Blissfully blue

I like integrity, it balances the soul beautifully and is an enjoyable quality to pursue. There are times though, when the lack of it in others makes me want to rant so bad I could smash plates! Life lesson learned, is to stay silent and await the gentle work of karma to rebalance injustices. Enough said.

blue pendant

The blue stones I bought from the lovely market stall holder, and the promise to follow my bliss, combined with sadness caused by the episode alluded to above, had me take a time out to contemplate and bead.
The little blue discs of sodalite and a big donut bead of cut and polished Dumortierite were waiting to be used, rather than consigned to the 'one day' box.
Blue has been a tricky one for me, it's only recently that it has crept into my wardrobe and it's proving a fun colour to explore it with my beading.
Dumortierite is a deep denim blue, with the mystical properties of enabling the wearer to see life as it really is, to release negativity and stand firm in resolve. Sodalite brings calm, trust, rational thought and is a soother of stress irritated tummies. So if you see me wearing this piece of armour you'll know exactly what frame of mind I'll be in... or in need of!
The design process was helped along by the round shapes of the cut stones. I wanted simplicity and balance. A lucky delve into the bead box came up with the blue glass spike beads and a way to continue the trickle of thought about designs on the theme of 'sticks and stones'. They also act as a little post -it note to self, to avoid the pitfalls of negativity and negative people in general!

current favourite

my new favourite bracelet

Sometimes things don't turn out the way you think they will. The introduction of twin hole/duo and then Super duo beads should have been a cause of excitement.
But, for me there was a real stumbling block about the thread showing between the holes if you wanted to 'step up'. By all means call my a fussy so and so... I am. This caused a real hold up for anything other than simple right angle weave designs. I found myself less and less drawn to them, could this possibly be bead fatigue?
Or is it that without the time to sit and really play beading with these little cuties, what I was actually suffering from was too many facebook 'TaDa!' moments from beaders around the globe...  there is only so many times you can mutter Doh! I should'a thought of that! before the ego wants to hide under the bed and not come out!
Anyhoo we all know how the bead envy story pans out, the more you try the bigger that pile of snipped up beady gobbledygook gets on the bead mat!
So as yet another arabesque of beady cleverness arrived in my inbox I'm thinking maybe I've missed the boat on this one and had to admit defeat.
As soon as I had... the pressure was off and I made this bracelet.
That was three weeks ago and I've worn it pretty much non stop, no less than twelve people have asked me for the pattern, plus there are a few more designs that are growing from the simple train of thought that triggered this one. So I guess my new motto is 'If at first you don't succeed, just quit trying.'