About the Staff
We're blessed with creative, fun, and helpful staff. Everyone here does a little bit of everything. We all have our "preferred" beading techniques, but everyone is knowledgeable about all aspects of beading.

Kim Humphrey

Kim is the owner and is particularly fond of off-loom weaving (and teaches most of those classes). She also enjoys kumihimo, knotting, some stringing and miscellaneous projects working with cords. 

Kate Linne

Kate teaches a lot of the basic classes (basic stringing, earring design, rosary workshop, kumihimo bracelet), and also does a lot of repairs, so she's gotten pretty creative at how to fix things.​

Laurel Wolff

Laurel is especially fond of designs that incorporate leather or cord. Also a knitter, she has a great eye for color and for a "mixed media" approach to jewelry making.

Shop History

Kim Humphrey

​Bead in Hand opened in 1993 at its current location before there was an Oak Park Arts District.  Kim Humphrey became the new owner in March, 2012.  Kim had been a regular customer since 1996, became a part-time employee in 2005 and store manager in June, 2010.  The basics that make the shop so special have not changed over time:  the friendly and helpful staff and the amazing variety of beads and supplies.

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Bead Challenges

Tying One On, by Kim Humphrey

Bead In Hand hosted a (mostly) annual Bead Challenge between 2001 through 2015, inviting customers to interpret a particular theme using beads. The rules were always simple (use any technique, including glue, as long as the majority of the adornments are beads). The results have always been fun and fascinating!

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