Eclectica Beads
Choose from thousands of beads in an endless array of designs and sizes. Eclectica bead store is located in the Galleria West Shopping Center in Brookfield, Wisconsin.
Beading Supplies and Tools
Eclectica has beading tools, supplies, and a friendly, helpful staff. With an incredible selection of beads, including a rainbow of glass in many shapes and styles, a staggering variety of freshwater pearls, a huge array of semiprecious stones, and a fabulous assortment of seed beads. They have all the findings you need, including stringing materials, metal findings for earrings, and specialty components.
Jewelry Making and Beading Classes
If you’re interested in the basics of jewelry design or a specific technique, they have many classes available to help learn while also creating your own jewelry. If you’d like to learn how to work with wire, how to create stitched designs, chain maille, metal clay, or even traditional metalsmithing, they have classes at many different experience levels. View their current class schedule here.
Beads and Jewelry Making Kits
They have a wonderful selection of kits next door in the Bead Studio. Many of these kits are exclusive to Eclectica. You’ll find everything you need inside each kit, including coordinated color choices, beads, and findings, and easy-to-follow directions. Make beautiful necklaces, bracelets, and earrings of your own. See a selection of the kits on their website here.
Their friendly, experienced staff can assist you in the selection of beads and supplies, or consult with you about your interest in a new technique or project.
Irina Miech, Eclectica Bead Store Owner
I enjoyed meeting Irina Miech; she is the owner of Eclectica & The Bead Studio and the author of several jewelry instruction books. Keep reading for more about the fascinating journey that brought her here.
The following article was featured on the Brookfield NOW website.
Love of jewelry launches an unexpected career – Designer put herself through college as a Russian interpreter.
The life of Irina Miech of Brookfield could be viewed as a series of sparkling events. Placed together like crystals on a string, they create her own unique story.
Irina immigrated in 1979 to the United States from Kiev, Ukraine, when her parents moved first to New York and then settled near friends in Wisconsin. She put herself through college as an interpreter, earning a degree in international relations and Russian.
But Irina’s first love was art and fine crafts, and she began importing handicrafts and jewelry from around the world. During a buying trip to Morocco, she asked to see how the jewelry was made. “I learned to make earrings,” she recalled. “And when I came back, I was hooked.”
Irina started designing her own jewelry as soon as she returned home. Within a few months, she was selling her one-of-a-kind pieces to upscale apparel shops and the Art Institute of Chicago.
“Two or three years later, I thought it would be nice to open my own little store,” she said. She opened her first bead shop in a small storefront in downtown Waukesha, where hobbyists, jewelry enthusiasts, and the man who was to become her husband all walked through the door.
So did an editor for a leading bead magazine, who invited Irina to write an article for the publication. It was to be the first of many, leading to a series of “how-to” books on jewelry making addressing topics ranging from precious metal clay to wirework.
Irina is an author of 10 books on jewelry design as well as the owner of Eclectica and the Bead Studio, both in the Galleria West Shopping Center, 18900 W. Bluemound Road.
The shops glimmer, shimmer, and shine with millions of beads, from pearls to crystals to handmade glass masterpieces.
Irina enjoys teaching and is a featured instructor at Milwaukee’s annual Bead and Button Show. Her Bead Studio offers classes for beginners and professional jewelers, as well as parties for all ages.
Her biggest challenge? “The whole,” she said. “I am so happy to wear so many hats.” As long as she’s wearing the jewelry to match.
Eclectica and the Bead Studio
Galleria West Shopping Center
18900 West Bluemound Rd #148
Brookfield, WI 53045
(262)641-0910
Hours of operation:
Sunday 12:00pm – 4:00pm
Monday-Saturday 11:00am – 5:00pm