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A Spring giveaway

Hello All,

Today is the last day of March, the weather is nice and spring is very near, so I decided, in gratitude to all my followers, to offer a new giveaway.

The rules, you already know, are to be a follower, old or new, and leave a comment on this post to let me know that you like this giveaway.  You can, of course be kind and put a link on your blog to spread the news but this is upto to you.




The ceramic pitcher is my daughter's work, the flower pots, flowers and mugs were made by me.


A very warm welcome to Tatiana, who only recently opened her blog and has some very creative ideas. http://mylittlelittledream.blogspot.com/

I wish you all a lovely weekend.  Blessings
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Olive Drop Necklace

For my most recent destash project, I tackled a pair of Czech glass pear drops that I purchased about a million years ago. I can’t say for sure why I chose to grab only two of these pretty Picasso drops, but having a pair of them seemed to stifle any inspiration I may have had for them. Apart from earrings, what sort of project could use two large red and green drops?

Picasso Pear Drops


I wanted to make sure that both of these pieces got used up, so I put everything else aside, and tried to design a necklace that would work with two drops, and still look balanced. I decided to try and construct a pendant design, with one drop above the other, using a series of loops at the end of a V-shaped St. Petersburg chain.

At first things didn’t work out the way I had hoped. The pendant section looked awkward and strange. Rather than get discouraged and scrap the whole thing, I tried adding some embellishments. With the addition of some beaded leaves, the pendant took on a whole new look, and the large loops of seed beads became stronger and more shapely.

Olive Drop Pendant


I’m so glad that these pretty beads have finally found their place!

Copyright 2012 Inspirational Beading
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Time Capsule: March 2009

In art, crafts, and especially in beading, sometimes mistakes can result in exciting breakthroughs. Three years ago this month, I was on the verge of a happy beading accident, but I didn’t know it yet.

There wasn’t actually much going on at Inspirational Beading back then. Only one post really stands out for me, because it included beads from my very first online order. Whenever I look back at those blue and green TOHO cubes, I get a nostalgic thrill. They represent the wide world of beading possibilities that had just opened up for me.

Although the other beads that I used in the tubular right angle weave necklace were simple Picasso finish seed beads, they actually sparked inspirations that I never would have come across on my own. Up until I decided to try shopping online, I had been buying tubes of Czech seed beads from a local craft shop, which were usually labeled as 11/o. So naturally for my first order, I added some 11/o seed beads to my cubes.

When the beads arrived, I was surprised by their size - they were more like the 8/o Czech beads I had been using. But, since I had never used Japanese seed beads before, I assumed that there was a slight size difference between styles. That’s why, when there was an Artbeads dollar sale on seed beads a short time later, I went completely crazy and purchased many different colors of 15/o seed beads. It turns out that the Picasso beads from my first order had been mislabeled, and now I had a lot of seed beads that were much, much smaller than I wanted.

Assorted 15/o Japanese Seed Beads


I had never even seen beads that small before, and I was shocked and delighted by them. It took some time, but I finally worked up the courage to work with them. Later that year, I used 15/o seed beads to make my first beaded starfish - a design that would appear many times in my work and even tutorials for months to come. Amazingly, many starfish and rivoli bezels later, I’m still working on that first order of 15/o seed beads.

Do you have a favorite happy accident in beading?

Copyright 2012 Inspirational Beading
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The Papyrus Experiment

One of the toughest things about entering the handmade marketplace is creating attractive product photographs. It takes a lot of practice and experimentation to find one’s groove - the balance of good photography and personal style.

For years, I’ve been using simple dark gray cardstock for my photo backgrounds. I like it because it’s inexpensive, convenient, requires virtually zero storage space, and most importantly, provides the truest color. Once I found the right combination of light and camera angles, I was able to get photographs that required no editing to look ‘right’, and that looked similar every time, providing a cohesive appearance to my storefronts.

I have tried using different backgrounds from time to time. White cardstock creates too many shadows, and makes colors look dull. I once experimented with natural-looking shelf paper, but it proved to be too shiny under natural light. I went running back to my reliable gray card, with the hope that someday something better would come along.

