Bent & Twisted

It's been a long time since I have posted on this blog. I know it may not look that way since everything is now gone that was once here, but that is because I'm switching gears with this blog. This used to be a space where I'd post about homeschool activities and achievements for my children. Now it will be a space where I post pictures of my journey in jewelry making.

I started out beading about 2 years ago. Everything looked so complicated when I first began, but within a short time, I began to see the patterns and figure out how to replicate pieces just by looking at a picture of them. Each piece was pretty time consuming because I liked to challenge myself to do the most complicated patterns I could do. A couple of consequences to this were that my eyesight diminished and the time it took to create each piece increased. Neither was conducive to continuing along that beaded path. It was a good starting point. Though I did sell a few pieces, much of what I made I gave away as gifts to friends and family.

Next I started stringing beads. Necklaces, earrings, bracelets, I strung them all. I liked these pieces better but didn't feel inspired when making them. They certainly took MUCH less time and effort to create so I could whip up a few new pieces in a fraction of the time it took to create the seed bead pieces, but I got bored.

I like a good challenge. I like to find things I don't know how to do and figure them out. I took a class at a local bead shop and learned to make the ring and a bracelet pictured above. I was amazed at how quickly I picked up on the process and how pretty the final product was. I was hooked. For the past 6 months I've been making pieces here and there as I've learned new techniques. I've enjoyed showing off the pieces I've made and given many away as gifts this past Christmas. Mostly though, it's been fun.

Every night I sit down at my dining room table while my husband and sons are busy watching TV or playing the Wii and just create. This past year has been full of creativity as I've updated the look of nearly every room in my home. These feels like an extension of that creativity. I hope to continue blogging about my progress and challenges along this journey while I open an Etsy store and start to sell my pieces.