Dot Diaries - The Afterglow

It's odd ... my brain cannot process all that I learned by doing this exercise. I simply cannot recommend it enough. We all have time when our muse is lost; we're upset over lack of sales or...life; we feel like we're making the same thing and we're tired and uninspired. I promise you, make 40 beads! It WILL help!

 

Color Tests for the 3 color 40 Bead Project

The other day, I had to make some boobies for an order and it was the first time I torched "for real" - for money - in a while. I zoomed through those beads and no longer seemed to stuggle with size issues. If there was an issue, I fixed it...easily! Even the aureoles didn't give me fits, which they often did in the past. !

I've had an idea for a pandora glass bead I wanted to try out...test some frit and top colors. I often struggle with size issues...lopsidedness, etc. And, I didn't! I cased well... how novel! And then comes the thing I always say to myself, "Time to mess up a perfectly good bead!" !

I've often said I make really awesome background beads. And I think they end up looking like caca because I (me) decorated it. If I could just hand that background off to some "good" beadmaker, all would be fine! !

But this time, it went oddly, weirdly smooth. I'm not happy with the bead because I simply forgot how my beloved pine green goes all transparent when stretched...grrrr. But as I lay down the leaf and started pulling points for holly leaves, I was calm and relaxed. I found the rhythm of pulling a point with a stringer, melting off, melting the pulled glass back down on the stringer soothing. Then came the dreaded dots... again. All was fine. !

I think this has come out of repetition of making so many of a similar bead! I think I'm going to keep that bead for my own bracelet as a little reminder of how far I've come.