Almond Blossom necklace finished and uploaded

I've finished making a necklace with the beads I showed you a couple of days ago that were inspired by the Art Bead Scene March Monthly Challenge. I feel that just managing to get an entry uploaded within four weeks has been quite an achievement for me! At the time of typing, my entry isn't showing yet as it has to be approved by the group monitor but in the meantime you can see the the photograph on my new FlickR account

Every month the organisers post an image to be used by designers as inspiration to make something, the only set criteria is that the piece has to incorporate at least one art bead. Every month, I try to come up with something to enter but a month just isn't usually enough time for me to make the beads and the jewellery. I often find I have something a couple of weeks or so after the competition has ended!

It can take several days of experimenting with different things before I come up with a bead I'm happy to include, let alone design and make the jewellery. This is why I am cautious about accepting commissions - I usually need at least two months (and preferably three). In the days when I had a proper salaried job, I was used to working under pressure and just got on with it but with creative things, I just cannot function with deadlines hanging over my head.

The fact that I've managed to do something I'm proud of within four weeks shows that I'm getting a little bit more disciplined with my time, and possibly more focused but I don't think I'll be altering what I tell customers about commissions until I've entered a few more.