Beading Again - Itty Bitty Little Fish

freeform bead embroidered fishes, stitched from left to right

This week I pulled out the beads for the first time in what seems like forever.  My goal was and is to make little fish pendants for some friends.  I pulled out a bunch of beads in blues, blacks and silvers, but from there I really didn't know where I wanted to go.  Instead, I simply started stitching. 

Which meant that each little fish was a complete surprise.  It was such fun watching them emerge, almost like it wasn't me holding the needle and taking the stitches.  It's interesting that even with these little guys - each one is less than three inches long - they all went through an ugly duckling stage where I really wondered if they would 'turn out'. 

I still need to trim the interfacing, sew on the backing and decide how exactly I want to hang them as pendants.  Need to figure that out quickly, too, as at least two of them are supposed to go to their new homes tomorrow evening.  But I thought I'd share them where they are right now, in this little in-between stage, with my slightly-less-than-stellar photos, because hey,  I'm beading! 

Fish collage  (just noticed - the middle fish on the right is upside down!)