So over the last three months, I have been learning to do beading. This is a skill that I knew very little about when starting this class, but since I work in a school with mostly Indigenous Students, I wanted to learn. Over the last three months, with help from multiple internet sources and a few of my coworkers or students, I have learned to bead.
Seeing as it is close to Christmas, I decided to start by making some Christmas ornaments as gifts. So this week, I decided to put my learning to the test and make two additional ornaments for my Mother in Law and a friend. My Mother in Law is a big Star Trek fan, so I decided that her ornament would be the star trek logo.
When I started this specific beading project, I was just going to do the beading as usual- start with the outside edges, then do any internal shapes, and then fill in the rest. But I decided to experiment with a different technique with hers. I decided to do just only lines, and I put the black beads into the design by counting and inserting them into the strand at the midway point. I have to say, this was significantly faster than the method that I have been using for the last few months. The only downside is that my logo does look a bit messed up. But in the words of my coworker when I asked if it looked messed up “it’s a handmade gift… it’s supposed to be a little messed up”. So I finished the project and decided it was good enough.
The next one I did was the panda, which I started during class last week because I needed something to do with my hands while listening. I was purposely not making the design very big so that it didn’t take up too much room, but it was a bit of a mistake because the panda looks a bit like a skull… But honestly, I think my friend will like it. His ride name is Po (from Kung Fu Panda) so I think this was perfect and I am going to attach it to either his backpack or his leather vest (cut) when I give it to him this weekend.
The next thing I made was a pride flag- which quickly was claimed by one of my students who wanted it for her wall and stole it before I could take a picture and then I made a “She/Her” patch as well. I feel confident with making pride flags now which is a great thing because it is one of the projects that I would like to teach to my students.
Finally, this week I started my final beading project that I wanted to be able to show off and have an “end product” to post in my final blog post. I will not post any update pictures now, but I will share that it has something to do with Twilight which is one of my favourite movies.
You are getting so good at beading. I love how you mentioned that you just started making a panda during class because you needed to do something with your hands. I feel like you could take that into a classroom and tell students that it is okay to use fidgets or do something with their hands while in a lesson as long as they are still paying attention. You can bring in your own experience with school as well to let them know that they aren’t alone in needing to keep their hands busy.
Hey! I think you have done a really great job with your learning project. Those are some really meaningful pieces that you have made, its pretty special to be able to make them for the people you care about! It definitely makes the creation process a lot more worth while!