Trial and Error

Design is about 90% trial and error.

You start off with an idea, a shape, a form and then try to re-create it.

Or sometimes you have nothing in mind, just a pile of beads.

It usually starts with a basic plan.

Do I want a component?

Do I want a long strand?

Do I want a bracelet with a continuous weave?

So then you work from there, passing thread through bead, attaching one bead to the next, varying size and shape trying to create something eye catching, but with endless possibility. 

Sometimes you really like the finished product...

and then sometimes you don't.

But in the end you've always learned something from the process which has made the process completely worthwhile.

You know a little more about how the beads work, how they want to be displayed, what they will and won't do, and you know that next time when you sit down you might end up with a little more trial and a little less error. 

Oh, and lest you think that your designs aren't influenced at all by anything, and that these shapes and forms are totally unique to you...chances are none of that is true!