Bead Color Triads: Peacock Feathers

I recently appealed to fans on Facebook for a little help coming up with fun color palettes for this month’s bead triads. It’s strangely difficult to think of objects that have three distinct colors. I started to run out of ideas after Neapolitan ice cream.

Next month I’m planning a new design-a-day challenge, where I’ll share 30 necklaces over 30 days. If I’m going to make all those pieces, I’ll need a lot of great color ideas! So I was thrilled when my good friend Brenda of bstudio suggested peacock feathers.

The colorful, vibrant design of peacock feathers is certainly alluring. The feathers themselves make fantastic jewelry and accessories. I have a handful of them in a vase that were collected from a local peacock hobby farm. Apparently they fall out almost as easily as hair in a brush.

To create each palette, I looked for shades of rich blue, deep black and golden green-brown. The first beads I matched up have a pale, moody look. They remind me of the blue-ish light that seems to sink right into everything on a rainy day.

I created Raindrops Fall with black diamond 15/o seed beads, sapphire triangles, and 6mm jet druks.

Groovy Girl pops with much brighter shades. The Capri blue Swarovski crystals might not be the exact same color as peacock eyes, but they have the same electric quality. They stand out even more against opaque shiny black delicas. For accents, I added a pair of Czech glass grooved rectangles with a periwinkle travertine finish.

The last palette is a total departure, with shades that stretch as far away from the original palette as they can. Autumn Skies is made with deep orangey brown Czech glass leaves, aqua and black 10mm fire polish rounds, and matte black magatamas. I love the way the green-blue fire polish contrasts with the warm glow of the leaves.

Now I have a few more ideas for necklaces to make in November. During the ring-a-day challenge, I was able to make each piece one day ahead - to leave time for photography and blogging. Even the most simple beadwork necklace takes much longer than a ring, so I’m giving myself a little head start, and I have a few necklaces ready to go. The challenge will be to see if I can make almost 30 more in just one month. Wish me luck!

Copyright 2010 Inspirational Beading and COLOURlovers

Beading Tutorials: Twisted Tubular Herringbone

Everyone loves a spiral. Spirals are the most common and alluring shapes in nature, found in everything from seashells to our own DNA. Even the shape and flow of human made spiral patterns are very organic, and we are instinctively drawn to them, as if they stir up some ancient memory of our natural heritage.

Spiral herringbone is a deceptively simple technique, once you get the first few stitches down, and it always looks amazing when you have a finished rope. It works with beads of almost any shape or size, and can be used with many different patterns of color.

To stitch a twisted Ndebele rope:

Start by making a two-bead ladder. Pick up 4 seed beads on a comfortable length of beading thread, and slide them down until you have an 8 inch tail. Stitch up through the first 2 beads again and pull tight. Pass down through the next 2 beads.

Pick up 2 beads, and chase your thread by stitching down through the previous two beads again. Pull snug to form a 3rd stack of 2 beads next to the others. Stitch up through the 2 beads just added and pull tight.

Repeat this process, adding two beads at a time and stitching them onto the ladder, until it reaches the desired length. You must have an even number of bead stacks to make a herringbone rope.

To stitch the ladder into a tube, bring the needle up through the first bead stack, then down through the last one added. Secure the thread by weaving through the ladder a few more times, and exit in the opposite direction of the tail thread.

Pick up 2 seed beads, and stitch down through the top bead of the adjacent bead stack, to the left of where your thread is exiting. Pull tight until the new beads are sitting side-by-side on top of the ladder.

Stitch up through the top bead in the next bead stack to the left. Continue adding 2 beads at a time all the way around the ladder ring. After adding the final pair, stitch up through the top 2 beads of the next bead stack to step up.

Add another row of herringbone stitches in this round. When you add the final pair of beads, stitch up through 3 beads in the next stack to step up, instead of two. This change will begin the twist.

Add more rounds of tubular herringbone, and remember to stitch up through 3 beads at the end of each round. You will start to see the spiral take hold after several rounds, and it will be more obvious as the rope gets longer.

Alternating bead colors for each pair or rows really makes the twist stand out, as you can see the rows wrapping around each other. This technique looks great in palettes that remind us of spirals, like red, white and green for candy canes.

What’s your favorite way to use twisted herringbone?

Copyright 2010 Inspirational Beading

Bead Spotlight: Czech Druks

Is there such a thing as extraordinary simplicity? Czech glass druks - also called pressed glass rounds - are as basic and simple as a bead could possibly be, and yet they are incredibly exciting to work with.

