Read more »
Soft Black
Read more »
Orange Sunrise Collar
Today’s destash challenge design was a long time in the making. I’ve been pondering possible uses for two strands of translucent white pinch bicones for months now. In the back of my mind, I knew that sooner or later I would make a collar with them, but I was waiting for some other inspiration to strike. With the really ‘usable’ beads that need to be destashed winding down to a minimum, I decided it was time to just cut these strands and make something great.
Right around the same time that I pushed the pinch bicones to the front of the queue, I had another light bulb moment. Why has it been so long since I’ve made any Egyptian replicas? It felt like the right time to remake some favorite Egyptian jewelry, and I went with the collar of Princess Nofret as inspiration. The pinch bicones could stand in for the silver paddle fringe.
Unfortunately, when I went to my bead stash to choose colors, I was stumped. I had the red, but no pale green, and no dark gray. I tried dark green and pale gray, but to do that, I would have to combine multiple finishes - transparent, matte, colorlined. I didn’t like the way it looked at all, so I decided to stretch the palette a little and combine colors that were similar, but looked fantastic together.
The final palette includes ceylon cream, transparent rootbeer, aqua lined jonquil, and red lined topaz. The colors all have a lovely warmth. The red lined topaz is especially beautiful - a perfect sunset orange. I’m still planning to do a more accurate recreation of Nofret’s collar, once I have a chance to find just the right combination of colors. I may have to cheat a little though, and assume that the green has faded over time, just to add a little more color.
Copyright 2012 Inspirational Beading
Subscribe to Inspirational Beading
Get inspired on Facebook and Google+
reade more...
Right around the same time that I pushed the pinch bicones to the front of the queue, I had another light bulb moment. Why has it been so long since I’ve made any Egyptian replicas? It felt like the right time to remake some favorite Egyptian jewelry, and I went with the collar of Princess Nofret as inspiration. The pinch bicones could stand in for the silver paddle fringe.
Unfortunately, when I went to my bead stash to choose colors, I was stumped. I had the red, but no pale green, and no dark gray. I tried dark green and pale gray, but to do that, I would have to combine multiple finishes - transparent, matte, colorlined. I didn’t like the way it looked at all, so I decided to stretch the palette a little and combine colors that were similar, but looked fantastic together.
The final palette includes ceylon cream, transparent rootbeer, aqua lined jonquil, and red lined topaz. The colors all have a lovely warmth. The red lined topaz is especially beautiful - a perfect sunset orange. I’m still planning to do a more accurate recreation of Nofret’s collar, once I have a chance to find just the right combination of colors. I may have to cheat a little though, and assume that the green has faded over time, just to add a little more color.
Copyright 2012 Inspirational Beading
Subscribe to Inspirational Beading
Get inspired on Facebook and Google+
Oriental Bazaar Box repaired
Tonight we celebrated New Year's Eve. Tomorrow and the day after are our New Year holidays. We
had a big very festive dinner at my daughter Galia's home with friends and family happy gathering. It's rather late now but I wanted to show your the repaired box.
You can see how it looked before and how it is now. It was a real hard repair job. Now I have to wait until my husband fixes a firm scew to hang it on the wall again. I changed the name to Alibaba Bazaar.
After repair. The acetate "glass" window doesn't show the contents clearly.
This is how it looked after it fell off the wall, luckily on a rug otherwise the damage could be worse.
Don't forget my giveaway, six more days to go.
A warm welcome to new followers and thank you for joining in.
Kyle - kyle-lefort.blogspot.co.il
Mariana - mysylvanianfamiliesandminis.blogspot.co.il
Nola - nolacapricci.blogspot.co.il
Virpi - kurjenpolvi.blogspot.co.il
Teresa, blog.teruka.net, one of Kaisa's Birthday project girls, had her birthday last week. I know she already received my gift so I can show it here. Teresa received gorgeous gifts from members of our group. You can see all on her blog.
Good night, and a very Happy New Jewish year to all who celebrate it.
Blessings
had a big very festive dinner at my daughter Galia's home with friends and family happy gathering. It's rather late now but I wanted to show your the repaired box.
