. I even had pieces left over to use with other kits or make earrings with.

I began to look through the catalog and the pieces were just beautiful. AND there was an array of colors and styles. When she showed us the actual pieces, I decided that the catalogs were lying to me. Pieces that I thought not attractive or for me, were so different in person and even then different in various lightings. Then Mary explained what all the hostess could get out of this retreat. I had to have one of my own and before Christmas. I signed up for one right away.

Go ahead and laugh. The person who had tried to hide and then run away actually booked her own retreat. I deserve it.

I wore the piece to work the next day and so many made comments on how pretty it was. When I told them that I had made it, they were in total shock. Really? Could they do that themselves? Well, come in a month and find out. I had about 8 guests show up and they all had a blast. I walked away with so many items as a hostess and gave away some really beautiful homemade gifts. From that one retreat I held, two hands cannot hold the number of people who have fallen in love with Bead Retreat. I loved it so much that I became a coordinator. (In the honor of ethics and many of the principles of HubPages, I am not writing this to generate sales so my links will only be to the actual headquarter site. My intent here is to explain what this company is about and clear up confusions some have about it just like I had.)

Just over 7 years ago two women, Cindi and Lesa, were making and selling jewelry but not as partners yet. They noticed so many people asking how did they do that. Maybe they needed to look at this in a different light and fill a niche that no one else seemed to be doing (a good business decision). They joined up and searched the bead world for the perfect complimentary pieces. They designed bracelets but did not make them to sell. They put them all in kits for the customer to create on their own. The intent was to teach them the techniques, instruct on how to use the tools, give them a starting point with the kit, and let their creativity take over. It was a huge success.

Bead Retreat is growing by leaps and bounds and is being featured in many of the national women’s magazines and in beading magazines (see their website for the numerous articles). Though it is not yet in all US states, it is getting there quickly. The concept of taking a kit and creating your own, or taking multiple kits and really creating something unique is so much fun. You can make bracelets, necklaces, earrings, and bookmarks. What you see in the catalog is nothing. Those are just suggestions. The possibilities are completely endless. So many are just as surprised as I was the first time they make them. They were shocked at how easy it really was and that they themselves created it.

I’ve seen skeptics become heralds of their products. It is so much fun to make. My cousin will host a retreat. When the products come in, she’ll contact the guests and they show up again to make them. It is just another excuse to have fun together.

The cost is outstanding. You cannot get personalized pieces of jewelry at department stores for the cost of a Bead Retreat product. Earrings are as low as $8. Bracelets as low as $9.50. Necklaces as low as $15. They do have some that go much higher but the majority are in the perfect price range with 65% of the catalog $15 or less with extremely high quality components.

Check out their website and find a coordinator near you to host a retreat of your own. It is fun and gets the creative juices flowing.