Wear It Twice: Blue Oasis

Have you ever felt like you were in your element? Or that you had found a great groove? As I write, there is a copy of the Egyptian Book of the Dead on my desk, and a new encyclopedia of the classic world, including a volume devoted to Ancient Egypt. Add these to the fact that I just finished Rick Riordan’s The Red Pyramid (highly recommended if you have school-aged kids), and I am in a fantastic mood for creating for the pharaohs. I want to surround myself with white linen, turquoise and lapis blues, and beautiful sandy browns.

I thought I would get this week started off with a fun Egyptian collage, and I scoured through some of my favorite items on Polyvore to create a cool desert oasis. I have so many amazing collar necklaces set aside, but the one that caught my eye today is a simple multi-strand lapis piece, made just across the Mediterranean from my favorite place.

Oasis by mortira featuring wooden jewelry

I couldn’t find any pleated linen pieces that I really liked, but I did find a gorgeous blue and white chiffon wrap dress with a beautiful asymmetrical shape. To this I added some beaded sandals, a peacock feather bangle, and a selection of pretty turquoise and sandy toned earrings.

For an everyday look, I started with an aqua blue pleated top and sandy brown slacks. A leopard print bangle and strappy heels give the bright blue top lots of room. For earrings, I included some simple silver hoops or dangly feather medallions. Each outfit needs a little something extra, so I added a beautiful print scarf from my favorites, and mini messenger bag.

The handmade and vintage variation has lots of beautiful blue beads:

And here are my favorite Polyvore sets featuring some of today’s picks:

359. I've always been pretty independent by valdete featuring a military style coat

Untitled #12 by dyankova featuring leather jewelry

Tree of Life by lalakay featuring steve madden boots

Meryl Streep by stylerocking009 featuring a short sleeve dress

Cleopatra for Ashley by xlaurenx featuring an onyx bangle

Where do you turn to boost your creative vibes?

Copyright 2012 Inspirational Beading and Friends
Polyvore.com and Etsy.com
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Retro Shell Necklace

One of my favorite things about the destash challenge so far is the moments where I don’t bother to look before I leap. Whether I’m combining unusual elements, using up an intimidating bead, throwing in large quantities of favorites to make a project work, or just going with a crazy idea, I’m loving all of the risks!

This week I put the finishing touches on a necklace that I never would have created it if weren’t for this challenge. Although I used a new favorite technique, the combination of beads was very unusual. In my destash tray I had a handful of shell beads leftover from a strand frenzy I went on a few years back, plus some white cat eye cubes and rectangles from the same era. I’ve used all of these beads many times, and there weren’t really enough of them left - let alone inspiration or ideas - to use any of them individually. So, I decided to put them all together in once piece.

Because the beads are all different sizes and shapes, I thought a multi-strand approach would be best. All I had to do was build a seed bead palette to coordinate the variety of colors. I had a little ceylon pearl and some aqua blue, but not enough to build a whole necklace. I only winced for a moment when I grabbed a few packets of transparent cobalt seed beads to use as the main color. After all, why buy the beads if I’m not going to use them?

After counting out the accent beads and separating them into equal portions for each strand, I got to work stringing a striped pattern, alternating between aqua, white, and pearl. I was so excited about how the necklace would turn out, that I forgot to save a few accents for the anchor chains. Luckily, I had some crystal AB druks and shocking orange 8/o seed beads to stand in.

Even though I went with a striped pattern to fit with my current style, I think the necklace turned out delightfully 1980’s. I can picture it with acid washed jeans, wrist bands, and orange plastic earrings. Radical!

Copyright 2012 Inspirational Beading
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De's 350 followers anniversary giveaway

A few weeks ago I was the fortunate winner of De's 350  followers anniversary giveaway.  This was a very original giveaway.  The winner could request a doll of his wish  and De would handcraft it for him.  I asked for a baby boy.  De made and sent it along with cute garments, bottle and a piece of   material to be turned into a bed sheet. THANK YOU De!!! Wishes can come true!

De has a wonderful blog full of very clever makeover ideas - http://delightfulminis.blogspot.com/.  A very inspiring blog.

A wide, warm welcome to my new followers.  I am thrilled and flattered every time a new follower shows up.

Elena - http://lisanarassvete.blogspot.com
Ana - http://mycupofteaminiatures.blogspot.com/
Silke - http://bastetanteskleinewelt.blogspot.com/
Helene - http://dalmar-miniatures.blogspot.com/
Giraultclaude - Couln't locate a blog.  If you have one please let me know so I can follow too.

Blessings to you all

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World Beaders: France

Get your guide books out, beaders! Today we’re going on a trip to delicious and luxurious France. As the world’s largest producer of wine, and Europe’s top agricultural center, the French countryside provides a wealth of beautiful scenery. Add to that the historic beauty of Paris, it’s modern works of art and architecture, long traditions in opera and ballet, and France is nothing short of a feast for the senses.

Being so near to some of the world’s most important bead manufacturing sites, it’s no wonder that France has a long and glorious history with jewelry design and beadwork. Although the beads and techniques for what we know as French beaded flowers were probably developed in Italy, it was French women who made the style popular. Seamstresses would collect culled beads from their employers elaborate custom gowns, and used them to make beautiful faux bouquets. The technique gained even more popularity during the Victorian mourning period, when cut flowers were replaced with durable beaded facsimiles. Today, rare 24/o French seed beads are coveted by beaders and collectors alike.

