Golden Ornament B

This is the second beaded ornament I have made. They're not what you thought they'd look like, huh?
They were scanned and they are rather thick, so the detail isn't there, but they're shiny and reflective anyway. I'm rather pleased with the way these came out. 11-08 >>MPK

New Photo Coming Soon!

Golden Ornament A

This is the first ornament I have made with bead embroidery and one of my porcelain Rhomb cabochons. I surrounded it withsilver-lined beads of gold, red, and green.
11-08 >>MPK
New Photo Coming Soon!

Buying Beads Part 1

Over the past couple of weeks, I have been buying beads. Not a real binge, actually, just perusing my stash and seeing what I have used and what I "need". Seed beads are always in the "need" column because that constitutes the bulk of my work. I have enough cabochons to see me through a bit, especially counting the porcelain ones. And yet I continue to look for those which I don't have. At a show recently I was talking to a couple of other beaders and the question was posed: do we need what we buy or we just hoarding?
Having experienced the "aha!" moment in designing beading projects several times recently I remembered some advice I saw in a home decorating how-to book in which the designer advised that if you are careful and decorate your home only with the best of what you pick out - it will all "go together" because it will be "yours". He insisted that everyone has a style that is personal and comfortable. The trick, if there is one, is to be choosy about what you use.
Buying beads for me is like that decorating advice. I buy the best of what I like. I know that if I continue to do this, things will fall together and a design will be born in a tray somewhere.