Not every piece of handmade jewelry can be perfect. Sometimes it just happens that your great idea doesn’t look as good in practice as it did in your head. Then you go and think of it: “It may not be my best piece but I can wear it with something.” And you rarely really wear it. Or it was perfect. The superb necklace was your finest achievement at the time. Either you grew tired of it or it now looks like made in kindergarten when you look at it again.
In either case, answer is the same: you need to take it apart. It’s not easy always, but it’s often the right choice. It has happened to me that I have liked some ugly piece of jewelry just for the hard work that I’ve put in it. As time has passed, I have had to admit that I could have done better. In some cases, I’ve put it aside but I haven’t been ready to undo it just yet. It takes time, but as soon as I’ve been ready to take action, I find myself wishing I had done all this earlier. I just hadn’t had the courage until that moment. After all, I was breaking down my own creation.
I got stash of black beads from a friend of mine. Black and silver are always a match, so I started working combining these two colors. At first I made the one on top. As you can see, it’s possibly okay but never brilliant. Then I got a better idea. In fact, it’s so great and easy that I’ll show it to you step by step soon.
You may need to take a deep breath, but it’s often worth it. Why? Because when the beads are in that once so fabulous necklace, you don’t regard them as beads you could use. They are taken, in a sense. You may buy some bead just like it without realizing that you already had them, hanging in an unsatisfying accessory. When you undo your jewelry, you look at those beads with fresh eyes and notice which other beads would really do them justice. You may make one of your finest pieces of those unhappy beads and wear it with pride. Then you’ll be glad that you dared to tear down one and make a better one. It’s not easy, but it’s worth it!
