Are seed beads a recipe for vitality?

Perhaps they are, as yet a second bead worker in the Vysocko has recently celebrated a significant birthday. Mrs Jaroslava Marková celebrated her ninetieth birthday and her colleagues from PRECIOSA ORNELA came to congratulate her.

As a girl, she worked with beads (or "korale" as they are called in the Vysocko, an area synonymous with seed beads), when she helped her grandmother string "natáhliky", while after school she crocheted blankets. Mrs Marková remained faithful to seed beads and from the age of 54 she has strung 11/0 size seed beads on 12 needles at home on a machine with a lightness of touch and extreme skill. She used to prefer working with smaller beads, so-called size 13/0 and 15/0, with which she was able to hold 24 needles in her hand.

100 kg/month

She used to take a little cart to pick up the goods, while in winter she used a sled. Now, her sons and grandsons help her with this and she still manages to get through a remarkable 100 kg seed beads a month.

It is unbelievable how this vital lady is able to string beads with great patience and skill, while also looking after her cats and taking care of her rabbit farm with ten rabbits. Perhaps she derives her joie de vivre from the seed beads or maybe it comes from the mountain air or most likely from her family with 9 grandchildren and 7 great-grandchildren. Hopefully, she will pass on this beautiful craft to them!

We wish her good health!

Watch a short video of the birthday celebration.