Gotta run

This is going to have to be brief, since I'm heading out to work the day job (first time in seven days-a mini vacation!). Add to that, I work straight through until Monday...bleah. Ah well-pays the bills I guess and I am happy to be employed.

For the past two days I have been practicing making more precise beads by playing with dots.

Now, in the past when I first started beadmaking about 10 years ago, dotted beads were all the rage. I didn't really like them at all, thinking that they looked like pollen grains under magnification. I never tried to make any, instead I stuck to abstract shapes and color studies.

The real reason was, I think I was afraid of them...afraid of their accuracy, the amount of skill they represented.

Recently, in a challenge, I learned how to make encased floral beads, which require dot placement for the flower petals. As you can imagine, my learning curve was a bit steep and my first flowers were huge blobs. But I kept at it and by the end, actually made a passible encased floral.

From this I learned I need to work at dots, because they form a basis of many designs.

I also learned that dots are fun!

Bead of the Day-

"Jungle Flower", encased floral