More Beads and Weaving Stuffs

I've made quite a few beads!  Some are really nice!

And some are pretty ugly...as they are rather experimental, so don't abuse the artist too much.  I was trying to make some Islamic Folded Beads, but found that they are tedious and don't always turn out right.  I started another technique that involves using a pointy tool, much like a dental tool, but thicker and stronger.  I made the core of the bead then added stripes and dragged the tool over the surface of the glass, deforming the stripes.  These turned out pretty cool, but others didn't do as well.  Some have a fatal flaw that causes...well...

...sudden bead death.  If they don't get into the vermiculite fast enough, they cool down too quickly, which causes stress fractures.  I could glue it back together, but there's no telling if other fractures might appear later.

The perle cotton tablet weaving is coming along.  I have about a yard done so far on this particular piece.  The threads are pretty fine (#8 DMC perle cotton, found at any fabric or craft store) and slick, which makes the cards turn so smoothly...like buttah!  The cost of materials is a bit higher, but not astronomically high.  We're talking about $12-15...maybe more if I need to use another $3 skein of thread for weft...instead of $3-5 for an entire project.  Yeah, it's about triple or quadruple, but still cheap for what it is.  I could still sell it for $60-75 for the four-yard length.  It's not the cost of materials, but the time invested; something that many people don't value in today's machine-produced society.

My plans in the not-too-distant-future (say, summer) is to build something like this:

And I can hear you saying..."Um...why?"  Um...'cause.  It goes with my sheep-to-shawl plan.  You know...take the fleece from the sheep and turn it into a wearable garment.
1.  Make loom.
2.  Spin fibers.
3.  Weave into cloth.
4.  Make something from cloth, like a 10th century Danish apron dress.
If I can finish all that by next January, I can enter things into Kingdom Arts & Sciences.  I was told (by a supportive artisan friend) to enter three things:  loom, woven stuff and beads.  I think I can do it...but I'm going to have to do some serious work over the summer.  January is the deadline to submit the proposal and request to the King & Queen.  The arts event is in March, usually the first or second weekend.