How do you decide what is a "Keeper"?

So I'm curious how everyone decides whether a finished piece is a keeper or not.

I don't mean keeper as in keep for yourself versus sell or gift away, but whether to take an item apart and start over. You know, like when you're not sure you're satisfied. Is it the best it can be? Are the colors right? Is the length right?

I do mostly stringing, so my time investment isn't as big as with weaving, etc. So cutting the wire and starting fresh isn't a big waste, just the loss of some crimp beads and maybe some wire.

Anyway, my method is: Wear it to the office. (my day job) If I get compliments, I know it's probably good! How about you?

I usually do it like this, if my "project" for the day what ever it is survives like "finishing" (cutting threads and wires and all others loose ends). I dump it in a box - if its still in the box in a week its survived.

 I also do simple stringing so I understand about simply cutting the wire. For me it is whether I like it or not. It has taken me a while to be able to set differ between whether I like or whether I would wear it. I don't do red, but I make a lot of pieces with red in them. Do I like them, Yes. Would I wear them No. But they are still keepers.

I have some pieces that I have had for sale at craft shows and in a case for sale and no luck. So after quite a few attempts ( plus my technique has progressed ), I will probably cut the wire/string. Then use those beads in different pieces with other beads to obvisously change the look and maybe that piece will sell.

I think for me it is determined immediately after if I like it. If I like it, then it is a keeper. If I don't like it I will immediately start again. Then after a while if is does not sale, I will cut the wire and start again.

Sometimes I will string it, leave it for a day or two and go back to it before I crimp it even. If I decide at any point that I don't like it, I will not even use those beads for a few days. That way I can get a fresh perspective for those beads.

I have one piece [peyote] I started and restarted several times.  When it was completed, I didn't like it and so, I took it apart. After several false starts in tubular brick srtitch, I finaly started the third row.  Then it was time for supper [as we farm-raised midwesterners call it] and off to babysit my grandson [16 months], so I have't done anymore tonight.  Maybe tomorrow.   I thnk this will work, and it looks right.

The original was flat peyote, zippped into a tube.

Stan B.

I use a combination of all the above mentioned ideas, although sometimes I'll finish off a piece even if I'm not sure I love it.  I've been surprised a few times by things I didn't think were great, but someone else loved it.  I do also have to "test drive" everything when I finish it.  When I was working, I'd always wear a new piece to work, and my customers always loved to see what I was wearing that day.  That's one thing I miss about working (the adult conversation is kinda nice too).  At least I can post to my gallery and share with all of you!

I donated a piece I didn't really love for a raffle once, and the person that won it came to my booth and exchanged it for a different piece (actually a higher priced one).  Not 3 or 4 customers later, someone else came and snapped up the raffle piece and said it was the perfect color combo for her daughter!  Funny how that works sometimes.

Hi!

I agree with the way Sheila makes her decisions. First I decide if I like a piece or not. Some pieces didn't turn out the way I want them and so  I don't keep them. And some pieces turned out better than I think and so I keep them. And I also make a difference whether I like a piece or I would wear a piece. I have many pieces I consider very beautiful, but I wouldn't wear them, because they are not my style, not my color etc. And then someone tells me that he or she likes exactly the piece I would never wear. And then I am surprised how different people are.

I think the process of whether you redo a piece or not is very complex and everyone has a different way to decide. Very hard to describe.

 I'm mainly a beadweaver, so there is a lot of time invested in a finished piece and I rarely take one apart, although bits of it might get re-stitched several times during the making process. Even if I don't personally like the result, if it's wearable, comfortable and finished to a high enough standard, then it's a 'keeper'!

I have learned to be loyal to my initial idea, as very often I get half way through a 'big' piece and absolutely hate it. I have to make myself carry on and work through this stage, as most of the time the finished piece turns out fine!

From time to time I have heroic failures, or I make a mistake somewhere that can't be unpicked, or the finishing on a piece isn't up to scratch, or it isn't quite reliable or strong enough to be saleable. These pieces either end up in my personal beadwork box (which is overflowing!) or are offered as swaps  - and I'm very lucky to have a lovely friend who collects my work and will give a loving home to my sub-standard pieces in return for beautiful lampwork beads!

I do have a 'recycling' box of bits and samples, but quite when I'll get round to 'recycling' it I don't know - unpicking seems to take forever!

I hate unpicking things!  I try really hard to make it work if at all possible, but sometimes it's unavoidable.  I agree, there are times when I get to the point where I have to force myself to continue a project.  Sometimes I have to put it aside and come back to it, but once I convince myself to continue it, it's usually worth the effort.

 I'm a simple stringer, too.  I decide if a piece is a keeper exactly like Sheila does.  The other thing that fits into play for me is if I learn something new about beading techniques and realize that a piece that I've made will eventually break, then I'll redo the whole thing.  And if it is strung too tight and doesn't drape nicely, I'll take a finished piece apart and re-think the bead pattern.  (All flat beads will not drape nicely.  you have to add other shapes for the piece to be flexible.)

i've just recently become a wire wrapper. so when i had something in mind, i'd try to make it. if i didn't know the technique, i'd browse through all of the saved images in my computer and i'd try to incorporate the technique i found suitable into my design (thank god i'm a visual learner? lol). so when i have made halfway and i feel like to continue it, i'd finish it, the i'd decide whether it's a keeper or not. if i didn't like what i had so far, i'd put it on pending (never waste a wire! =O) until i figure out what to do with it.

right now i have made (halfway) a pendant that looked cool in my mind but i don't like the way i executed it so far. it's kinda cluttery. but i still like the idea so i'm gonna put it on hold until i've figured out something or until i'm better in wrapping so i could translate my ideas on the pendant smoothly :B

oh, yeah, when i'm finished making something then i don't like it as much, i'd find a way, add some extra something here and there until i'm satisfied. sometimes what's supposedly finished just has that "unfinished" vibe on it so i feel the need to finish it again XD (if that makes sense!)

This is a fascinating topic!  Wearing a piece definitely helps me figure out if there is a problem I need to fix--maybe it drapes awkwardly or isn't quite the right length.  I've also found that if a piece isn't working for me, it helps to take a photo.  Oddly, I can sometimes tell by the photo what needs to be fixed even though I can't see the problem when I just look at the piece.  There's something about the photo that helps me see the piece more clearly and objectively.  

Interesting Michelle.  I'll have to give that a try.  I have a piece that I know isn't finished but I think I just got stalled on it more than anything.  I took pics of it though, so I'll look at them again and see what strikes me.

Kay, I can see your dilemma when something isn't working well.  That's the problem when you get started wrapping silver wire the way you do-it's a lot harder to undo it and start again.  Setting it aside and rethinking it seems to be a good solution.  "Necessity is the mother of invention", right?

yeah, Jen.. undoing the little spirals is a *** xD but since silver is very soft, i could do it once without actually damaging it (but it could be less straight looking). but that only applies to the hair thin wire (mine is 28 if not 29 ga). i undone a spiral about 3 times and it became brittle at some point and actually snapped off =O good thing i could cover it (made it look intentionally that the wire stopped coiling there) xD so right now i will just put it aside until further idea comes to mind...

It's always easier to be objective when it's not your own work!So if there's a problem with a piece, it sometimes helps to photo it and run it by your beady friends on the forums, who may be better able to 'see the wood for the trees'  - I struggled for ages with a piece I made last winter, just couldn't see what was wrong with it, took it apart and reassembled it several times and still couldn't get it right... but after getting some great design advice from other beaders, I put it together again, loved the result so much that I submitted it as a project... and it ended up on the cover of Beadwork

Whether I like it or not, and whether i would wear it.

:-)