The top photo is looking through a magnifying glass...... even that didn't help. The beads were semi-precious stone chips. Between not being able to see the holes (it's hell getting old) and trying to pick them up with my fake fingernails (but they look really nice) it took me two and a half hours to string 16" worth. Even being able to see the drill path through the stone didn't help. Plus, about 25 stones were either chipped or the hole was too small. I was hunched over all that time trying to see them. (Guess that's why my back hurts today...... another perk of aging.)
The bottom photo was a repair I did. The necklace had broken and I had to take it all apart and replace the cord with a fine wire. I didn't know how long of a wire to use and of course ran out. Since I had already spent a whole afternoon working on it, I was not about to start over again. So, I added a jump ring to both ends and continued on with new wire. Originally it went over the customer's head but enough beads were gone that I added a magnetic clasp to make things easier.
The repair was the piece I was working on when my hand decided to swell up like the Michelin Man. I tried to blame it on holding those tiny beads but no...... it was gout. The doctor said it did not cause my "sausage" finger. (That's what it looked like and that's an actual medical term for it. ) Either way, I will not be working on teeny, tiny beads anymore!
If I do, please put me out of my misery.
1 comment:
Yeah, but if you're anything like me in this regard, I'm sure you'll get suckered in again when another collection of such pretty tiny beads somehow lands in your lap!
May I be so bold as to mention that one real perk of getting older that I've come to appreciate is learning (and occasionally even remembering, which is of course the trick here!) to stop and take breaks. So what if, for example, what should be a one hour project now takes three days!?
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