Like every year I have been hanging out on SnowDays where you can make your own virtual snowflakes, so after I had decided that today's wintery stash tackler should be bead loomed, it wasn't unusual to opt for a snowflake as a pattern. Of course it's not as elaborate as the ones you can make on SnowDays, after all there's a limit to what you can fit on a pendant, but it's definitely recognizable.
In fact I made two pendants with the same pattern, but with completely different beads.
The one on the right was the original, a nice round shape perfect for the snow crystal, in gorgeous dark blue (the picture can't really do it justice) and shimmering pearl white size 11 Delicas to which I finally added a few ice crystals aka Swarovski bicones.
The one on the left came as a spontaneous afterthought. I used size 15 seed beads for it of which I only have three colors in my stash, a pity because the clear AB flake looks beautiful against the light on the gunmetal background, but has a very subtle contrast in direct light (didn't I put that nicely). Isn't it amazing how size and shape of the seed beads changed the shape of the pendant completely, not even that much in height, but in width? While I was aware beforehand that it would be different, I was still amazed it was that much of a difference.
Nice about it was that I haven't been bead looming much at all this year and choosing the dark blue from my stash that I had always saved up felt really good. I have to go through my beads and see what else will be speaking to me!
I think in 2019, I'm going to finish some UFOs and have a goal to only use what I have for new pieces. Alysen.
ReplyDeleteI haven't been perfect about not buying anything new this year, there was the odd cab here and there, but mostly I just got what I actually needed, like chain or wire gauges I had run out of for example.
DeleteI really want to keep that up in 2019, too.