Saturday, March 11, 2017

UFOs :: Flipping the Rorschach

Oh those UFOs, they are the bane of a beader. They taunt you from the bead table, calling to you, as they lay there unfinished. You simply stare down at it knowing you need to either change direction or rip it out. Ugh, but the amount of work that went into it, and that original image you hold in your head keeps you from ripping it apart. Sound about right? Sigh.

I have so many of these unfinished objects that I've lost count. I knew for this hop I had to pull out the mother of all UFOs ... this beaded collar. Or at least that is what it was supposed to be, and yet when I assembled the collar it hung like a large rectangle. Why? Because I had the curve of the collar at the neckline completely wrong. Or should I say that it had no curve at all, it was a straight edge. I mean come on, who has a triangular neck? Clearly I had not thought this through, and yet I'd spent all this time putting these beads in place. Yep, the moment you just want to chuck it at the wall. This is my first attempt at a collar necklace, and a mistake I won't make again. Hugh sigh. 

I could not get myself to rip this one apart. Look at this piece. I spent hours upon hours beading in vintage, irregular Turkish seed beads and then lined the edging with vintage glass pearls. Then backed the piece with suede. There was ab.so.lute.ly no way I was pulling this thing apart. And so it sat on the bead table for more than a year. When Karen announced this UFO hop I knew I was going to pull this thing out and force myself to deal with it. 

So here is what I did. I decided that the one side of the collar could actually be the focal of an asymmetrical necklace. I went back to my stash to pull out more vintage pearls to balance the other side. My mother had given me a pile of old pearl necklaces that matched the small Turkish pearls from a friend. I also needed to pull out the backing and get rid of one of the connector jump rings I'd embedded on the left side. I left the other connector on the right to use as part of a toggle. I wanted to balance the width of the pearls to the collar so I added a square plate that I could anchor the pearls. Then it was just a matter of adding a backstrap.

What took so long to come to this solution? A solution that took me roughly 2 hours to complete? I think it is the same angst for all UFOs. You start a piece with a vision in mind, and it is hard to re-set that lens. But once you let go and flip the Rorschach you can finally re-imagine your piece. 

There is a crew of us working on UFOs, so check out the rest of the blog hop: Karen, Christine, Amy, Therese, Kim, Liz E, MargoCathiLiz and Francie.

20 comments:

  1. Cynthia! Your post made me giggle!! I'm sure I"m not the only one who can relate so well to everything you articulated in this post!!! And this is the second post I came across, where the beader decided to change course and ended up with a most spectacular piece. I absolutely love what you did with this half of your embroidery work. It's stunning. You'e also inspired me to potential use some gorgeous irregular seed beads my friend gifted me after her trip to Ethiopia. Embroidery may be the way to go!

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  2. What a clever solution! I love this asymmetric style of this statement necklace! I feel like you sometimes when I need to rip seams on a sewing project...

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  3. Hi Cynthia,
    I love the way you can think outside of the box! Taking one side of the beaded collar and turning it into a completely new and wearable Asymmetrical necklace was genius. I with you on not wanting to tear out all the hard work, now you have another half to make another beautiful Asymmetrical necklace. Looking forward to seeing your next finished UFO.
    Therese

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  4. ooo!! you are very clever.. the asymmetrical neck piece is gorgeous...

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  5. Such a smart solution! And such a lovely necklace that resulted!

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  6. What a great solution! Isn't it annoying how simple the solution can seem, after the fact? It's so reassuring to hear that other people have these problems, too.

    Your new, asymmetric design is both elegant and contemporary, while the beads you used in your embroidery add in a sense of history and depth to create a stunning combination. I am so glad you didn't rip out your work!

    Congratulations on coming up with a fantastic 'sideways' solution!

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  7. Great blog title. You did it! W000000 H000000! And it looks MAGNIFICENT. You have also proven that pearls can solve pretty much any problem.

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  8. Wow! You pulled off a winner. What a great way to reimagine this piece. It is really hard to find a new life for a piece that you had really expected to be something else. I think most beaders have had that moment when they really wanted to throw their hard work at the wall. But it takes a rare beader, indeed, to look at that piece in new way to see what else it could become.

    I love the look of asymmetrical pieces, but it is so hard to make my brain make them. This piece is just stunning. Congrats.
    --Francie

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  9. What a great idea you had for your necklace!
    I really envy people who can bead embroider. I've been trying it recently, with not so good results.

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  10. Oops on the straight collar edges! However I think that was a blessing in disguise. Your necklace creation is really a work of art! Nice use of those vintage pearls too.

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  11. So cool! I love your creative UFO solution. It's always annoying when a project goes wrong because of a mistake that seems so obvious in hindsight, but you found a great way to change it up and making something awesome!

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  12. Are you sure you didn't have that idea in mind all along? It looks like it was absolutely meant to be! What a stunning necklace!

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  13. Wow, you are clever! This piece turned out amazing! I truly love it!!!! Big Hugs!

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  14. I don't do beading but I can certainly relate with my sewing projects. It is so frustrating when it isn't turning out like the vision in your head. Your solution turned into a stunning statement piece! It is absolutely gorgeous. Well done!

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  15. OMG so true! Why is it that something can sit for months and months but when inspiration hits, it can be just a few hours to magic. And it's so good you did not pull anything apart. Your beadwork is gorgeous and it looks like it was just meant for your asymmetrical necklace. Just love all the textures. BTW, have also been following you on Twitter and enjoy your posts very much.

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  16. You freakin' did it!!! You finally did it!!! (putting out of my head at the moment that there is a second one)
    You went all edgy/elegant/artsy/supercool.
    WE are going to have the best jewelry to wear to Anne's art gallery openings and Lanie's concerts ~ when I saw the picture of this necklace for the first time my mind immediately went there ~ art gallery opening. I am so glad you powered through with this UFO and stuck to your plan that it WILL be a necklace. When people are complimenting you or whoever else wears it, they will never know the struggle ;-)

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  17. An inspired solution! Bold, beautiful, and kind of art deco-ish. And we can all relate to that "aw, heck no, I'm not ripping all those hours of work apart" feeling!

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  18. I love what you did with your UFO! The perfect statement necklace. Great work!

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