When Stewart was laid off after eight years in high tech, she needed something to stay occupied, and learned some beading techniques from a friend.
"From the first bracelet I made, I was completely hooked," she recalled.
She started an online business selling jewelry, and to supplement her income, worked at some retail bead shops.
"I found I really enjoyed interacting with the customers. I really want to build a bit of a community," Stewart said. Jewelry designer Heather Duram, of the Ayer Lofts in Lowell, said the community there is full of artisans who buy from each other, and the network is growing.
"Even department store managers are strolling the craft stores for handmade jewelry," Duram said. "But it's not just about jewelry. People want handmade quilts and handmade baskets, handmade everything."
Demand for handmade goods may just be a response to over-consumerism of mass-produced products, Duram said. But she adds that there are more artisans opening businesses as they react to changes in the workplace.
Stewart said she could have stayed in high tech and kept her house, but once she started beading more than three years ago, she realized that she didn't want to be in high tech anymore.
"I needed one of everything," she said. "The first year I must have spent $1,000. My friends thoguht I was crazy." Stewart sells her jewelry at www.lizziesthings.com , and will soon lauch www.lushbeads.com
Lush Beads, a 500-square-foot space next to Mike's Cafe, will have a "vintagey feel," she said, and carry exotic beads such as charoite mined in Siberia (which can only be done at certain times of the year, when it's not too cold), agate from Botswana, and a variety of findings from gold and silver to copper and hypo-allergenic metals, earring kits for beginners, an extensive line of Swarovski crystal.
Some of her inventory comes from online bead wholesalers or eBay, but the best way to buy beads is at trade shows or shops, she said.
Duram, who while building her own online jewlery site, www.crescentmoonjewelry.com , said that while buying beads online is the cheapest thing to do, the quality is not reliable.
"What good is it when you get something junky? The need for the actual bead shop is not going away," she said.
Stewart hopes to hold classes, Saturday show-and-tells, and bead groups "for football widows," and other beaders, and foster creativity.
"In the beginning, people are often unsure of their creativity, but as they get more confident, they can do more," she said. In addition to drawing from the local crowd's creativity, tapping into the beading community through listings in national magazines, for example, brings customers from far and wide. Stewart met people from across the country in the two Massachusetts bead shops where she worked.
"Beaders will travel," she said.
Rebecca Lipchitz's e-mail address is rlipchitz@lowellsun.com .