I recently came across an image on Pinterest of a folded heart bead. I adored it, the moment I saw it, and wondered how in the heck the artist had maneuvered the clay into such a unique rendition of a heart. It was sassy,edgy and a lil rustic.
(I found that the original source of the photo is a Flickr account,and it belongs to the artist herself. Eugena Topina, you can click here to visit her photo stream.)
Her work is stunning!! I kept looking for a video tutorial on Youtube, but no luck. Eventually I found a tutorial offered by the artist on how to make that same bead!!! The only problem was, I operate on a very tiny budget. The tutorial was very reasonably priced at $8 but I could also purchase 3 blocks of clay for that amount, more if it’s on sale 😛
I asked my boyfriend the engineer if he could wrap his brain around how the folded heart had been created. Never one to let me down, he grabs a dry erase marker and begins to draw the necessary shape and how I would need to fold it. Freakin Awesome!! I now know how to make the elusive folded heart and I did not have to buy the tutorial!!
Instead of rushing to my studio to start making folded heart beads, I thought about what I was considering. I imagined how I would feel if I found a copy of something I had created the concept for, being represented by someone else. I am one of those hippy nuts who believes in Karma and being a decent human being, and I could not get over feeling icky inside. So I bought the tutorial 🙂 I knew that I could not offer my beads for sale with a good conscience knowing that I had not paid the necessary dues, annnnd to my delight there was additional information in the tutorial that I would not have been able to figure out on my own. Plus I had instant inspiration on how to put my own twist on the bead.
I know for a fact that not all crafters share my fear of Fairy retribution and the Karmic curse of the Universe, but I can only do what I feel is right,whether or not it actually makes a difference. When I entered the Etsy world, I quickly realized that there were plenty of shameless copy cats skulking about, with no sense of morals and just yesterday I was browsing through a blog with a tutorial and in the comment section the original creator of the of the concept stated that she would have appreciated some type of reference. Another person commented, “Get a patent”. Seriously?? What is wrong with people?? She did not ask for a monetary compensation, she simply asked for a reference to her as the creator.
I realize not everyone has funds to purchase every tutorial they may want or need, but before you cold heartedly rip someones design please at least consider stating who it was inspired by at the least if you are planning on sharing it or posting it for sale.
If you would like to learn how to make these beautiful beads: Folded heart tutorial It is the first tutorial I have ever purchased and I was quite happy with it. It was very well written with photos of every step, including different variations of the style. I look forward to creating beads and pendants using what I have learned and sharing that with you.
DaturaDeadly 