Learning to Create My Own Designs

I’ve always loved learning from others, following tutorials, practicing patterns, and trying my hand at techniques shared by makers I admired. Whenever I used someone else’s design, I made sure I had permission, whether through a purchased pattern license or a tutorial freely offered by the creator. But deep down, I knew that someday, I wanted to take what I’d learned and create something that was completely my own.

That moment came when I stumbled across a pattern for a beautiful pair of Cherry Blossom statement earrings. I couldn’t believe it. Cherry blossoms have always been one of my favorite flowers, delicate, fleeting, and full of quiet beauty, and I had wanted to make something inspired by them for a long time.

At the time, I was still a beginner in a lot of ways, learning new stitches and refining my technique. But I decided to go for it anyway. Petal by petal, bead by bead, I began piecing the design together. When I finished that first pair, I was in awe, not just of the earrings themselves, but of the fact that I had learned something new through the process. That experience sparked something in me.

I realized I didn’t want to stop there. I wanted to create an entire collection, a series of floral-inspired jewelry pieces that felt personal, purposeful, and uniquely mine. But I also knew I didn’t want to use someone else’s pattern for my first collection. I wanted to design from the heart.

So out came my trusty notebook, the same one that holds half-finished sketches and random ideas, and I started researching flowers. I remember scrolling through images and being drawn to the bold color and gentle shape of violets in full bloom. That’s when the next piece of the series was born: the Violet Radiance Earrings.

I didn’t have fancy design software, just printable brick stitch graph paper and a set of colored pencils. Using a photo for inspiration, I started sketching, adjusting the petal shapes until they felt right. Then I got to work translating that drawing into beads. Somewhere along the way, I realized the pattern needed changes, the petals didn’t flow quite how I wanted them to. So, I paused, adjusted, and reworked it until everything aligned.

It wasn’t a perfect process, but it was mine.

The real breakthrough moment came when I held that finished pair in my hands. That was my “aha” moment, the point where I felt proud, grateful, and deeply aware that what I was doing wasn’t just crafting; it was creating art. I thanked God for giving me this gift, this joy of turning tiny beads into something that could capture the beauty He made in nature.

I fully believe that creativity is one of the ways we reflect the image of our Creator. Each time I sit down to design, I’m reminded that I’m not creating in isolation, I’m creating in partnership with Him. He inspires the vision; I just get to bring it to life.

Through this journey, I’ve also learned that growth stops when we stop. It’s true in art, in faith, and in life. If we give up too soon, when things feel hard or when progress seems slow, we miss the beauty of what’s blooming beneath the surface.

The Cherry Blossom earrings helped me grow in skill and technique, while the Violet Radiance earrings helped me grow as an artist. Each design, each stitch, each revision has reminded me that growth often looks like persistence, showing up, trying again, and trusting the process even when the outcome isn’t clear.

And isn’t that how faith works too?

Creating my own designs has taught me to trust God’s timing, to be patient with myself, and to remember that blooming takes time. Just like a flower grows quietly beneath the soil before it’s ever seen, so does creativity, and so does faith.

So, I’ll keep sketching, beading, and learning. I’ll keep growing through the process, one petal at a time. Because in every design, every challenge, and every small moment of progress, I see His hand, guiding, shaping, and reminding me that all beauty begins with Him.