Yes, all THREE were supposed to be lovely, round hollow beads.  Sad isn’t it?  I’ve been trying to make hollows for almost three years and this is still only the best i can do.  Believe it or not, these are almost as pitiful as the very first hollow bead i ever tried in my second beadmaking session way back in 2006. 

The blue goddess on the right was my first attempt: she was supposed to be a round hollow bead but when she collapsed i just turned her into a chubby goddess bead.  And since she still has a couple bubbles inside her, she can be considered a goddess… with gas.  (smirk)

The brown crunchie in the middle was my second attempt:  such a complete and utter flop (pun intended) i just pressed it.  There’s an uneven air bubble trapped in there somewhere – all it does now of course is make the bead unstable.  (sigh)

Sadly, this amber and green bead on the left is my most successful attempt EVER – if only it wasn’t so ugly:  overly thick ends and sides, misshapen bubble, nowhere near  the lovely thin walled, round i’d like my hollows to be.  (oh well, at least it didn’t collapse)

I have no idea why this particular style of bead completely eludes me.  I’ve been able to easily make very other style of bead i’ve tried but have made little to no progress here – despite practicing.  I’ve studied the technique, i’m following it (i think) and my hollows STILL SUCK!!!  (I must be missing something…)

In any case, i have decided i need to fix this issue ASAP – by practice, lessons or whatever!  I have a design in my head made of hollow beads and I’m DETERMINED to have that necklace ready to wear by June.