Seed of Inspiration

Would you believe this set of beads actually caused a disagreement between one of my closest friends and I? (Her alias on my other blog, if you follow that is Kat.)

They did! You see I named this set Komboloi (kahm buh LOI) which is the word for Greek prayer beads.

I had seen Komboloi for the first time a few months ago when Kat's son had ordered a set of strung prayer beads. They can be used while praying, like a rosary, or as worry beads. But the most important feature is they should be touchable.

I loved the little olive shapes of the beads I saw and I knew I wanted to make beads in this shape. I also knew they had to be of the oh-so-touchable silvered ivory. And when I discovered this new Gaffer glass called "Chalcedony" (Cal SED oh ny) and all the lovely colors it yields, I knew it would work wonderfully filling in the color gaps that sometimes appear in silvered ivory.

The set came out exactly as expected ( a rarity in my world!). The beads roll around and are so pleasing to touch. They are mesmerizing... a little world in each one. It is so easy to see how you could meditate while caressing these babies.

So while this set was inspired by Komboloi, Kat wanted to know why I didn't string them up to be an actual Komboloi prayer strand. I told her I didn't want to. Days later, she was trying to get me patterns for Komboloi. I finally explained, while I do make jewelry...I'm really "just" a beadmaker. I would rather my customers turn the beads into their vision regardless of what inspired me to make the beads the first place.

These guys were part of my recent newsletter sale and will be on ebay in a few more days. I have a couple of sets up there now that need some bid love... Thanks as always for your interest in my work.