Last week I decided that it was time to try again. I want to give my first photos and thumbnails a more Egyptian - and ultimately more treasury-worthy - look, by adding a lighter background. And what better backdrop could there be for Egyptian inspired jewelry than papyrus? Perhaps you’ve seen kids craft projects that create artificial papyrus scrolls using strips of brown paper lunch sack. I decided to use this simple technique to make my own papyrus backdrop, though hopefully with a more authentic look.

First, I picked up some newsprint style sketch paper - I hoped that the pulpy look would give a more natural appearance to the finished scroll. I soaked sheets of paper in coffee to give them a more organic color, and set them out to dry. The color wasn’t quite right, so when it came time to decoupage the strips together, I used a mixture of glue, water, and a hint of yellow acrylic paint. At first I wasn’t pleased with the results, but after letting the layers of paper dry overnight, I was happy to find that the color was very similar to the real thing. All that’s missing is the gauzy, grainy look of real papyrus strips.

The true test would be whether or not the fake papyrus would provide a good background for jewelry photos. Just in case it didn’t turn out, I also picked up some additional backdrops - a packet of desert-themed scrapbook papers. While I was at it, I also tried out some new lighting angles. Here are the results:



Handmade Papyrus




Old Manila




White Sand




Red Dunes




Paper Pulp




White




Traditional Gray


I like how most of the pictures turned out, but I can’t quite decide if I should make a switch. Which background do you like best?

Copyright 2012 Inspirational Beading
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Pinterest Inspirations

Time flies when you’re having fun! The last week went by in a flash, and that means that it’s already time to announce the winners of the Bead Grab Bag Giveaway and Contest. I’ve had so much fun meeting new pin-friends and checking out your fantastic boards. I want to extend a huge thank you to everyone who participated and pinned favorite images from Inspirational Beading and The Sage’s Cupboard!

Six winners have been chosen at random to receive a prize package of three bead soups, assorted findings and materials, plus two PDF beading tutorials. For each winner, I’ve chosen a favorite pin from their amazing and inspirational boards. If you see your name below, contact me at InspirationalBeading@gmail.com to claim your prize!



Sally Anderson
Favorite Pin: Bead Color Wheel





Melody Martin
Favorite Pin: Maryshka Necklace by Peter Sewell





Sarah Small
Favorite Pin: Starry Night in Crystals





Lisa Lodge
Favorite Pin: DIY Bracelet Display





Nancy Anderson
Favorite Pin: Fun Jewelry Organizer Idea





Linda Stowell
Favorite Pin: Gorgeous Abalone Necklace


Thanks again for joining in and adding your pins! May you find even more inspiration and boards to love.

Copyright 2012 Inspirational Beading and Friends
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Wild flowers

I tried to make some anemones.  Our fields, this year, were red, covered with these beautiful wild flowers which are prohibited to pick.  Nilly, my daughter, made me some ceramic pitchers which I filled with wild flowers. 
Looking at the photos, I think I'll do them over using silk paper because the paper I used is too thick.
I made the mugs and flower pots which Nilly glazed and fired together with the pitchers.  I'll ask Nilly to make me flower vases which will look better with the flowers than the pitchers.




I am pleased the way the mugs and pots came out.


This is how our fields look.  Isn't it a beautiful sight?





Here is a warm welcome to two new followers.  I am very grateful that you chose to follow this blog.

Cwethingon - http://www.itsaminilife.blogspot.com

Bahar006 - http://coloroflife.blogspot.com/

I wish you all a wonderful week, filled with sunshine.

Blessings

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How to Make Charm Bracelet Tutorials

The concept of the charm bracelet can be traced all the way back to prehistoric life, when primitive humans wore trinkets and treasures to signify important events, wealth, and status. This tradition continued in different forms throughout history, and gained even more popularity during the Victorian era, when memory jewelry became a fashion staple. Around the 1960’s the charm bracelet got one of it’s most impressive makeovers - tiny metal dangles that represent people, places and things that the wearer wants to remember, usually attached to a chain base. Many of these traditional charm bracelets have become cherished family heirlooms. Like a family quilt or photo album, they represent the life of people we want to remember.

