Some beading projects seem to come from nowhere and be perfect right from the start, whereas others become a real labour of love with a lot of annoyance, experimentation and frustration built in.

The bracelet I finished tonight was a mix of both of those.

The idea came to me when I was working on something that became the inspiration for my Rivoli Medals necklace and it seemed to work right away but then took a great turn when I tried it in Swarovski SS39 Chatons.

But, like so much beading, you never know until bringing the whole thing together at the end if it's going to work - which is hard if you've spent anywhere from 20-200 hours beading and developing it.

Tonight as I worked towards finishing my new bracelet I had a sudden panic that I hadn't taken the depth of the Chatons into account and that it wouldn't work as I brought the components together.

I rapidly strung it and only when I did so did I remember that I had taken their depth into account right at the start and that was why the bracelet used a specific size of another component.

Phew- such a relief to realise I was more efficient than I thought and that it all came together beautifully, which is more than be said for the state of my beading mat and work area by the time I went to bed.