You can see how it looked before and how it is now. It was a real hard repair job. Now I have to wait until my husband fixes a firm scew to hang it on the wall again. I changed the name to Alibaba Bazaar.
This is how it looked after it fell off the wall, luckily on a rug otherwise the damage could be worse.
Don't forget my giveaway, six more days to go.
A warm welcome to new followers and thank you for joining in.
Kyle - kyle-lefort.blogspot.co.il
Mariana - mysylvanianfamiliesandminis.blogspot.co.il
Nola - nolacapricci.blogspot.co.il
Virpi - kurjenpolvi.blogspot.co.il
Teresa, blog.teruka.net, one of Kaisa's Birthday project girls, had her birthday last week. I know she already received my gift so I can show it here. Teresa received gorgeous gifts from members of our group. You can see all on her blog.
Good night, and a very Happy New Jewish year to all who celebrate it.
Blessings
Bead Color Ideas: Blue Coconut
One of the challenges that comes with choosing a bead color palette, is balancing the shapes and textures of the beads to create a harmonious theme. Whether you’re making an abstract or simple piece, or recreating an object of inspiration, the individual bead finishes, shapes, and color can have a big impact on the overall design.
This week I wanted to explore possible color palettes to use with some new coconut shell daggers. Tropical blue dye gives them a very playful look, while still maintaining their natural earthiness. The challenge would be to not only find palettes that enhanced the tropical theme, but also some that would alter it entirely by using color to change one’s perception of the daggers.
I started easy by choosing some bright and citrusy colors. Lime green and lemon yellow go together quite nicely, and add a very watery element to the palette in plain transparent glass. Together, all three beads make me think of spots of sunlight dancing under the shadow of a Palm Tree.
For a more challenging palette, I wondered if it would be possible to make spiky blue shapes look like ice, so I grabbed some matte polar white seed beads to start. They have a wonderfully snowy look, but aren’t as stark as true white. Rather than go with another neutral, I decided to complement the blue with some frosty matte emerald to create a winter Tundra. I think with the right stitches, this palette could look icy, but the organic texture of the coconut would still be difficult to blend.
Finally, I couldn’t resist using some of my favorite colors. I wanted a palette with lots of impact, so I started with opaque pepper red - a very bold contrast for the daggers. To this I added warm and exotic Autumn Tucson seed beads. All three colors, along with the pointy shapes, remind me of exotic and dangerous things, like poisonous frogs and flowers in a Deep Rainforest.
What kind of theme would you create with spiky blue coconut?
Copyright 2012 Inspirational Beading
Subscribe to Inspirational Beading
Get inspired on Facebook and Google+
reade more...
This week I wanted to explore possible color palettes to use with some new coconut shell daggers. Tropical blue dye gives them a very playful look, while still maintaining their natural earthiness. The challenge would be to not only find palettes that enhanced the tropical theme, but also some that would alter it entirely by using color to change one’s perception of the daggers.
I started easy by choosing some bright and citrusy colors. Lime green and lemon yellow go together quite nicely, and add a very watery element to the palette in plain transparent glass. Together, all three beads make me think of spots of sunlight dancing under the shadow of a Palm Tree.
For a more challenging palette, I wondered if it would be possible to make spiky blue shapes look like ice, so I grabbed some matte polar white seed beads to start. They have a wonderfully snowy look, but aren’t as stark as true white. Rather than go with another neutral, I decided to complement the blue with some frosty matte emerald to create a winter Tundra. I think with the right stitches, this palette could look icy, but the organic texture of the coconut would still be difficult to blend.
Finally, I couldn’t resist using some of my favorite colors. I wanted a palette with lots of impact, so I started with opaque pepper red - a very bold contrast for the daggers. To this I added warm and exotic Autumn Tucson seed beads. All three colors, along with the pointy shapes, remind me of exotic and dangerous things, like poisonous frogs and flowers in a Deep Rainforest.
What kind of theme would you create with spiky blue coconut?
