Beading Daily Post.....How true!

In those few spare moments between designing, beading and living you come across an article that really catches your attention and fits right into one of those promises you keep making to yourself.

                                                  UFO ( Unfinished Objects )
UFO's ( Unfinished Objects )...... how many of us have trays stacked five high?  With three stacks?
I have come to the opinion that our creativity know's NO BOUNDS and therefore we start too project
hop as a new idea blooms during our busy day.  So it was interesting to come across this Beading
Daily article

Is It Time to Finish a Few Beading Projects?

"If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then is an empty desk a sign?" ~Albert Einstein

When I've run out of storage bags for my UFOs, it's time to start finishing my beading projects.

I think Einstein was on to something when he said that. When it comes to seed bead patterns, I always have five or six beading projects going at the same time. (Actually, it's more like seven, or eight, or...) When I run out of room on my desk, I start stacking my bead trays. When the stack of bead trays starts to tilt precariously, I start spreading out to the dining room table, my photo table, and even on the seat of the armchairs in the living room.

Sure, it's easy to start a dozen seed bead patterns at a time. They're just so PRETTY! And I get kind of a rush at the beginning of a new beading project, kind of the same way I get that adrenaline rush at the beginning of a road trip. But finishing all these beading projects? Well, sometimes that's a little more difficult. If you've got a bag full of beautiful UFOs in your bead stash, you know exactly what I mean.

Fortunately, there are some things that motivate me to finish my beading projects. Do any of these apply to you?

1. I need to actually use the dining room/kitchen/coffee table once in a while. It happens. Once in a while, my family demands that we actually eat dinner at the dining room table, and that means clearing off and moving all the trays, bags, and boxes of beads that I have scattered from one end to the other. If it's a weeknight, I usually just clear off a few feet where the three of us can squeeze in and eat. If we're having guests, well, that means a full-scale cleaning. Thankfully, we don't have guests that often.
 

2. I want an excuse to buy more beads. If I know that I'm going on a bead-buying trip or heading to a bead show, I'll ramp up my beading in the weeks before the trip. This way, I can tell myself that, oh, shucks, I just used up the last of my 3mm round fire polished beads, so I had better stock up on more!

 

3. The forecast is calling for snow every day this week. The weather definitely has an effect on my ability to finish my seed bead patterns. Winters up here in the Adirondack mountains can be very long and very cold, so when the forecast calls for five straight days of snow showers and temperatures hovering just above freezing, I take that as a sign to curl up in front of the wood stove and get to work on my beading projects.

 

4. I've run out of bead trays and bags for storing my half-finished beading projects. I think one of the reasons why I buy so many bead trays and plastic bags is so that I don't have to finish all my beading projects at once. But once in a while, I find that every single last Bead On It Board and Designer's Workpad that I own is filled with a beading project. I suppose I could always squeeze two or three projects in together on a single bead tray, but I just don't know if those beads would play nicely together. And when I find that I've used up the last of the gallon-size plastic storage bags, well, then I know it's time to start finishing up a couple of these seed bead patterns so that I can -- what else? -- start a new one!

5. There's a new outfit in my closet and no jewelry to match it. I'm a frequent visitor to my local resale and thrift shops, mainly because I love to buy new clothes. Another motivator for me to finish up a seed bead pattern is when I find a gorgeous new dress, sweater, or blouse and just have to have a new necklace or pair of beaded earrings to match it!

 

But, really, sometimes the greatest motivation of all for finishing up my seed bead patterns is knowing that I'll get to wear that finished piece of beaded jewelry, or even just knowing that I learned something new like a variation on a favorite bead-weaving stitch.

 

How true..................................... " Bead On!"