I strictly respect copyrights. I never imagined that I would have to defend my own ideas or that I would be attacked for something that is entirely my own intellectual property—which, moreover, is properly and legally registered.
For many years, some of the companies I worked with had been urging me to write a designer profile, so after yesterday's controversy, I am finally putting it together. You can find a little bit about me at Starman Beads, where it was mandatory, but it is extremely brief—so I will expand on it a little here.
My name is Ivona Šuchmannová. I am a Slovak living in the Czech Republic, a bead store owner, designer, and instructor. I love flowers, nature, mathematics, geometry, and crafts. I graduated in horticulture and botany and worked as a university lecturer. Later, I worked at the Prague botanical garde as a curator of perennial collections. After moving to Prague, I began working more with beads, and in 2006, during my maternity leave, I opened my own bead store. My husband gave me the e-shop as a birthday present; it has been 20 years now...
For many years, I have been teaching, designing bead jewelry and decorations, and instructing beaders in my courses—beads and glass are my great obsession. Thanks to my love for mathematics and geometry, I focus more on complex jewelry pieces, such as designing stitched beaded beads. A few years ago, I also developed special designer beading frames, which I had registered as an industrial design. Because I love discovering new things, just handling glass in the form of beads wasn't enough for me anymore. Recently, I have literally fallen under the spell of hot glass—the flame gives me the opportunity to touch its very essence and shape the glass while it is hot.
📱 Where to find me / Kde mě najdete:
- Blog: spiralabeading.blogspot.com
- Facebook: Ivona Šuchmannová
- Instagram: @spiralabeading
- Pinterest: spirala
🛒 Status of my stores:
Czech website: www.naspirale.cz
(Hopefully, the e-shop will be up and running soon; we are completely rebuilding it after 20 years of operating on an old system.)
Etsy Shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/BeadsOfBohemia
I honestly don't know if I will ever revive it. It was closed after 14 years of operation due to Trump's tariffs and the new EU packaging regulations.
International store: www.spiralabeading.com
This one was running for about a year and a half, but I "shut it down" this year, and it is currently under reconstruction. It was impossible to collect customs duties due to Trump's regulations—e-commerce platforms are simply not adapted for this. To what extent we will reopen, I don't know yet; during the summer, additional EU packaging rules were introduced as well.
If it seems to you, based on the list above, that I have no income right now and you are wondering what I live on—you are right, I am mostly just surviving. That is how the world is today; it changes way too quickly, and those who don't have sharp elbows won't make it...
I currently live off my beading courses and the sales of my frames—the very same frames that someone has just tried to copy.
But back to design and what has fed and entertained me for years
Preciosa Ornela
I have many years of designing for Preciosa Ornela behind me. I don’t like being in the spotlight, but perhaps now is the right time for the profile they’ve been wanting too :).
There is a lot on my blog—just to name a few collections with registered shapes, and there have been so many over the years!
Years ago, big events used to be held at my shop. The ladies from Preciosa would come with their amazing beads, and we would brainstorm and create together. The atmosphere was always wonderful…
On Preciosa Ornela’s Flickr, the designs are tagged with my name—sometimes listed under S, other times under Š, so here are the two search links:
- Flickr search: Ivona Suchmannova
- Flickr search: Šuchmannová
I am also the designer of one of their registered bead shapes (Engraved Pip), and I have contributed to others that are not registered but are part of their product range.
Starman Beads
Designing for Starman Beads—as an official member of the Starman Trendsetters team (Czech Beads TrendSetters).
- An exhibition in Japan in cooperation with TOHO beads (My Designs on Czechmates World).
- I have created several tutorials for them (I can look them up and make a full list—just to name a few: Asterix, Ginko Donut, Morpheus, Octavia—there are many more). A few examples of these designs can be found here:
- Among other things, I also created the "Pattern of the Month" and various themed collections (such as Christmas and holiday tutorials):
Rutkovsky Beads
A Czech family-owned manufacturer of beads and molds—a project very close to my heart... We have known each other for nearly 20 years, practically since the very beginning of my bead shop and their early days of pressing beads. Today, I consider them family friends. Since 2019, I have been acting as their "court" designer and a backstage "manipulator" hidden in the background. I design both jewelry pieces and some of their new bead shapes.
I design and contribute to their coating finishes as well—for example:
or Pebble Stone
However, it must be noted that David Rutkovský deserves the main credit for the Pebble Stone line; I was merely choosing and advising on which colors to use.
Oh, and I also come up with the names for the beads! :) Sometimes it's—well, what can I say...
All those names for leaf shapes, petals, and flowers, Origami, Vesna, Sunset...
I have been postponing my designer profile with them for a long time too, even though they constantly remind me about it. So here you have it—here is the material we can use to make that profile happen.
Les Perles par Puca
Here is the core of the problem and the Pandora's box—everything collapsed two days ago. Look for posts dated from October 30, 2026, on social media; it’s still going strong...To a significant extent, I have sold and actively promoted par Puca beads (alongside other beads) on my e-shop, which celebrated its 20th anniversary this year. Just remember the launch of the Kheops bead, for instance—not only did I design with them (there are several pages of ideas just for Kheops alone on my blog, regardless of other bead shapes), but I even took my Kheops beaded ball on a trip to the Egyptian pyramids (Kheops Traveling).
I am also the author of several tutorials featuring beads distributed under the Puca brand (however, these will not remain in my shop for long; I am removing them from sale, as I refuse to continue supporting a brand that exploits my design and slaps its own copyright onto it).
I have created a vast number of designs using par Puca beads—liking them, sharing them, everything will be documented in the blog comments and on Facebook: Searching for "Puca" on my blog.
I even created designs combining my own beading frames with par Puca beads—but I will stop using these designs as well. I will no longer teach them in my courses, and I am going to put all beads bearing this brand into a clearance sale. I simply do not want my name associated with this brand anymore (Russet Brooch/Pendant SBF).
She actually bought my frames herself—back in December 2024—it was order number 11 right after the launch of my e-shop.
And this is how it turned out. She even published a photo comparing my frame with "hers", claiming that it is something completely, absolutely different...
She bought the six-point LYRA frames—which I have registered under an industrial design patent.
I also have the five-point frames registered under the name PAVO (and several others as well).
In conclusion...
Dear friends, and also enemies (I did not choose enmity; I was manipulated into this position).
My idea has been misused; someone has opened Pandora's box—everything is now living a life of its own on social media, while some things simmer under the surface, unseen. The waters of the bead business are sometimes dark and treacherous; perhaps you should be glad you cannot see into them...
Maybe the opposing party thinks I hold no cards in my hands and that I am just a "nobody from the East" trying to cause trouble (as one of their fans so "wittily" remarked). But I have quite a long history as a designer, and now also as a glassmaker, a clear conscience, and the law on my side. I hold industrial design registrations for several types of beading frames, and I am currently considering how I will deal with the situation that has arisen.
Beads are meant to bring joy and good spirits—that is how I feel. I support designers; I do not steal other people's ideas, and I do not copy. On the rare occasion that I create something based on another designer's work, or use text from a book or any other material or idea subject to copyright, I always credit the source and the author's name.
Even though I usually do not boast or flaunt my name, I took the liberty of writing down a few details about myself—and that is the end of the profile :). I am not giving up; mischief is far from managed—as Harry Potter would say:
⚡ Mischief is far from managed! ⚡
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