When it comes to variety of colors and finishes, druks are close competitors for seed beads and crystals. They come in opaque, transparent, lustered, metallic, and aurora borealis, and there are even a few that mimic our favorite gemstones. My favorite druk finishes of late are the limited editions at Artbeads.com. Tortoise and the two-tone black and white are at the top of my list, and always within arm’s reach.

Druks also come in assorted sizes, from 3mm up to 18mm, which makes them ideal as accent beads for all manner of techniques. They look fantastic in tubular or pearl netting, and because they’re less expensive, you can add them to your stash in larger quantities than crystals or pearls, and design to your heart’s content.

By far the best quality of Czech pressed glass beads is their smoothness. The bead holes have a gently curved shape, rather than a straight edge, so they’re very gentle on threads and ideal for bead weaving. I like to use them with circular brick stitch to make buttons and pendants.


Here are a few fun projects with druk beads you can try:

Easy Wine Charms
Cascade Hoop Earrings
Autumn Artistry Bracelet

What’s your favorite druk finish?

Some of the druk beads pictured above were provided by Artbeads.com. Inspirational Beading has not received paid compensation for including Artbeads.com products or reviews in this blog post. I have shared my honest opinions about the products shown here.

Copyright 2010 Inspirational Beading

Winter Mint RAW Bracelet

Have you ever noticed that beads have an amazing ability to trap memories? Just like a familiar aroma, seeing a favorite bead or beaded creation can transport us back to another time. When looking through my collection of finished projects, I’m often reminded of movies I watched or books I listened to while making them. Going back to somewhat forgotten materials in my bead stash can remind me of when I found them.

The Inspiration:

I was recently going through my tray of cubes, triangles and hex cuts, and came across the remnants of a few baggies of 3mm TOHO Hybrid cube beads. They were part of my very first online bead order, and when I saw them again, I was taken back to the very early days of Inspirational Beading, and my Etsy shop. It was fun to look back and remember how wide-eyed I still was about so many different types of beads. I had been drawn to the dual-tone cubes because they were unlike anything I had seen in my local bead store.

I thought it was about time I used up the last few of these blue-green beads. The color combination makes me think of mint - it’s a sort of mouthwash color, but prettier. And since winter isn’t as far away as we might hope, I wanted to do something cool and fresh looking.

The Beads:

The transparent cubes need a neutral base to really stand out against, so I paired them with opaque white seed beads to start. Right angle weave seemed like a great treatment for both, so for simple accents I also added some 10mm fire polish in a pretty light aqua, that plays nicely with the Hybrids. The entire palette reminds me of late winter days, when the sun comes out to reveal bits of green beneath the shallowest snowdrifts.

The Beadwork:

To make this wintery bracelet, I started out using the cubes and seed beads to make right angle weave squares. The white beads are from a sorry batch, and the irregular shape makes the little RAW windows look crooked. I was happy to have the fire polish, which helped to straighten things out a bit. These I added as accents within some of the windows, in a floral shape.

I like the overall look of the bracelet, though I’m not sure I’ll attempt another. Adding the fire polish to right angle weave squares requires so much needle work, it was exhausting just adding a small handful. I was able to use up almost all of the cube beads though. There are only about 5 left, which will look nice in some bead soup of the future.

Copyright 2010 Inspirational Beading

Inspired Beader: Joanniel

What does it take to create a stunning piece of jewelry? Unique materials, quality craftsmanship, and an eye for color. These concepts can be found in the earrings, necklaces and bracelets at Joanniel Creations. This is not your grandmother’s jewelry, yet the same sense of timelessness permeates every piece.

Inspirational Beading: How did you first become interested in jewelry design?

Joannie: Well, I started making jewellery after I lost an earring, but my designs were ordinary at best. I think it was discovering the new world of Etsy that inspired me to create better designs. Originally, I was just trying to recreate a pair of earrings I had lost but now I strive to create beautiful jewellery that others will be proud to wear. Being on Etsy is fun because you get to see all the beautiful things that other artisans create. It inspires to me to better myself and my designs.

Inspirational Beading: Do you have a favorite material to work with?

Joannie: I absolutely love gemstones but I don't have nearly as much as I would like to. I'm still in the developing stages of my business and I'm slowly trying to accumulate a variety of gems to create with. I love Swarovski crystals too, basically I love anything sparkly.

Inspirational Beading: What is your most exciting inspiration of late?

Joannie: Painted jewellery. I love being able to hand paint some charms to incorporate into my designs. It adds a personal touch and it makes me feel more creative rather than just putting metal parts together. I even love working with acrylic cabochons. They're so versatile. Now I want to put them everywhere!

