The Wyrd Sisters

Angel is right--we all have interests that show up in our writing. My latest is beading. I've always loved crafts and hobbies, and those have changed over the years. I started out with crochet, decoupage, macrame, embroidery and liquid embroidery as a kid, then progressed to latch hook, needlepoint, miniatures, tole painting and counted cross stitch, plus others I can't remember at the moment.

I really like the detailed stuff for some reason (maybe the same reason I'm an engineer), but I got tired of how long it took me to make something in my last hobby, counted cross stitch. I have a wonderful cross stitched pic of a dragon around a castle, but it was so detailed that it took me years to do. So, I looked around for another craft and found beading.

Now I'm hooked. Beading is wonderful because I can make something in a hour...or a couple of months, depending on the method I use. Plus the concentration it requires puts me in a sort of zen meditative state and relaxes me. I love the wide variety of beading and I've tried a lot of it--stringing, netting, wire work, brick stitch, loom stitch, peyote stitch, etc. Lately, I've been hooked on peyote stitch because it makes such beautiful pictures--kind of like a pointillism painting. And, best of all, I can wear my creations for everyone to see.

Here are a couple of pics of things I've made from patterns:



The Santa and dragon are both patterns by Chris Manes from A Muse Ink. I'm also a big fan of patterns by fantasy author Elizabeth Ann Scarborough who does some wonderful fantasy and fairy tale patterns. And I find a bunch of cool patterns at Bead-Patterns.com, too. One of these days, I'm going to learn to design my own.

In the interim, beading is showing up in my stories. I'm working on a fantasy with a woman who can talk to gemstones and a mystery with a woman who, strangely enough, beads and lives in the same town I do. Combining beading and writing...the best of both worlds!

Do you have a favorite beading artist?

Pam