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Bead Craft Ideas A Second Look at Patterning
By: Thomas Bridleman
I regard patterning as the single most important aspect of bead craft. A good pattern can cover a multitude of other bead craft design sins, and good crafters will spend a lot of time fiddling with their patterns to get them just right.
In this article, I’ll take a brief look at two sources of inspiration for your bead craft pattern ideas that you may not have thought of. Consider this an experiment in cross discipline thinking.
Poetry
Any poem that’s not free verse has a rhyme and meter to it. Haiku’s structure is 5-7-5. Iambic pentameter has its own rhythm, and so forth. There are a multitude of rhythms to choose from, and inspiration is as close as your nearest volume of poetry.
Take the haiku example. You could construct a pattern around the haiku rhythm, 5-7-5. An arrangement of 5 beads. A different arrangement of 7, and then back to five. Repeat this around your necklace (or bracelet, or whatever) and you’ll have created a “haiku bead craft necklace.”
Or if your favorite poem has a funky rhythm like
a-b-b-a
b-c-c-b
c-d-d-c
(repeat)
You could organize a bead craft pattern around that (each letter represents a different element) to striking effect. And, your bead craft project will have an interesting story surrounding it!
Sheet Music
Another excellent source for inspiration to enhance your bead craft projects is sheet music. Assign one bead element to each note and place according to whatever song you select.
As you please, either ignore sharps and flats or add wholly new bead craft design elements for them. Start with something simple. Design a “Mary had a little lamb” necklace, playing with the elements until you’re happy with the results. Again, an off beat way of looking at the topic of patterning that can enhance your bead craft in unexpected ways!
*Note: You’ll probably only want to focus on one line of the sheet music in your bead craft project, les you create something much too big to be useable!
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