After a slow start, some serious frustration and an illness hiccup along the way, I am SO excited to share that I finished beading my turtle this week!
Is it perfect? Absolutely not?
Do I love it? Absolutely!
Have I been inspired? Absolutely!
At my last update I had just finished beading the outer edge of one of the “islands” on turtle’s back. As I continued on with the other islands, a couple of my beads weren’t held taught and it created a bit of a rough outline. I decided not to worry about it because it made me think about the beautiful, rugged and imperfect coastline that my daughter and I saw time and time again during our visit to Newfoundland in the summer of 2023.
Me and my daughter on the island of Twillingate, Newfoundland.
There is beauty in imperfection. Life would be pretty dull if everything was always perfect!
And now I’m thinking about how many islands I’ve visited in my life…
Oahu Island Map courtesy of Shaka Guide Jamaica Map courtesy of Jacqui Oakley
I started off by finishing off the outer edges of the islands and then filled them in with green as a representation of the land that we live and depend on for our survival. Working with a larger space I could definitely see myself adding in an extra colour or some other details.
Once I had each of the three islands complete, I started on the blue beads as a representation of water, our source of life on this earth.
Again, with more space I definitely would have added more layers of blue!
And then, with plenty of patience, my turtle is complete! 🙂
I still haven’t decided what I’m going to work on next, but once you mention “beadwork” or “beading” or search that topic up, the number of posts that start popping up suggesting sites to visit is endless!
Hi Chantelle!
I love love love your learning project idea! I love how its not just beading, its beading something attached to memories and world history. It turned out beautiful, as well. Keep up the amazing work!
Cheyenne
Hi Chantelle,
I love this beading work, I think it looks amazing. I love how you tied in some imperfections and colors into real life experiences. I am excited to see what you do next!!
Thank you, Carson! This turned into a really meaningful project for me and I’m really proud of the finished product.
Thank you, Cheyenne! There is a lot of meaning attached to that little turtle. 🙂
Hey Chantelle,
This was very well done, I’ve always liked this type of beading and I think you did a wonderful job on the turtle! Your blog post was very intriguing to read because you incorporated your steps and struggles along the way to completing the beading of the turtle. I will make sure to check in again for your next beading adventure update!
Thanks, Maddie! When I changed paths and decided to bead this turtle it changed my whole perspective on the project. I realized I had to find something that had meaning for me otherwise I wasn’t invested in it.
Now, I’m ready to explore some new meaningful beading options!