Sunday, September 30, 2012

Beads still surprise me

I've been beading for 22 years now,  that is a pretty long time, and I can still be surprised, well I guess I hope I'll always be surprised by the beads.


But this week I was caught off guard when I failed to see that I must have been subliminally influenced by the chair upholstery.  There is really no other explanation, since I picked a soft matte brown bead, highlighted by a pale seafoam and a chrysolite opal crystal.  You would think I had set out to use the palette from my new chair, but not only did I not, I didn't even notice the resemblance until the piece was complete and laying around for a few days on the table next to the chair.  I dropped it, and when I picked it up I laid it on the arm of the chair......Really there is no mistaking the influence.

The next thing that surprised me this week, and really this is going to sound stupid;  It takes a really long time to bead.  After twenty or so years you would think I would have an appreciation for the time it takes, but I still go merrily about the studio pulling palettes for the 5 or 6 pieces I'd like to bead today. And what did I really accomplish, about 2/3 of a spiral chain with a size 11 core, alternating between pearls and 2 mm crystals on the outside.  It's really pretty, but the repetition was getting to me, so I switched to a pair of cubic raw earrings to wear with the pendant that goes with the spiral.  I go about 2/3 of one earring done....Today I hope to finish the first earring, a second and the spiral chain.  That's doable right?

In my defense, beading time fits into the cracks of my life for the most part.  I do a lot whenever we travel, in the hour or two before an outing, on planes and trains (never in automobiles, I get carsick) In the evening while listening to a book or watching mindless tv (I'm not proud, but sometimes mindless tv is just right)  Because of this bead here, bead there schedule I don't really notice the time it takes, things just get done.  It's only when I set out to do a marathon beading session that I notice how little I can accomplish in what seems like a lot of time.

5 comments:

  1. I know what you mean! When I'm just beading along, I don't notice how long it takes - but when there is something I really want to finsh NOW for some reason, I realize how long it really takes to do it.

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  2. I only get about 5 hours a day to bead through the week and that vanishes to darn quickly. I can't bead in the car either as I get car sick too!

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  3. I know exactly how it feels to get less beading done than you think you will. Last year I used to pack beads for several different projects for my weekend trips down to San Diego, and I'd usually only get one, maybe two of them done over the weekend. And would that stop me from packing so many beads next time? Nope...

    I'm amazed that you can get beading done on airplanes though - I'm always worried that it will be too bumpy and that the beads will fly everywhere.

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  4. I agree, when your not in a hurry you just don't notice how long something takes, when you're under the gun to finish, well, that's another matter all together. By the way, congratulations on your traveling bracelet goal, it seems to be going your way so far. Have fun with it.

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