BeadStyle : bead records

A Fresh look/ beading a smile with Portable Playhouse

Cathy Jakicic — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 14:47:00 GMT

Two tidbits before the long holiday weekend:

• We've gotten a few questions about where to find the black and white charms we used in the "Hearts and coins" bracelet on page 74 of our "52 Bracelets" special section.

Here's the scoop: We found the charms at Michaels, but according to Plaid, the company which manufactures them under the "Fresh" label, the brand can be found at many craft chains. You can also buy them online on the Plaid site.

* The Portable Playhouse, a non-profit organization, has joined with a nationally known bead company to raise money for its art therapy program. Their goal is to create the world's longest beaded necklace. They are working under the guidelines of The Guinness Book of World Record’s to record and certify our efforts. The money raised will be used to help fund specialized art therapy beading programs at hospitals and cancer centers across the country. They work with hospitalized children, (regardless of their illnesses) and women fighting cancer in outpatient cancer centers across the country.

Portable Playhouse has already worked with tens of thousands of children and women and is looking for help to reach even more. Check out their Web site for more information or to donate to the cause. For each $1 donation, a bead will be put on the record-setting necklace and they will record your name for the Guinness World Records Book. They are "Beading miles of smiles . . one bead at a time."

When I went online to donate today, they were at 1933 beads. It would be great if BeadStyle readers could push them over 2,000 this weekend.

A new world record broken by (or at least with the help of) beads

Stacy Hillmer — Mon, 18 May 2009 17:20:00 GMT

A few weeks ago, I blogged about a group of kids in England and a man in Abu Dhabi who are breaking world records with beads. Not long after, my Art Jewelry colleague Addie Kidd forwarded me a link to another world record about to be shattered by beads – and lots and lots of tulle.

Romanian designer Oana Comanescu recently created the world’s longest wedding dress, coming in at almost a mile (1,579 meters) or, if you prefer, 31 laps of an Olympic length pool. The dress is studded with 7,000 Swarovski crystals, which no doubt adds to the price tag, a mere $5,1000! Congratulations to the designer, and good luck to the entourage of bridal attendants that will one day heft that train around!

Breaking records with beads

Stacy Hillmer — Mon, 04 May 2009 18:42:00 GMT

I’ve had my eye on two stories over the last two months about folks who are using beads to break world records. So far, I’ve not heard the official verdicts from Guinness World Records, but I think these extraordinary beaders deserve some publicity for their efforts!

In Somerset, England, a group of kids has been vying for the world record of most beads strung on fishing line. The previous record stands at 164 feet (50 meters) in 24 hours. According to event organizer Anne Stoneham, that record was left in the dust when the youth of Somerset strung 355 feet (108 meters, 21 centimeters) in a mere 13 hours and 15 minutes using an estimated 20,000 beads. Read the rest of the story in this BBC article and send your congratulations to Somerset!

From England, we turn to Abu Dhabi where 41-year-old Jeyaraman Ravi has created a 10 x 5-ft. (3 x 1.5 m) beaded version of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) flag using nearly 300,000 beads. He tells the Gulf News, “I have completed two decades of my life here and wanted to give a tribute to this nation by doing something exceptional.” Fourteen months of those two decades was spent on the beaded flag. The Guinness World Records has since opened a new category for largest national flag made of beads. Congratulations, Ravi!