Sometime back in the summer of 2016 I found the patterned Czech beads you see above while browsing in Michaels, and bought them on impulse. Impulse buys are rare for me these days, as I am trying to plan all my wardrobe purchases carefully and only buy what I really need and will use. I certainly did not need another necklace. But I fell in love with those beads on the spot and justified my purchase by saying it was a treat for my upcoming birthday, and that it would go with the plum-coloured sweater I was planning on making. (Item: The plum sweater is still unmade.) I bought a few strings of other beads I thought would work with the Czech beads as well, and I intended to make the necklace on my birthday, but though I spent some hours working on it I couldn't get the necklace to look right. Over the next year and a half I made sporadic trips to Michaels and all the bead shops on Queen Street and tried to find other beads that would look right. In the end I bought three more kinds of beads and a pendant, and after each purchase I'd have another frustrating session with my bead board.
In the end I used two of the four kinds of beads I bought with some silver spacer beads I had on hand, and left off the pendant entirely. I'm not thrilled with the result but I think it will do. The colours work well.
The second necklace, which I put together on the same day as the first, was much less fraught. I needed a present for my mother's 79th birthday, which is today. I looked about at Michaels for something to build a necklace around, found this pretty pendant, and bought two strings of coordinating beads to go with it.
As it turned out, I didn't even need both those strings of beads, and was able to return one. The other string combined with some gold space beads and discs that I had in my bead box made this necklace, which I was able to put together in one sitting. I can never be sure whether my mother will like something, but if she doesn't like this necklace or want to wear it, I do and will.
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