When Life Gives You Lemons

The phrase about lemons is most typically uttered in reference to something that has gone awry.  Kaput.  Unexpected.  And oft that is true.  This time, however, I am forced to utter the bon mot after an accident of my own making.  No compelling defense exists.  Just a stupid mistake.

One snip of the blade and pop, ping, bounce and roll.

Beads scattered all over the tile like the star birth of the universe.  I don't have to tell you that round things roll.  Round things roll far and fast.  Round things hide in grout lines and in the shadow of a kick plate.

Well, I learned a valuable lesson.  Always wear the cheater lenses when snipping the price tag from a new bead-dangled accessory.

Never mind that the repair process required an actual shopping trip for stretchy elastic.  But, if beading is not your thing you may not know that all manner of decisions are required when purchasing stretchy stuff.  

First is the worry over how much stretchy cord to buy.  Because bead work is not really my thing - at least as it relates to jewelry making as opposed to adding blingness to yarn - building in a mistake or two seemed like a plan to make that proverbial lemonade from these sparkly lemons.  The temptation to start a stash of the stretchy stuff was upon me.  And I resisted!  Somewhere in the great cosmic  tally sheet there is a check by my name for avoiding temptation and not starting a whole new stash devoted to making stretchy bracelets and the like.  

Second is the fretting over what gauge to buy.  Having no experience with the stuff was a bit scary, but it turns out that jewelry making shoppers are just as friendly as yarn using shoppers.  A very nice woman suggested that I procure .7mm stretchy cord for my foray into bracelet making.  It was her belief that the spool was the most economical decision and thus the possibility of making several attempts to make a sturdy bracelet was moot.  There is a considerable amount of cord on a spool.  Just saying.

For decision number three, the kind shopping advisor even pointed out the nifty beading needles that come five to a pack.  So, in a small way a stash has been started.

Figuring out what order to configure the beads is actually a fun hurdle to overcome!  It is somewhat akin to plotting stitch usage and choosing multiple yarns for color work.

Maybe there is something to this making lemonade thing.  Look on the sunny side of life.  Rose colored glasses and all that gleefulness espoused by the happy folk.

I did it!  Failing eyesight and the scissors with a mind of their own gave me lemons.  And darn it - I made lemonade.

And there are still five beading needles and a barely used spool of stretchy cord left.  

I need more beads.