The Buttons That Became Pins

I've continued to work with my beading, following the receipt of the second of Robin Atkin's books, One Bead at a Time. I believe that may have been the first book that she wrote. It's given a name to what I do: improvisational bead embroidery.

I'm trying to make more buttons, larger this time. I didn't do a good job of sizing to the button form. Simply didn't look right so I turned these two "buttons" into pins. The larger one, on top, is 2" in diameter. The smaller one is 1 7/8". I chose to cover the back with Ultrasuede and held the pin back on using Robin's technique.

Tonight I'm going out for dinner with friends so I'll choose one to wear and see if anyone comments!

This has been an odd day as my eyes are at war with each other. I'm going to be having cataract surgery in my right eye in July. I've always considered that my good eye even though my left eye really went from best to worst after cataract surgery a decade ago. Being extremely nearsighted does have advantages. It's like having an 8x magnifying glass when I hold items about 4" from my face. I'll lose that and I'm already mourning the loss.

I've worn contacts for decades to bring me to about 20/30 vision. So that the measurements can be done properly, my contact has to be off the eye for a week. I did negotiate with my doctor to be able to wear the contact for driving. Other than that ... well, let's just say my eyes are very unbalanced without a contact in my right eye. Fortunately I can still bead but trying to use my machines for quilting may not be a good idea. And I think I'd better stay away from the rotary cutter!

Short term pain = long term gain. When I saw my surgeon I showed him a beading project and said, "I'm an artist. I need to be able to do this after surgery."

"You need to see," he replied.

"Yes. I need to see."

-- Joanna