I soon was bored with just pouring beads into a glass ball and began to think of what else I could put in through the tiny hole. Soon I was poking threads in and then threading in copper wires. And then there were beads on the wires - but only the tiniest ones. Once Jan Edwards had given me some very old (judging by the strings they were on) Charlottes in a fuchsia color. The beads were somewhat corroded (metal surely) and not evenly made enough for beading but it felt good to save these old, old beads in the glass balls.
Yesterday I said the holes on the balls were not flat but as I worked with them I realized the decorated headpins I was using were not straight. I found that even when they were straightened beads would leak out so I removed all of them and wrapped the wires at the loop instead of making the simple eyelet. This tightened up the end closures and now no beads are straying.
This is the last challenge of the year for the Etsy Beadweavers' in the December "Arabesque Style" contest. You are invited to vote for your favorite in the public poll at http://www.etsy-beadweavers.blogspot.com/ I have nothing in this contest but hope you will enjoy looking at the contestants and will vote for your favorite.