Last weekend I spent time with my friends Angie and Vern of Bead Addicts. What do bead makers do when they get together? Well, they make beads of course. I saw my trip as a play date and I tried new things while I was there. One of them hits Justbeads tomorrow as my All Hallows Eve inspired set.
I made a few others I am still working on polishing up and still some I left with Angie and Vern. I don’t have pictures of those, but I made a few more when I got home. The ones I am showing you today are a direct result of me trying to copy (yes copy…I said it) one of Angie’s beads. Here is the Angie bead I tried to copy (she gave it to me back in may at bead camp).

These are the two that I came up with after coping it:


They look exactly the same don’t they? LOL…okay maybe not. So it’s not like I used exactly the same colors or tried to do it exactly the same, but I was for sure trying to get the same shape of the flower she made. Obviously, I made a mistake somewhere. I am pretty sure my round middle area was too big and the petals were too small. So I did a bit of tinkering and turned it into something I liked. I am now calling them my ruffled flowers.
Okay, so I usually don’t talk about the “copy” issue. It is a big taboo and no one wants to be called a copier. I don’t think I am in too much danger of that, as every time I try to copy something, it never ever looks like the the persons bead I tried to duplicate. Personally I think coping is good for trying new techniques, you never know what might come from it. As far as people who blatenly copy others ideas and call them there own, well….that is another matter entirely.
So thanks Angie, I think I found a new bead I really like, while totally and completely botching my attempt at your flowers.