This is the Time to Bead for Pleasure!

I can’t remember when we last experienced a summer as lovely as this.  We have been graced with such beautiful weather thus far!  Surrounded by the dense leafy green of our forest, I watch woodland creatures foraging and scampering about and listen to the sweet serenades of birds as they flit from branch to branch.  I am thoroughly enjoying every moment!  The cats keep me company and have chosen their favorite lounging spots to snooze...I so wish I could peek into their minds and view the dreams that are making their tails twitch to and fro!  These days have been a true gift!  Rather than working in the studio I have had the good fortune to be able to spend every day on our screened porch!  It is a wonderful place to do beadwork! Summers are all too brief in the Midwest so I plan to keep beading outdoors as much as I can.  Months of cold weather will arrive all too soon...I’ll have plenty of time to hunker down in the studio then!

Above is a geometric beaded pendant I finished a few weeks ago.  Until now I wasn’t quite sure which would be the perfect vehicle on which to wear this pendant...a chain, cord, or ribbon?  Today I came across two tubes of 8/0 Delica beads and found that the their holes are large enough to allow them to be slipped onto a 16 gauge wire neck ring.  I adore neck rings for the versatility they offer!  Not only can long and short pendants be worn on a neck ring with equal panache, it fills the exposed area of one’s throat and chest when low-cut or v-neck garments are worn.  A neck ring can serve as an armature for beaded ropes or a bevy of beaded beads that strung otherwise would just hang with the pull of gravity.  I’m very pleased and am definitely going to enjoy wearing this pendant!