You know this is all an experiment—right?

Back to those little beaded thingies. Most of you seemed to agree that cutting a couple of them into smaller pieces was a good idea. A couple of you didn't. Del thought the purple/blue one no longer had room to "breathe." I can see that. What bothered me more about all of them was what happened to the corners when I put the facings on them. Those little rounded corners and whoop-y edges are not really too noticeable on a big piece, but really ugly on the little ones. See what I mean?

I would prefer squarer corners and straighter edges. so I picked out the stitching and,as long as I had it all undone, I added back some "breathing" room that isn't as busy and distracting as the original pieced strips.

A teeny little, unobtrusive binding made the edges and corners more to my liking. It is mounted on a piece of gray mat board on top of black.

This green piece needed some editing and better corners too.

This one has a blanket-stitched edge. I am working on some really tiny ones right now with an unfinished edge. I think all are an improvement over the facing.

It is all an experiment. Even if I ruin a few in the process I will figure out what works best eventually, I think. Tonight I beaded my way through "So You Think You Can Dance." The piece looked awful, so I cut all the beads off and will start over with it tomorrow.

Here was a cool, successful experiment. Last week I bought a little string of copper-plated beads in McMinnville, hoping I could treat them so they would not be so bright and maybe even acquire a little verdigris patina. I took about half and spread them out on a saucer with a little white vinegar and left them overnight. Voila! Excellent patina. The originals are on the left and the patinated ones loose on the right.

 

I like them so much better. Half the fun is the experiment. Remember—my word for this year is "Discover."