Plan X

As per my previous entry, I’m trying to participate in the Humblebeads focal challenge, but my oh-so-mahvelous idea for Challenge #1 that I had in the car while driving home last night (yes, I mentally bead in traffic – don’t tell the CHP) turned out to be less-than-mahvelous when I tried to bring it forth into this dimension (i.e. reality).

Y’know, all it needed was one little brass bird charm. Do you think I had one in my vast, mountainous, ridiculously large bead stash?

OF COURSE NOT.

Silver birds – check.

Copper birds – check

Brass bird’s nest – check

Brass butterflies – check

Brass dragonflies – two colors – CHECK

No brass bird charms.

And is it just me or does anyone else get a particular idea in their head SO STRONGLY that when you can’t make it work and you try to come up with a Plan B or Plan C as a replacement idea…it just sucks? Or else you PERCEIVE that it sucks because you’re so in love with your original idea?

Or am I all alone on the Isle de Crazy on this one?

Yeah, that’s what I thought.

Once I fall into this trap of the first idea not working out, I rarely have the patience to push past crappy ideas deux and trois and come out the other side to something I’m happy with.

Rarely.

But not never, I’m happy to report.

No – I haven’t solved the Humblebeads Challenge problem yet, but I DID make progress on the “post mortem” piece from last week.

Go, me.





I knew I wanted to keep the warmth of the brass with these daisy designs because it looks so good with the clay daisy pieces, but I still wanted to have something with silver for the customers since all the other designs are brass or copper. Finally, the “stop being an idiot” lightbulb went off in my brain and I realized “well, der, KJ, there’s no rule stopping you from MIXING the metals.”

What? Like the metal police are going to come and arrest me or something?

I don’t know why I get so “locked in” to certain ideas like sticking with a particular color scheme or not wanting to mix metals or needing my designs to be symmetrical, but I’m sure if I dug deeply enough, I would find that it is the REAL reason why I failed 7th grade art class.

Yep, I’m a jr. high art class drop out (actually, my parents made me quit taking it because the low grade was ruining my GPA but you get the idea).

So, anyway, off I went to mix some aged brass chain from Vintaj with some bright sterling silver chain and some oxidized silver chain from Patina Queen.

I added silver flower and butterfly charms and a couple of little chain dangles made from leftover chain (from when I brilliantly miscalculated the length of the front section and had to clip some extra bits off and I HATED wasting them so dangles they became).

Clasp is a Vintaj brass hook.

I added some swirly teal, blue and green Czech rondelles for the back along with some more sections of the oxidized chain.

I don't know about you all, but I'm sooo much happier with it this way than the way it was before. Maybe I'm finally learning to break some rules...in a totally perfectionistic, law-abiding, rigid way, of course.

Stay tuned tomorrow for the next episode in my continuing adventures at the deli counter!

KJ