Old, but new -- when the child within is choosing what beads to buy

As a kid I did of cause love playing with my Nabbi/Hama beads, making all sorts of patterns on the plastic pegboards and then letting mom or the teachers at pre-school iron them. Most of all I think I made hearts and stars. And like most kids I also made simple necklaces and bracelets by stringing the beads on twine. (I used to chew them sometimes too: this was before I was old enough to buy chewing gum whenever I wanted.)

Then I grew older and put such childish things behind me. Sometimes I looked at the beads, but mostly as a slightly nostalgic note, not with any interest to work with the beads again. Well, that dragon-shaped pegboard was fun.

Fast forward to a few years ago. I'm into beads and active on the bead forums online when I encounter Emo, a woman who didn't outgrow the love for these plastic cylinder beads but instead became an expert on mastering not just the classic flat ironed bead technique but making bead "paintings" as well as 3D figures. At the time I would perhaps enjoy and admire her work, but I didn't feel that interested in trying it myself. Well, that PhotoPearls stuff perhaps, but not going back to creating ironed beadwork. So I did feel a little tempted, I must confess.


That's how I feel for a couple of years. What happens then is that Hama releases a mini version of the beads (earlier, they sold the standard "midi" size beads as well as maxi sized beads for younger children). These plastic beads are just 2,5 mm and much more the same size as the glass seed and cylinder beads I love. Just half the size of the 5 mm midi beads. The small size means you can make smaller motifs as well as creating motifs with finer details. That was what finally made me buy a package. I could no longer resist the temptation. Tiny hama beads, well, that intrigued me.

Still haven't actually made anything with the beads though...