The Sunday Files - and a question

I've been working on AmuseInk's Pyra, and have stopped because it doesn't look right to me. I thought I'd post pictures here, and see if anyone in the blog-isphere had suggestions. Pyra is supposed to be a peyote stitched bag. I tried doing the beading in the round, meaning that both front and back are worked at the same time. Now that I have an inch or so done, it looks weird. It doesn't really sit flat and nice like I think a bag should - it kind of stick open and looks funny. I'm tempted to take out what I have and re-do it, but I thought I'd ask for suggestions first. As an added incentive, anyone who comments and offers a suggestion is eligible for a bead draw! I'll pick a name and send them a bead (or beads or something even cooler than just a bead, depending on my mood at the time) for their time. Everyone is eligible for the draw - it doesn't matter if this is your first time to the blog, or I've gifted you with something before or you've never commented before - it's all good. Just leave a comment. I'll make the draw from all of the comments received by the end of Friday, January 26th.
(And Michelle - I haven't forgotten that I owe you something, it's just that I'm tryin' to do something nifty and it's not worked out yet. Soon, I promise!)

I also have an Alhambra update. If only I got this much done every week. I'm now motivated as I'd love to join the St. Petersburg Chatelaine that starts in April, but I need to get this one done before I spend more money. I'm looking at going on a trip between Prague and Moscow, through Poland and other places in Russia. I'm *really* hoping it happens - I have to re-arrange somethings at work and it depends on the trip actually running, which I can't control, but we'll see how this all works out.

I also have a bead update! I finished this set of tiger beads this weekend. I'm quite enamoured with a few of them - I don't know what they'll look like on your monitor, but in real life they're a deep rich carmel colour. I'm not totally convinced it's a true tiger colour, but I *love* the colour that they are - perfect for jewellery. I have a couple of trial beads in blue. I was trying out different types of vine cane on these ones. Vine cane is the background of the beads - it's supposed to look like a vine, and it sort of does on these beads, even though it's blue. I have three different types of vine cane on these ones - blue with lots of black (left bead), blue with a little black (right bead) and blue with darker blue (middle bead). I think I like the blue with a little bit of black - it provides enough contrast without being over the top. I'll likely make a set of these when I get a chance. These beads are all from the new set of tools that I bought from Zoozii's a couple of weeks ago. I'm still figuring out how much glass goes in them to produce the correct shape, but getting the hang of it slowly. The bead on the left is a "nugget" and the beads in the middle and right are "sprees" or straight sided lentils.