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, Margo, Cathi, Liz and Francie.
Nothing I like better than to make jewelry for a friend. Especially someone who appreciates handmade.
This piece was made for a friend that enjoys hearts. But as she's grown up her style has changed a bit. She's wearing more leather, and more sophisticated things. So I decided that I'd have to up my game a bit if I was going to design a piece for her birthday this year.
I saw a vintage Czech glass button that I really liked and decided that if I cut the back off I could turn it into a cabochon focal necklace. The Bead Girl says she thinks this has a bit of a steampunk look to it. Perhaps. I just like its old world feel to it. I'm hoping that it looks great with her leather jacket and that she enjoys wearing it.
The last few winters have been down right brutal. One snow storm after another, and just when you think it won't snow again .... another storm hits in early April.
I don't know if our little rodent friend Punxsutawney Phil was right, but I'm sure enjoying the warmer weather and early spring flowers. My crocus are in, and the snow drops are about to bloom. I love both of these not only because they are pretty, but it is the promise of putting those snow shovels away for another year.
My recent trip down to Florida kick-started my drought in beading. And with the flowers showing up in the yard, I was feeling like pulling out the beads even when I returned home to Connecticut. So I ordered a few things on Etsy including some vintage Czech glass buttons with dragonflies. I cut the shank off the back to make a perfect cabochon to bead around. I love the vintage mint green in the one. I think I'm going to put these on a simple chain so I don't over complicate the pattern. Thanks Phil for getting me going again, and fingers crossed we've seen the last of this winter!
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. 
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.
