The Bead Network
We offer many beginner+ friendly beading classes with crowd sourced designers and projects in 3 hour sessions
Featured Workshops
Karma by Lisa Comstock Bowling
$45
Our Designers
Lisa Bowling
Lisa Bowling is an accomplished bead artist from Greenfield, Indiana, whose work has been recognized with numerous awards, including first place in the Professional Division at the Indiana State Fair for eight years in a row. Her designs are also featured in the Indiana State Museum’s Christmas ornament collection, adorning the Christmas tree each year. In 2020, she was honored as a featured designer in the Toho Bead Company’s design challenge, showcasing her pieces at venues worldwide.
Lisa now shares her expertise with others as a bead embroidery instructor for the Indiana Bead Society and Hancock County Arts. In addition to teaching, she enjoys designing new pieces, tending to her garden, and spending time with her grandchildren. With her wealth of experience and passion for beadwork, Lisa is excited to help others explore the endless possibilities of bead embroidery.
www.etsy.com/lisbetdesigns
Melissa Shippee
Melissa’s life didn’t always involve tiny pieces of colored glass with holes in them. Earlier in life her interests had a broader focus. Melissa always had a fascination with the natural world, and equally with art. In college, when she was finally free to study what she liked, she majored in biology at first but went on to complete a bachelor’s degree in physics, and another bachelor’s degree in fine arts with a painting concentration and art history minor.
Melissa got into bead weaving in her early twenties after she became a parent. She had recently decided to quit grad school to care for her special needs son, who required more help and care than the average baby. She desperately needed a creative hobby that would conform to the new space- and time- (some might say space-time) limitations as she entered a new chapter of life. Her former medium of painting was simply not an option while caring for her son in her tiny apartment.
Thankfully, a friend of Melissa’s introduced her to his aunt’s bead store, Beads East, formerly located in Manchester, Connecticut, and she quickly fell in love with the art form. Melissa found a new creative outlet in designing beaded jewelry, and the rest is history.
Melissa now travels all over the United States as well as internationally to share her love of beading through project workshops as well as sell beading kits, patterns, and supplies.
www.mgsdesigns.net
Holly Bean
Holly Bean began her beading journey 30 years ago; bead weaving fringe earrings for a local store. Holly has been teaching bead embroidery since 2016 at her local bead store, and across the country at bead societies, shops and on Zoom. Holly has her home studio in King George, Virginia.
“Nature, the elements, cultures and life inspire me.
My passion is to create jewelry that invokes energy, peace and healing to the wearer. This is how I express my inner being. I bead how I live my life…lightly dusted with form"
You can read more about Holly in Bead and Jewelry Magazine issue 117
www.hollybean.com
Our origin story
The Bead Network LLC was founded in 2025 to provide online bead embroidery and bead weaving classes to students of all levels across America. As brick and mortar bead stores are becoming scarce, there are less opportunities for a beginner to learn the basics. We offer classes no longer than 3 - 4 hours and students can propose workshops and artists for us to partner with. Connecting students with teachers in a peaceful and friendly environment is what we strive for.
