Went Fishing on Sunday, Guess what We Caught?

One of my earlier 2-Fish designs

Spent a wonderful day "fishing" at Fusion Beads this past Sunday.  The Catch of the Day were my two-faced fish pendants.  Because they're designed to lay flat when worn, only one side of the fish shows at a time.  This meant that each side could be slightly different.  They remind me of sunfish and never fail to make me smile.

My working title for the design was "One Fish, Two Fish."  Rather than fully encapsulating the core bead as in my other fish designs, these pendants allow the beauty of the central stone to shine through and become part of the design.

They're built with right angle weave, my second-most favorite (can you say that?) bead weaving stitch and what I think of as 'bead sketching' - drawing the fishy details with beads (size 15s). 

The other side of the same fish from above

Two of my students brought fish to show off from previous classes.  And they let me take pictures to share!

I love how Vala used orange thread with her cream beads for the body!

Is it just me, or does Vala's little fish look terribly sad in this picture?

Linda rocks my original Catch of the Day design, finishing it with a herringbone chain

I love their choices of colors!  Just wish I'd taken better photos.  I should have taken the pictures at the beginning of the day - my photography skills definitely decline by late afternoon.   These were the only three that even halfway came out of all the photos I took.

I also managed to snap a single pic of their works-in-progress from the class.  I waited too long and the other two students had managed to slip away before I thought to pull out my camera.  As it was, I had to snatch Linda's WIP out of her bag as she tried to pack.  I am so bad!

Vala & Linda's fish in progress.  (Linda actually started two separate fish)

I simply love teaching; it's such fun sharing my designs and seeing where others take them.  How they make them their own.  One of my students was new not only to right angle weave, but to bead weaving in general (she does come from a wire-working background).  It was interesting to see how quickly she became comfortable with the stitch.  Makes me wonder if the fact that she didn't know that right angle weave is often considered 'difficult' worked to her advantage.