France is known for many wonderful things, including fine food and finer fashion. The French term haute couture means “high sewing” or simply “high fashion”, and describes the practice of creating elaborate, one of a kind, custom fit clothing. The immortal fashion icon Coco Chanel lived and worked on Rue Cambon in Paris, where she invented the little black dress. She was also the first designer to combine precious metals and gemstones with glass to create costume jewelry for the upper class, paving the way for the immense popularity of faux components like Swarovski crystals.

Happy beading, France!

Copyright 2012 Inspirational Beading and Friends
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Bead Color Ideas: New Beginnings

Many inspiration segments have come and gone here on the blog, but those that remain are the ones you and I like best. Although it requires a lot of work, one of my personal favorites is Bead Color Trios, because it gives me a chance to play with color, see my bead stash in new ways, and share some new ideas with my fantastic readers. The trouble is, I’m fresh out of ideas.

Although the very first trio of beads that we saw two years ago was inspired by a photograph, my intention was always to create palettes using everyday objects that come in three distinct colors. Once in awhile I deviated from this rule to try out fun new things; and now it’s time to change it up again, but this time for good. I had to really stretch to find a three-color palette for our last experiment, and I couldn’t come up with anything at all for last month. I’m at a loss for palette inspiration, but I’m not about to let this segment go!

Instead of using an outside object to start palettes from, I’m going to select a different accent bead or focal each month, and add beads in two more colors that contrast or complement the main beads. I’m looking forward to exploring different color approaches for a single element, and I hope the ideas are just as inspiring with this new direction!

For our first attempt, I chose some beads that I absolutely love, but haven’t had a chance to use yet. You may have seen these blue-brown Picasso coins standing in for Pantone’s sodalite blue back in January. The variegated finish is absolutely gorgeous, and makes the perfect challenge for bead trios.

At the risk of being a little predictable, the first color I reached for was dark beige in 8/o seed beads. My favorite colors aside, it does go well with both the blue and brown, and leaves lots of room for a bold contrast. I added some sassy lustered orange coral seed beads to create a Desert Sunset - warm and cool at the same time.

Next I grabbed some red lined blue seed beads, which complement the two-tone look of the Czech coins. Unlike the first palette, there isn’t much room here for additional colors, so I played it safe and added another double finish seed bead, though a little more subtle. The black lined garnet AB 6/o’s keep up with the two-tone theme, and play along with the other dark reds and blues like a bowl of Pomegranates and Blueberries.

Last, but not least, we have Blue Oasis. I couldn’t resist the fresh, vibrant contrast of transparent lemon lime against the rustic-looking coins. These beads always stand out in a crowd, thanks to the abundance of light that they gather up, enhancing whatever beads they are paired with. Transparent aqua seed beads bring up the rear and tie everything together.

What kinds of beads and colors would you combine with these coins?

Copyright 2012 Inspirational Beading
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Spring giveaway winner

Well my friends it's draw time.  I added the following participants' name to the previous list and as you see, there are 90.

82. Maria Ireland
83. Ultsu
84. Eloisa
85. Minnie Kitchen
86. Pearl
87. Sylvia
88. Maija
89. Caroline - Cindrella moments
90. Rocinash


The random number generator was used to pick up the winner. And the winner is........

No. 40 - LOTTE!!!!  Dear Lotte, please email your address to me - drorahed@gmail.com and I'll post the prize to you.


I'd have loved to give all of you a prize which you well deserve, instead I extend my arms in a big warm hug.
There will be more giveaways I promise.  Either on my birthday next month or when the Number of followers reaches 400.

Blessings to all

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Book Spotlight: Making Beautiful Jewelry

Have you ever felt like your beading creativity and jewelry making ideas were in a rut? No matter how many times you look over your stash, or how much you adore your beads on hand, sometimes you just feel like you’ve done everything you want to do, and you’ve got nowhere to go.

I find that a great cure for beader’s block is an interesting new material or component. Often, I’ll see something that is totally unique in form or color, and the need to make it pop in a gorgeous piece of jewelry is all it takes to get my needle moving again with relish.

Within the pages of Making Beautiful Jewelryby Tone Rorseth, beaders will find a wealth of inspiring ideas and unique combinations of materials that are the perfect cure for creative boredom. The designs and projects really live up to the name - each piece is gorgeous, wearable and absolutely fun.

There are nearly 30 projects to try, including necklaces, bracelets, earrings and brooches. Tone combines familiar beading and jewelry techniques with interesting materials such as flower petals, feathers, fabric and ribbon. Every page is full of inspiration, and versatile jewelry makers will enjoy the variety of techniques, like sewing, decoupage and braiding.

Making Beautiful Jewelry is one of the only beading books I’ve ever read that does not include a detailed beginners section. A brief glossary of materials and tools serves as the introduction to the dazzling projects, so readers will need to be familiar with basic techniques such as crimping, wrapped loops, and even a little wire crochet. The projects are quite simple, and do include written directions and some basic diagrams.

Sometimes all you need to cure beader’s block is a quick trip to the library!

Copyright 2012 Inspirational Beading
Tone Rorseth and Martingale & Company
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