About-Beads.com is an online marketplace for crafters who are looking for Delica beads at an affordable price. We provide the highest level of customer service with a focus on building long term relationships with our new and existing customers.

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Our Story

Welcome to the About-Beads Family!

About-Beads was started by Karl & Suzanne Wester in 2001, however the story begins much earlier.

In 1992 Karl and Suzanne moved from sunny Florida to wintery Michigan for Karl’s job. Not knowing anyone in Michigan, Suzanne decided to try her hand at cross stitch. She started with simple projects and worked her way up to larger and more elaborate pieces.

In 1994 she began work on her largest cross stitch project, The Snow Angel. (Pictured below.)  The Snow Angel included beads as embellishment. She decided she enjoyed working with the beads so she moved to beading projects. She created many beaded items such as necklaces, amulet bags and larger works of art.

Her family’s favorite of her beaded works is The Kiss based on the painting by Gustav Klimt. (Pictured below.)

By 1997 Karl and Suzanne had moved back to Florida and Suzanne was exclusively working on beading projects. After accumulating hundreds of Delica beads she had the idea to sell them on the internet. In 2001 Karl created the custom made About-Beads website.

To get it going, in December 2001, they paid $25 to be listed in several bead website directories. In January 2002 the website took off! From that time until December 2017, they did not do any other advertising. Suzanne was very active in the online beading communities and their business grew based on her work and customer word of mouth.

Suzanne began to create beading patterns and she had a special talent for knowing just which beads and colors to tweak to make the pattern perfect. One of her first pattern designs was a whimsical dragon. Karl took that design, put it on the website and it has been the official logo for About-Beads.com ever since.

In 2011, Suzanne passed away, however Karl kept the website going. Simply based on his fast shipping, amazing personal service and loyal customer base, About-Beads has thrived.

In December 2017, Trish Morrison, Karl and Suzanne’s daughter, took over the day to day operations, moving the business from Virginia back to Florida. Trish spent several months working with Karl, learning his process before taking over the operations.

Trish continues Karl’s belief that your word is your bond and a handshake is a promise. About-Beads.com will always continue the no-nonsense customer service policy and always strive to “make it right” if you have a concern or issue.

While Karl is no longer working the day to day operations, he is still very much a part of About-Beads and always will be. **UPDATE** It is with a sad heart that we advise our customers that Karl passed away on February 1, 2019. It was his wish to be able to stay at home on his beloved mountain in Virginia and with the help of hospice he was able to do just that. He passed with his daughter by his side.

Here at About-Beads.com we keep the dragon logo to honor Suzanne and Karl's memory and remind us that her love of beading (and his love of her) is what started this website. We want all of our customers to enjoy beading as much as Suzanne did with all their projects, large or small.