Some of you may have just glanced at the picture above and decided that I’ve gone too far. About all my spouse could say when I put it on was that it was still strange.

The wire armature of this piece sat on the work table for several weeks. I tried in various ways and even wired beads on  it once. I was trying to make it perfect. The first time, my wire bindings weren’t even. The second time I felt the bead placement was wrong. Finally, I looked at the piece and realized that I was trying to find the “perfect” way to embellishment it. Yet, I didn’t really know what perfect for this piece should look like.

Finally, instead of thinking about perfection, I started to think about good technique that might lead to good quality. Could I get the beads on the armature without the ugly wire ends showing? How might I balance the piece without letting the beads take over the design. Could I make good jump rings without rough edges?

You may not like the look of it, but the piece won’t fall apart or snag your clothes. Of course, this finished necklace is not perfect and I could still pick it apart, but at least I was able to accomplish those elements needed for quality.  Sometimes that’s the best I can do.