Fulfill that desire to create your own jewelry at Caravan Beads

By Paola Lastick

If you have ever visited an arts and crafts fair and drooled over the magnificent handmade jewelry, or if you ever envisioned your arms and neck adorned with hundreds of jewels created from your very own imagination, then what I am about to tell you will most certainly make your day.

You can be the artist displaying her jewelry creations at art fairs, Tupperware parties or while picking up that key ingredient on your way home from work.

For centuries, people have shared a need to create. And today, more than ever before, expressing who we are has become an insatiable need — a deep, rumbling desire to sparkle louder than the masses. And Chicago is one of the largest places where you can set yourself aside, where you can adorn yourself with an exclusive line of self-designed jewelry. Or if you are simply looking to have some fun personalizing next year’s Christmas gifts, making your own jewelry can be both rewarding and fun.

Chicago’s oldest bead store, Caravan Beads, is only a train ride away. Entering the exciting world of stitching, knotting and lacing is just around the corner. But before you decide to plunge headfirst into dozens of African turquoise, blood stones and Dalmatian jaspers, I must warn you that “beaders” are a passionate lot.

“I started here because I had managing experience. I had never before been into beading, but now I have my own wedding design collection,” says Rachel Levy, manager of Caravan Beads and a jewelry designer.

Before you know it, you may go from enrolling in a one-time, two-hour class on basic string techniques to having your Wednesdays taken hostage for the next three months with courses titled “Tin cup knotting,” “Intro to loom weaving” and “Japanese lace.”

Hoping to gain insight into the beading culture and get some cool-looking bracelets out of it, I signed up for a class.
I had no idea what to expect, so I went to class armed with my enthusiasm and eagerness to learn. At Caravan Beads, off the Paulina El stop, there was a certain energy that radiated in the tiny classroom where 10 or so women gathered around the instructor.

Following all the intricate moves and paying close attention to every flick of the wrist, each of us was hoping to make the best piece out of the group. Hands quickly began moving around, weaving and twisting wires and adding that perfect color bead that was sure to gain an approving nod from the instructor.

I have to admit, this was fun. Before I knew it, I found myself comparing strings and trying to replicate the sample bracelet. Although, I must confess, my piece only got a sympathetic smile.

Caravan Beads offers about six classes a day, seven days a week. Whether you are a beginner, eager to sport that Tiger Eye coiled-wire pendant at the next purse party, or if you have climbed a few steps up the apprentice ladder and are looking to put together a collection to display at the next art fair, there is a class designed just for you. And expect to be gripped the first time you string your own strand.

Aside from the different types of wires, you can find beads of all shapes, sizes and colors. In making your own jewelry, the choices for color and brightness are endless. Caravan Beads is known to be the leading bead store in the area.

“We have the largest square-feet area store in all the Midwest. Twenty-eight hundred square feet,” says Levy. “We carry all types of beads from all over the world. We have semi-precious stones, and we carry nothing plastic.”

As the cream of the crop, you won’t find any home-put-together jewelry kits at Caravan. Only the finest stones from around the world.

To get your string strung, visit www.caravanchicago.com. You can browse through the wide selection of semi-precious beads, strings and classes. Caravan Beads also brings the art of beading to the Spanish-speaking public. Caravan Beads is located at 3361 N. Lincoln Avenue and is very accessible by public transportation.

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