Hello bead friends! In December I will be teaching another bead-along. I tried to choose a project that could be suitable for Christmas, but isn’t ONLY Christmas-specific. I know we’ve got lots of people who don’t celebrate Christmas, or have other holidays during December. So, I chose a Hellebore pattern that I published in my first book “Christmas Collection.” This class is beginner-friendly.
This particular variety of Hellebore (Helleborus niger) is called the “Christmas Rose” because it usually blooms during Christmas-time. It does have some minor significance to Christmas itself. It is featured in a Christmas story about a little shepherd girl who didn’t have a gift for the Christ Child, so an angel made the flowers grow from her tears, and she took those to baby Jesus. But, as a life-long Christian myself, I had never heard of that story until I started researching Christmas flowers for my book.
They are also popular garden plants because they bloom in the cold of winter, when most other plants are sleeping or dead. So, this could be a Christmas Project, or a Winter project.
The name of this hellebore confuses some people. It’s true name is Helleborus niger, which means the black hellebore. But, the flowers bloom pure white, sometimes with tinges of pink. It got it’s name because it used to be sold in markets as a bundle of roots that one could then plant. And it’s roots are black. So, Black Hellebore.
There are many species of Hellebore, however, they often have different foliage, stamen, and plant structure than the Christmas Rose variety. So, you could switch the color of the flowers if you wanted to match another variety, but just know that the rest of the plant might not be true to form.
Some newer hybridized varieties of Helleborus niger bloom pink or dark red. But, the white is still the more popular and most well-known color. I am trying to make a red one, too, but we will see how far I get.
Due to time constraints in December, we will be making a smaller pot of the Hellebores than the project in my book. The original has a few more flowers, a larger opening bud, and more foliage.
How Bead-alongs Work:
For those of you who haven’t done one of these before, bead-alongs are classes or patterns that are donated by designers for a group. Most of the time they are free, and sometimes they also include video instruction. They are usually only available for a certain period of time, and all the members of the group get to bead and work through the pattern together, ask the designer questions, and share their progress and finished photos of their work. Bead-alongs are so much fun! It’s a great way to be together as a beading community and share the love of French Beaded Flowers.
My Christmas Rose class is beginner-friendly, so even if you have never made a French Beaded Flower before, you can join in and learn the basics of making flowers from seed beads and wire.
The class will be free, but only during December and only for those either in the Facebook group or enrolled in the class. The class materials cannot be shared with anyone else. During the class, I will upload the PDF for the pattern and the videos for the class. Normally all of the class materials would be removed at the end of the class, but I am running this one a little differently. The videos will remain up, and free, even after December. The PDF, however, will be removed at the end of the class.
There are two ways to participate:
1 – Join the “Learn How to Make French Beaded Flowers” Facebook group. All group members are automatically included in bead-alongs. You just have to remember to come to the group in December and watch for my posts.
2 – Enroll in the Video Class here on my website. You will need an account on my website to enroll. During the class you will receive emailed announcements letting you know when each lesson is available. This option is for those who are not on Facebook, or do not want to join the group. I will note that if you participate via the Video Class on my website, there isn’t a way to share photos of your work with the rest of the class. So there really isn’t a community aspect to this option. I would love to have those options on my website in the future. But for now, this is a great way to be able to bead with me if you aren’t on Facebook.
You do not need to do both!
I do have Kits and Bead Packs available for this class if you want to make shopping for materials quick and easy. But, they are only available to those participating in the class, so you will need to either join the Facebook group or enroll in the Video Class to get the links for them.
Come bead along with me next month! Hope to see you all in class.