Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Out On A Whim Wednesday: Paper Bead

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  What If We Treated Our Words Like Our Favorite Stashed Items?
I have some craft items that I have stashed away and am waiting to use for a very special time and place.  Just a few of my favorite things that I'm keeping hidden away until the exact right piece of art comes along (I might be waiting a very long time...we'll see!).  There can be a tendency to do this - hold onto something because we don't want to let it go - feeling that it is too precious to just be casually put out there.  Some people say to just go ahead and use it and enjoy it now since you never know what tomorrow will bring.  I'm not so sure yet.  Today I began to wonder what it would be like if we treated our words the same way?  If we actually considered our words to be precious and in short supply and to only be used at the exact right moment.  If we actually thought of ourselves as having a limited number of words.  How might that impact what we say and when we say it and if we choose to say whatever it is at all?  I guess in one sense we all have a limited number of words to speak or write.  It seems, though, that we don't really consider this.  Or, we just blather on and on (as I might be accused of doing right now), and just use as many words as we can in the time that we have - feeling like we have a limitless supply as long as we are breathing.  Today I'm going to begin to consider my words like precious treasures that exist in limited supply.  When and where and how will I choose to use them?
I went out on a whim today - inspired by a necklace I had made a few years ago with lava rock and some paper beads that had been made by a group of women in Africa (a friend had purchased the beads for me as a gift).  I found the necklace in my jewelry drawer today and wondered how I might be able to make paper beads with the strips of designer series paper sitting on my craft table.  Here is a photo of the necklace that inspired me:
The photo at the top of this post is of my first-ever designer series paper bead :)  I cut a thin triangle of paper and then rolled it on a skewer, adding small amounts of glue as I went.  Once I was done rolling and gluing, I rolled the bead on my VersaMark ink pad and then in the clear embossing powder and heat embossed.  I have a feeling this might lead to other beads in my near future :)

1 comment:

Lorraine said...

You stirred a memory with this. I started a children's book a long time ago when I was substitute teaching and one of the characters was the "chatterbox" who learned that he/she only had so many words in life. They had to learn how to make what they said meaningful instead of just running off at the mouth. Funny thing is that about the same time I was doing that I remember making these beads with my daughter's girl scout troop. It's an art form that's resurging and with all the wonderful paper choices we have it's a timely one. We used paper straws as our base - it was easier on little fingers. Your bead is beautiful. Can't wait to see your collection grow.