Subconscious Beading

This week, I made a new Facebook friend from Sweden via the OTTBS group. Her name is Veronica Jonsson and she was asking for ideas of jewellery to make and wear at an Arts event where she would be engaging with politicians, but not able to display her creations other than by wearing them. I took a look at her FB albums and ETSY shop and saw that she really likes the quirky side of beading, incorporating glass eyes and other objects.

Like many beaders, she sometimes makes items from patterns and I was taken with a flower pendant she had made which led me to download the original pattern for myself from Sova Enterprises. The Designer is Holle Sauerwein, website here, and the pattern is named Flower Power. I bought and downloaded the pattern which requires seedbeads (size 11 and 15) and cylinder beads (size 11) and immediately got to work.

Initially I intended to use 'tropical' colours but the pink (072) and Lustered red (1694) delicas I bought last weekend were on the table, as was a tub of 142FR size 11s which looked good together. I found the size 15 264 was a good match for these, and I had c-lon thread in a matching shade (haven't used c-lon for ages but my other threads were the wrong colour).

Here is the finished item with a bail. My advice if you buy this design is to keep tension tight and make sure the increase delicas are stacked properly. The written instructions are very clear, so otherwise I had no problem. The diagrams are also clear if you work better from those, showing 1/5 of the design (which you repeat to make the other 4 petals. ) The initial round of peyote is quite large, so you may like to use a support in the beginning (perhaps a cardboard tube, or in my case lipsalve tin which was the right diameter)

Why did I title this post 'Subconscious beading' ? It wasn't until I finished the flower and had attached the bail, ready to start on a rope for it, that I noticed that this would be a perfect replacement for my current bag charm, a Jean Power beaded star, which got trodden on and needs remaking:

So the question is: did I subconsciously select colours (to buy, and to use) which would be a great match for my bag,  or is it just happenstance?