The Project That Ate My Bead Table - The Conclusion

If you've been visiting for a while, you may remember the project that ate my bead table.  It started out with some watch faces that I bezeled.

Then I struggled with virtually every step beyond that.  How to arrange them.  How to connect them.  What to do to transform it from an interesting centerpiece into a real necklace.  Argh!!!!

I would work on it for a while, and then have to set it aside until inspiration struck again.

But finally I finished it, and I'm finally happy with it.  Hooray!!

The watch faces got arranged and rearranged.  The sparkly wheel used as a toggle clasp had to be resized to balance in scale.  And I rethought the neckstrap - I did end up using a flat spiral stitch, but changed the large beads to a mix of freshwater pearls and pyrite rounds, and didn't break it into sections.

Bless her heart, this ugly duckling finally became a swan.  She had a highly prolonged awkward phase (kinda like the beader who made her...), but I think she's finally ready to be introduced to polite society

Now to find a fancy place to go so I can wear it before I put it up for sale (a girl's gotta wear quality check her work, right?)

The Project That Ate My Bead Table

A couple of days ago, I was talking about a project that had started modestly but had grown to be much larger and more involved than I had imagined.

I promised to keep everyone updated on the progress of the thing. Yes, it's a way to give you a glimpse into the madness that passes for my creative process.

But really, it was a way to hold myself accountable to make progress on this thing that has been sitting on my bead table, mocking me in its incompleteness. I mean, if I promised to show you how it's coming along, it had better be coming along, right?

So here are the watch faces, all bezeled and ready to be made into a fabulous necklace.

Yeah, now to go figure out some fabulous....stay tuned!

Wherein I Commune With Fleas, Fall in Love, Heed a Call From the Universe, and Pay It Forward

First, you should know that I don't go to flea markets too often. I enjoy them and I absolutely love antique stores, but the time needed to pore through the mounds of treasures (while avoiding the less than fabulous junk that really may carry fleas), is not usually abundant in my weekends.

Today, though, the time was right, and there was a flea market at the fair grounds. I casually mentioned it to my husband, and he agreed to go with me.

Okay, this was a sign from heaven. The fact that my husband was willing to give up a portion of a rare free weekend to go digging through flea market goodies was either a sign that hell was freezing over or that I might, just might, find something wonderful.

So we went. We browsed. We communed with the fleas and their marketers. It was all pretty disappointing, frankly. Until on our way out to the parking lot when I glanced over and noticed a table that seemed to call my name.

And I fell in love. With a lovely, lovely face. A watch face. And here she is.

Squeee!! Can you see the beautiful little garland of flowers where the hands were? And the tiny, tiny, dots of silver that look like dew drops? I didn't even bother to haggle too hard with the vendor. Seriously, I flunked Haggle 101 on this transaction.

I've been doing some work with watch faces recently (and I'll post some pictures of a work in progress soon), so I was kind of keeping an eye out for more. This is so delicate, so ladylike, such a breath of spring -- she'll have to live on my bead table for a while until she tells me how she wants to be dressed.

When I came home, I found not one, not two, but FIVE postcards, reminding me about a bead show in town this weekend. I figured this was a sign from the universe that I needed to heed. So tomorrow, I'm going SHOPPING.

After all, who am I to ignore a sign from the Universe like that?!?

And while you're here, check out my last post and find out how you can Pay It Forward and get a handmade goodie from me! (If I knew html coding, I'd have a nifty link to take you right to the post. That's next on my bucket list....until then, just scroll to the next post down and don't forget to leave a comment so that you can play along!)