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.