Researching Beadwork

I love researching beadweaving techniques. It's so thrilling to find one I've never seen before and try to figure out how it's done.

Experimenting with various beadweaving techniques is so exciting to me. I'm like a mad scientist when I bead, tweaking a stitch to see how far I can push it, or what I can change to create yet another variation, or even a totally new technique.

That's what drives me to learn more and more. Yes, I've been beading for over 40 years, but I'm always excited when I learn something new. I've always sat down with my beads and ask myself, "Why does it work this way? And what is the formula for this technique (or variation)?" I've learned so much by just experimenting that way.

I often think of myself as a 'mad scientist beader'. You know the kind in the old silent movies who have worked and worked to find 'the formula'. Of course, they always have 'Don King' hair, and huge dark bags under their eyes and appear bi-polar at the most manic state. They grasp that test tube and do the crazy. "mwahaha!!!!' scene.. Yep, that's me when I finally figure something out. LOL Then I have to try to find someone to teach it to.. Some victim.. ah er.. I mean.. some poor unsuspecting being.. oh no.. ahem.. I mean some student who wants to learn something new to test it for me.. Yea..that's it.. LOL

You'd laugh if you saw my bead journals. I often get an idea and then sit down to try it. If anyone went through my journals they'd get a chuckle out of how many times I've scratched an idea out and then wrote next to it something like, "Nope, didn't work -- try it this way..." LOL I have to say though, that many of my variations have come from 'mistakes'. Sometimes they are the best teacher! :)