By Sara Schoedinger, MaineBeader

I’ve been beading for over 30 years. It all started with one book titled, How to do Beadwork. Beading has been a passion for me and I really just keep going.  In the 80s beads were relatively inexpensive to purchase. To bede (bead) means to pray. I read that a long time ago.

I began my hobby with a simple stringing of the beads. Before long, I had the desire to increase my beading skill and create more intricate projects, so I began purchasing more beading books. At that time, my interest was in creating beautiful earrings in something called a brick stitch. I bought more books, mostly to make earrings in brick stitch. Then I bought a loom and more books on French beaded flowers and Victorian beaded flowers. It is such a versatile way to use tiny glass beads to create everlasting bouquets and statement jewelry. The hardest part for me is having the vast array of colors and different types of beads and teaching myself how to do new stitches and techniques. Colors and flowers have meaning, so the learning process never ends.

My son brought me to school when he was in the first grade to show his friends what I was doing. He is 35 now. I also volunteered with 4H and helped children learn how to make necklaces. It’s been a long time since I have done that though and it was a challenge.

When my children were little, they would eat my tiny beads, on purpose! Their pediatrician was not concerned about it since they were tiny seed beads but I kept the beads on top of the refrigerator for a long time after I caught them!

I love to use my beading skill to make gifts for my family. It took all of last year to create five Christmas trees with ornaments and angels for the tops. My family members loved the unique gifts.

Recently I was invited to show my beadwork in a little boutique here in the Village called, All Under One Roof. All Under One Roof, owned by Linda Ballard and Becki Minica, is located at 121 DeSoto Center Drive.

I think that currently a lot of people don’t know the shop even exists. All Under One Roof is open Tuesday-Friday from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm and Saturday from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm. The shop is closed on Sunday.