Sometimes, it's just meant to be.

I've had this necklace in my Etsy store for about a year and a half. This necklace started out as a set of mismatched hollows which no one bought. I decided that maybe they would look better in a necklace. I made up a necklace, but it was different from this one. It was a crocheted necklace. Again, the necklace sat in my Etsy store. Again, I thought, maybe if I redesign the necklace, it might sell. Guess what. It didn't. I was cleaning out my store the other day, and I thought that I should try on the necklace. No one had bought it, so I wanted to see if the design was poor. I tried it on, and, guess what. Some things are meant to be. The necklace is mine. I'm glad it didn't sell!

The Challenge Results

Last week, I posted a blog that asked my readers to challenge me in my bead making tasks. The answers boiled down to two--a hollow with a tree and roses for decoration and a tree with roses on a regular bead. Here are the results of that challenge!
And thank you to those who posted!












I felt I needed to practice my hollow bead making skills, and here is the result. There are no trees, but I just wanted to brush up on my skills. These hollows were fun to make, and they are in my bead box now waiting to be made into a necklace. That will have to wait a bit.






















In truth, I lacked confidence in myself. I felt that I didn't have the skills to add a tree to this bead, so I just made some roses from cane. After the bead was cleaned, I realized that if I could add so many swirling roses to this bead, I could have added the cane to make a tree to this bead without the bead collapsing.
Lesson learned! Try it anyway!























This is the first "tree" I made. I do like it.






















Next came "The Rose Tree." This worked out nicely. I was going to add the suggested white enamel to give the bead the look of snow, but I found out that I didn't have any white enamel. I have other colors of enamels, but I don't have any white. I still like the bead, and I plan to order some white soon.





















Last tree: No roses, no enamel, but it is a Christmas tree! Ho! Ho! Ho!

Now, I can hardly wait for the new challenge. Get your thinking caps on. I really need to improve my skills and tempt my muse to inspire me again! This was a great challenge! Thank you!

I Accept the Challenge!

I hope, in a week, to show some photos of what I made, and I am being challenged! Thank you all who left comments!

The winners seem to be tree beads, roses, hollow beads, and white enamel! (There was also an invitation to visit Germany for inspiration, but I am thinking I might become a permanent guest in that studio because I would want to fondle all the beads! They are amazing!)

My goal will now be to produce tree beads with roses, enamels, and, a hollow with a tree bead on it! Yikes! That might be a tough one, but it's a wonderful challenge! I hope to post these beads in a week, October 20th. I hope I can.

You will see my efforts whether they are good, bad or ugly. This is really going to help me grow! Thank you!