Do Overs: Upcycling Old Projects

Just finished reading a fun post from Crafty Hope on digging up some of those old projects. Got me thinking. 

Its been about 5 years now since I took a wire wrap class on a whim. I had never done anything other then simple bead strings. But my sister-in-law was visiting (along with my Brother) for Christmas and I decided it would be fun to take a class while she was here. She is a classically trained artist who specializes in encaustic painting, an ancient Egyptian technique, and so I knew I had to up the game a bit and pick a class that might challenge her.

Funny thing is, that class jump-started my beading after many, many years. I used to bead when I was a kid. Could not get enough of it, but I wouldn't go as far as to say I was any good. Just your simple bead strings. I lost interest when I hit my teen years and tucked the box of beads away in the attic. I did keep a few of the necklaces, and gave them to my girls without much of a thought. Only one survived all the dress up outfits and tea parties. A tad worse for wear, but I managed to save the beads. I keep it in a bead tube as the last artifact of my early work. This one I think I'll leave just as it is.

There is something soothing to me to just sit and string beads. I have a lot of people ask me why I make jewelry, and so much of it. I always answer "because I don't knit."