Playtime

The Frost Fairy's Garden

When kittens and puppies play, they are practicing skills they will need as adults. Playtime for human children is also about important learning experiences.

Some authorities refer to children's  play as their "work".

My playtime is my work time too...my homework time !!!

 How do I play ? I enter challenges ,contests and bead swaps! 

 As I make my ideas come to life , I learn new skills ,

perfect old ones and often invent techniques along the way !!! 

Coming up soon is the AMAZING Bead Soup Blog hop !

Next week I'll introduce you to my exchange partner and  give you a peek at the "bead soup " mix she sends me to work with !!!

http://lorianderson-beadsoupblogparty.blogspot.com/2011/07/coming-soon-bead-soup-blog-party.html
Working with beads someone else picked for me, is an extra fun,extra challenging design lesson !!!!

I Love participating in Bead Soup , Art Bead Scene and all other challenges. I just set my imagination free  and allow myself to have fun !!!When I started to enter challenges and blog hops  I decided that I would create designs to keep for myself . I don't design with  any concern for whether it will sell or if it is in fashion...no rules !!! That way I'm able to just play around with the new concepts .

I only have to please myself !!!

I usually add some of my own polymer clay creations to the design .This gives me a better feel for how  people use my beads. Sometimes it sparks ideas for new beads!

It's a great  way to see what works and what doesn't !

This year I took a GIANT leap..

I finally  got up the  nerve to try  a magazine contest !!!

I entered the"Winter Wonderland "challenge at Stringing Magazine.

You can see all the entries and vote for your favorite here 

http://www.stringingmagazine.com/gallery/Winter11-Challenge/

 For me it was a bit intimidating !

My design included some crystal quartz and very shiny silver !

 I had to buff up my photography tecniques to get a good picture!

Hopefully I gained some photography skills.

I still need a lot of practice !!!!!!!

I did learn it is probably wise to consider how photogenic a design is,before creating it for a magazine contest !!! 

I also had a chance to play with some rather weighty, gemstone beads ."Stringing" them on wire worked well . It is a tecnique I'll probably use again .I am currently in love with rough cut stones !

I think my challenge play time, was time well spent. 

Play time should be FUN. You should be learning.

But ,you should not really feel you are hard at work studying.

The new knowledge should just sneak into your head while you are smiling and  laughing !!!

This week 

take time to play 

and 

Bead Happy !

m.e.