Copyright 2012 Inspirational Beading
Subscribe to Inspirational Beading
Get inspired on Facebook and Google+
Bonsai in the Styx
Read more »
World Beaders: Israel
Today I want to extend a warm welcome to Inspirational Beading readers from Israel - home to some of the world’s most talented and innovative jewelry designers. Chances are good that you’ve seen the work of artists like Shay Aaron, Yoav Kotik, Lital Mendel, Orly Zeelon, and Sigal Buzaglo, who’s book Creative Beaded Jewelry is a personal favorite.
Israel is also a source of one of the beading world’s greatest treasures - ancient Roman glass. The very limited and incredibly beautiful nature of beads and components made from these relics makes them more valuable than gold for some!
Happy beading, Israel!
Copyright 2012 Inspirational Beading and Friends
Images Hosted by Pinterest
Subscribe to Inspirational Beading
Get inspired on Facebook and Google+
reade more...
Israel is also a source of one of the beading world’s greatest treasures - ancient Roman glass. The very limited and incredibly beautiful nature of beads and components made from these relics makes them more valuable than gold for some!
Happy beading, Israel!
Copyright 2012 Inspirational Beading and Friends
Images Hosted by Pinterest
Subscribe to Inspirational Beading
Get inspired on Facebook and Google+
Lost City Tagua Pendant
Now that I’ve got my beading groove back, the destash challenge is rolling along smoothly again. I’m seeing all kinds of new ways to use up beads that have had me stumped all year. Last week, I took a break from the tough stuff, and did something a little more fun.
When I went shopping for some new tagua slices this summer, and could only find packages of 10, I didn’t hesitate to snap up the colors that I needed, and some extras in a lovely rich blue. Hidden at the bottom of the destash tray are a variety of small front-drilled pendants that need a little boost, and tagua is my favorite way to back up a weak pendant. I would have more than enough tagua to put an end to most of these pendants, so I paired them off and set them aside for later.
Among these tricky pieces are a pair of carved bone fish - possibly salmon - that are just as plain as can be. When I paired one up with the intense blue tagua, I had visions of a mysterious underwater city - Atlantis! This week, I started adding beads from all over the place, including a packet of blue and white porphyry bicones from the destash tray, and my new Czech Picasso ovals. The coppery brown with hints of turquoise and lime look just like treasures at the bottom of the sea.
To add a little extra personality to the piece, I made two beaded starfish in teal green. When I added them to the necklace, I stitched back around and included a few sprigs of coral fringe in bright green. The entire necklace has so many mysterious aquatic elements, though I have to admit that the ovals are still my favorite.
There are three more pendants like this one to come, but each one will (hopefully) have it’s own theme!
Copyright 2012 Inspirational Beading
Subscribe to Inspirational Beading
Get inspired on Facebook and Google+
reade more...
When I went shopping for some new tagua slices this summer, and could only find packages of 10, I didn’t hesitate to snap up the colors that I needed, and some extras in a lovely rich blue. Hidden at the bottom of the destash tray are a variety of small front-drilled pendants that need a little boost, and tagua is my favorite way to back up a weak pendant. I would have more than enough tagua to put an end to most of these pendants, so I paired them off and set them aside for later.
Among these tricky pieces are a pair of carved bone fish - possibly salmon - that are just as plain as can be. When I paired one up with the intense blue tagua, I had visions of a mysterious underwater city - Atlantis! This week, I started adding beads from all over the place, including a packet of blue and white porphyry bicones from the destash tray, and my new Czech Picasso ovals. The coppery brown with hints of turquoise and lime look just like treasures at the bottom of the sea.
To add a little extra personality to the piece, I made two beaded starfish in teal green. When I added them to the necklace, I stitched back around and included a few sprigs of coral fringe in bright green. The entire necklace has so many mysterious aquatic elements, though I have to admit that the ovals are still my favorite.
There are three more pendants like this one to come, but each one will (hopefully) have it’s own theme!
Copyright 2012 Inspirational Beading
Subscribe to Inspirational Beading
Get inspired on Facebook and Google+