For My Next Trick.....

.....I'll be finishing the beaded bag that I started about 3 years ago.

This was originally intended to be an entry in Beadwork magazine's 2007 "Beaded Bag" competition. Unfortunately, about that time I became ill with Grave's Disease, so I had to put this aside with the idea that I would get back to it someday.

Someday was Tuesday. I have an embarrassingly large number of unfinished projects squirreled away in my bead closet, something I'm sure that most of you beaders out there can relate to. Selecting from more than a dozen projects, all clamoring to be paid a little attention to can be overwhelming, so I used the highly scientific method of "Eenie Meenie Minie Mo" to choose what I would work on.

Rarely do I ever plan a project out from beginning to end. My starting point is usually something that has inspired me, such as an intriguing color palette, cabochon, or focal bead, or in this case, a theme. From there it's all improvisation, which means that I have no idea of where I was going with this bag in terms of surface embellishments, fringe, or handles.

I spent a few hours on-line looking at some incredible vintage beaded bags in the hopes of finding some good ideas of fringe. Big mistake! Now I have too many ideas buzzing around in my head. But, once I've finished the purse strap I should be able to narrow the fringe and surface embellishing choices down.

The photo makes the beads look like a soft sage gray, but there are really more of a vibrant tourmaline color.

I'll keep you posted as to my progress.