Beaded Handbags in Miniature

I often find myself thinking about possible miniature projects before I go to sleep. Sometime last week, I had the idea that I could make miniature beaded bags by covering a rigid form with no-hole beads. The next day, I had to give it a try.

When I tried making them the next morning, I discovered I'd underestimated just how slow and finicky this project would be. I knew that the beads to make the flower needed to be individually placed, but what I didn't expect was that the background beads also required a lot of individual 'nudging'.

 I thought that finishing the one bag would be the end of it, but by that time, I'd already come up with a few more designs I wanted to try. One bag became three, and then I realized that it was much better to work on a few at once, so that each section of beads had time to dry before  I moved on... I think I'm hooked.

None of the bags are completely finished yet. The top three still need clasps, the middle two are completely beaded, but still need the hardware (frame, chain, and clasps), and the bottom two still need bead work. I'm also dying to stop by the craft store for other colours!