It's not long ago that I was in a beading panic and here I am once again.

Due to a combination of time rushing by quicker than I realised and my completely confusing the deadline dates for Bead Dreams, the rush is on to get my entries finished!

Seeing as up to 48 hours ago I had no idea of entries and now I have 2 in progress I think I'm doing OK.

Both are ideas that I have been playing around with for a while (a few years for one) and the deadline has given me the incentive to actually get my beads out and turn them from ideas into samples and then into finished pieces.

Obviously I'm going to keep them secret but can show you some bits.

These samples show the evolution of a rope for one of my pieces.

I had envisioned it as a 6-bead per row herringbone rope using size 15 beads. But size limitations soon but an end to that.

Next it became a 4-bead per row herringbone rope- still no good.

Onto a 4-bead twisted rope but using size 15 Delicas instead- nope, still too big.

A non-twisted rope? No.

A brick stitch rope mixing 2 different beads? I'm getting there now.

So I decide to switch tack and try a flat band using 2 beads a row. Nope, no good.

Back to the brick stitch rope and I think I might have cracked it...