One year after starting, I finished my Japanese Bead Embroidery Phase 2 piece, Calm Flow. The majority of this piece is black or silver tri-cut beads strung on black thread, couched down with black thread. I found this a very calming technique - forgive the pun. The weekend after I finished Calm Flow, while shoe shopping for my daughter, Jen, I spotted a beaded bag with the same flowing design for £50. On the shop bag, the silver beads were bugles and and the black beads were regular seed beads rather than the tricuts but the it had the same flowing lines. Initially I was mortified and it made me think about the time I had spent doing it. But that is the point. While I was embroidering Calm Flow, I was in my quiet space, doing what I wanted to do. Working full-time with 2 school age daughters, there are a lot of things that lay claim on my time and energy. The time I get to spend on my hobbies is my treat to myself.
