I’m often asked, particularly when I’m teaching workshops “How do you come up with your designs”. So I thought you may find it interesting to find out how I approach designing with 2 hole beads. Which is exactly what I’ve been doing recently.
We have just added the lovely 2 hole Ginko beads and 2 hole Chevron duo beads on to the website and I wanted to use these to create a new workshop design. We get sent samples of new beads by suppliers fairly regularly. It’s by far the easiest way to find out if we want to stock them and gives us a chance to play and ensure they’re a good fit with our existing ranges of beads.
The colours we’re sent are often don’t go together, or colours we end up selling, but still give me a good idea of how they could be used and what other beads I can put with them.
The first thing I establish is where the holes are. Sometimes they’re just not where you’d expect them to be. I also like to check how the hole placement compares with other beads.
I start by simply moving beads around on my beading mat asking myself a series of questions;
Can I make interesting shapes?
Do the shapes tessellate or mirror one another?
What size gaps are between the beads?
Which other beads might fit in the gaps?
Sometimes this simple act of playing with shapes might just spark an idea or create an interesting pattern which forms a starting point to develop my pattern.
Things usually evolve quite organically for me, quite often the shape I initially formed on my beading mat does not resemble the finished article. Buts it’s all part of the process. I attribute some of my designing skills to the fact I’m dyslexic. When tested for dyslexia as a child and as an adult I scored highly in exercises related to pattern recognition and pattern sequencing. Although sometimes a hindrance I have to credit my Neurodiverse brain in helping me visualise how beads will fit together and working out pattern repeats.
I hope you’ve enjoy reading about how I approach designing with 2 hole beads, or at least how I start the design process. There’s a fair bit of trial and error too. Removing bead, trying a different size or a different number of beads to find what works best. Starting something is often the hardest part so once you’ve got going it’s much easier adapt and change as you go. I really enjoy the development of a design and where that initial idea can take you.
Steph