Meet the Vendor: Beads & Boards

By Sarah Hurley

Jim and Nella Mahoney, high school sweethearts originally from the Hudson Valley region of New York, are sixty-five years old and have been married for forty-five of those years. Jim was a district sales representative for the Little Debbie company, while Nella spent over thirty years working for a home heating oil company in New York and another ten years for a technology company. They moved to North Carolina in 2017 to escape the freezing upstate winters and “ridiculous taxes” before retiring happily in 2024.

However, not inclined to idleness, Jim and Nella soon realized they needed something to fill their unoccupied time. Jim watched a video tutorial for crafting wooden kitchen cutting boards, and despite having never attempted anything like that before in his life, he decided to give it a try. All of a sudden, he was buying lots of wood and lots of tools.

Nella, on the other hand, had always been a crafty person, but hadn’t tried her hand at beading until she offered to fix a beaded bracelet of her sister’s that had broken. She, too, turned to the internet for guidance; after several trips to Hobby Lobby, the bracelet had been restored to its original glory. Her sister was overjoyed with the finished product, and Nella had discovered a new passion for jewelry-making and repair.

Between Nella’s beading and Jim’s woodworking came Beads & Boards, and the couple hasn’t looked back since. “For the sake of our marriage,” the couple laughs, “we do our crafting separately.” Jim does his woodworking in the garage, and Nella has a designated space for beading in her office. Their favorite part of working together, they say, is showing off their wares at craft shows as a team. “We work together on arranging our displays and greeting our potential customers. Always a fun time.”

Hilariously, Nella confides, “When we are at the shows, I think people are drawn to our booth because of the odd combination. We like to try to convince people that Jim does all the jewelry-making and Nella is the woodworker. No one has fallen for that yet!”

Jim and Nella enjoy pushing themselves to try new ideas and designs with their work for Beads & Boards. For example, Nella likes to shop at the antique stores for old jewelry and incorporate those beads into new projects. The pair spends a lot of time talking about new ideas together and often draw inspiration from their customers’ wants and needs. They are happy to take special orders and commissions from customers with specific ideas in mind.

Having joined the Minkology team in 2025, they are excited to see their creations displayed beside those of so many talented artists and craftspeople in the shop. “Working with Wendi and her staff is really fun. We always feel so welcome when we stop by the shop.” Never having imagined their respective hobbies would be on display in a brick-and-mortar shop, Jim and Nella are enjoying the opportunity to try something new.

Looking forward, they are excited to try new techniques within their crafts and add new items to their inventory. In addition to crafting wooden cutting boards, Jim now also works on planters, welcome signs, and anything else he sees on the internet, and he has added acrylic pouring to his artistic skill set. Nella has added earrings and beaded sun-catchers to her repertoire. Where will their talents take them next, they ask? Only time will tell.

Connect with Jim and Nella via Facebook, email (beadsboardsnc@gmail.com), or over the phone at +1 (845) 742-6757.