Today, we still use the word charm to describe these little mementos and trinkets, but with the increased availability of jewelry making supplies, the charm bracelet itself has gone through another transformation. Thanks to jump rings and head pins, we can make our own charms out of just about any material imaginable, in any color, for any style. Here are just a few ideas for creating your own variation of the dangly charm bracelet.



Springtime Carnival Charm Bracelet
From Artbeads.com





Black and White Lampwork Charm Bracelet
By The Beading Emporium and Judy Markwell





Hug Me Covered Button Charm Bracelet
From The Quilted Fish and Sew Jewelry





Forgotten Garden Bracelet
From FusionBeads.com





Edgy Paper Charm Bracelet Idea
From Sandy’s Space





Silhouette Charm Bracelet
From pluckymomo





Butterfly Dream Charm Bracelet
From BeadsOnline





Ardennes Crystal Bracelet
From Artbeads.com





Bohemian Butterfly Bracelet
From Fusionbeads.com


Do you like to make charm bracelets? Do you prefer pre-made trinkets, or making your own unique dangles?

Copyright 2012 Inspirational Beading and Friends
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Tropical Neon Cuff

I’m spending my ‘weekend’ working on some crafty non-bead projects, so I just have a quick update for you today. If things work out, I’ll share the results of my experiment next week!

One thing that was bound to come up during the destash quest were those wonderfully abundant mother of pearl chips that we’ve seen time and time again. I’ve completely depleted the supply of square shaped beads that are suitable for neckwear, which leaves only a few options for working with these beads.

Tropical Neon Bead Palette


The cluster cuff that I made last time turned our really well, so I decided to give it another shot, and use up some forgotten seed beads at the same time. I combined neon orange with hot pink to start, which looked great together - and not much else. For just a hint of contrast, I had to part with a few white-lined aqua beads, which turned out just right.

Tropical Cluster Bracelet


Copyright 2012 Inspirational Beading
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Bead Color Ideas: Mockingjays

When I first began to look for common three-color palettes to explore in beads, I imagined that there would be plenty of inspirations to choose from. Neapolitan ice cream and ribbon candy were easy targets, but it wasn’t long before I had to choose larger palettes and split them up into groups of three. This month, I have a solid three-color palette for inspiration, and it might be one of my favorites to date.

If you’ve been anywhere near a television or computer in the past year or so, chances are you’ve heard of The Hunger Games, either as an upcoming film, or as a fantastic series of dystopian teen novels. When I first learned about the books by Suzanne Collins, there was already a lot of hype. All three books were on the market, and schools everywhere were putting The Hunger Games on reading lists. I decided to give it a shot, and ended up losing a lot of sleep, staying up all night to devour each book.

The books themselves offer an interesting palette of black, red and blue that would look fantastic in beads, so in anticipation of The Hunger Games movie release this week, I went looking for some matching trios. The red was quite difficult to imitate, because it’s actually an orangey tomato-red. Only one of the palettes I mixed comes really, really close, but they all look fun anyway.

The Reaping Bead Palette


First we have The Reaping - an all seed bead palette with three different finishes. The matte transparent ruby AB 11/o seed beads were one of my first picks, because their shimmer is so reminiscent of the cover of Catching Fire, even if the color is a little too pink. For some extra drama, I added noir lined aqua AB long magatamas - the shape gives a totally new look to lined seed beads. These intense colors are backed with simple opaque shiny jet black 8/o’s.

Panem Bead Palette


The sky blue shade of the Mockingjay cover was almost as difficult to match. For Panem, I started with some turquoise blue art nouveau coins that almost do the trick, and have just the right touch of mystery. Dark orange fiber optic cat eyes look wonderfully fiery against the matte black seed beads.

Tribute Bead Palette


I couldn’t resist building around some red white-heart beads, which have an intensity that can’t be ignored. Tribute stands out from the rest with the addition of a Swarovski Elements cosmic triangle in jet black. A handful of pretty turquoise seed beads adds a soothing quality that ties the black and red together.

So it’s true that inspiration can come from anywhere, and unexpected color combinations can be made widely appealing through popular association. Have you ever used inspirations from fiction in your work?

Copyright 2012 Inspirational Beading
Suzanne Collins and Scholastic
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