Mini beaded bowls

So while I've been off-line I have been busy with some different things. One of them being bowling ... he he. The result is three beaded mini bowls.

Number one is made in circular square stitch technique.

It all started when I saw this bowl below, made by Dustin Wedekind.

Marcia DeCoster wrote about it in this post on her blog MadDesigns.

I love that bowl. It is sooo attractive.

So I just had to try to make something similar. Of course I did! How could you not. I mean just look at it! The colours, and everything about it. But I tell you, it is NOT easy to create a nice beautiful curve for a good bowl shape. The one you see in the first picture of this post is a bit too steep in my own opinion. And I also had to create a bigger base so it didn't tip over.

This is my first attempt. Ha ha ... it did not work out too well. The colors came together nicely. But the whole structure became too wobbly and uneven. So I took it apart. Lesson learned is to not use triangular or cubic beads. But I actually used triangular ones in my second one anyway. Now I know they are not the best choice.

Then my son Conrad found a picture in one of my books, Mastering Beadwork by Carol Huber Cypher. The picture was of a structure called "Mandala". A circular peyote stitched round. Very pretty. He wanted me to make one. Being in the good old "bowling mode" I directly thought that I could use the same technique, but making a bowl instead. You just have to make sure your new rings are not big enough, so the structure starts to curve.

I couldn't hold back. Had to make one more. Very large seed beads in this one.

And here they are all three again, together. For scale understanding the white-pink one is about two and a half inches in diameter.

I believe I will keep making little beaded bowls every now and then when I need to keep my hands busy but don't want to put too much work into designing one-of-a-kind jewelry pieces. I think they are perfect for little gifts. I have mine on my beading table for now. But why not put them in the bathroom, by the sink, to put rings or earrings in. So they don't "roll" away.

All my best,

Malin