Inspirational Beading: Many of your designs feature bold colors. What’s your favorite combination?

Joannie: I do like to use contrasting colors a lot. Like red and blue or pink and turquoise. It stands out and I love that! I'd have to say that pink and turquoise is my favorite combo of the moment. However, I'm starting to get into paler tones like white and light pink or white and pale yellow. I just ordered some white colored metal charms to make earrings with. I can't wait to see how they turn out. But I don't think I'll be stepping away from bold colors too much. I just like colors that pop.

Inspirational Beading: Who do you hope to inspire with your work?

Joannie: Moms who have forgotten to pamper themselves and left feeling beautiful on the back burner. Slowly, they can get back into the habit of taking care of themselves a little more. Maybe that can all start with a piece of jewellery that will make them feel more feminine and beautiful.

More About Joannie:

As a tired and busy mom of one it's hard to set time aside for making jewellery. I can't imagine having two or three kids when I'm this busy with just one. I'm doing this interview with a baby on my lap and Iron Man animation cartoons on a loop. But making jewellery is my 'Me' time so I make time for it. Working on my jewellery is relaxing and soothing for me. I love sitting at my work desk, which is really just a corner of the bedroom, but it's my little space just for me where I can play with all my beads.

Being a stay at home mom and having your own business is a balancing act. You can't devote all your time to one and not the other, yet you can't split your time 50/50 either. If I decide to spend my day making jewellery, then the whole place is a mess. If I spend the day cleaning, cooking, doing laundry, and so on then I don't have time to make jewellery. Then there's my son who always comes first. If he's sick or needs special attention then nothing else gets done. But that's part of the deal!

I would love to have a shop with 300+ items for sale at all times. I'd definitely be bringing in more money, but that just isn't possible at this time. I do what I can when I can, and figure that taking care of myself and my son are the two most important things I can do for my family.

You can see more classic jewelry creations on Joanniel.com. Follow the Joanniel Creations blog, to learn more about her inspirations, or follow Joannie on Facebook.

Copyright 2010 Inspirational Beading and Joanniel Creations

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Poster Sketch: The Other Red Corals

Many of my fellow handmade entrepreneurs know that “coral” became a dirty word over this past weekend - and not necessarily for the reasons you might think. It’s right up there with other words like “reseller” and “mature”. There are a lot of sellers who also worry that coral has suddenly become as controversial as fur, and they are waiting for the buckets of paint to drop.

There are thousands of different species of coral in our oceans, and only a handful of them are desirable for jewelry and decoration. The one that is causing the most trouble is red coral, or oxblood coral, which is in serious danger in some parts of the world.

Some of you may already know that corals of all types are among the long list of materials that I won’t use in my work. Even if I could legally obtain red coral, I wouldn’t, because in most cases it is a threatened species, and most methods of harvesting it harm the environment. There are some exceptions, and plenty of natural alternatives to true red coral, but I avoid those as well. I prefer to make a statement with pure abstinence. It’s a little like being vegan instead of vegetarian.

Be Good to Fish!

Still, there are plenty of jewelry artists out there that use bamboo and sponge coral, and some of it is dyed to imitate the fancy stuff. Who can blame them? Red coral and it’s imitators make for some of the most gorgeous natural beads in the world.

Although it’s hard to know what goes on during the coral harvest, most suppliers will tell you that bamboo and sponge coral are sustainable, and no more harmful to the environment than freshwater pearls. I’ve never met a beader who didn’t love those!

All of the controversy provides a great opportunity to educate people about how precious our oceans are, and how important it is to choose products thoughtfully. So today, I decided to make a little tribute to jewelry artists who are not afraid to show off their coral creations. You can see all of these creations up close by visiting the All That is Red treasury collection.

Copyright 2010 Inspirational Beading and Etsy.com

Bead Wish List: Glass Pendants

There’s nothing like a beautiful art glass pendant to pick you up when you’re out of beading ideas. All a really fantastic focal needs to become a fantastic necklace are a few beads in coordinating colors.

I like to pick up a pendant or two on sale whenever I shop for beads, and hold on to them for those times when inspiration is hard to find. Here are some of my favorite pendants and focals:

Spotted Orchid Lampwork Focal Bead
by Donna Millard



Murano Glass Curved Diamond Pendant with Black and White Bull’s-Eyes
from Artbeads.com



Green Hills Lampwork Glass Focal Bead
by Shed Beads



CRYSTALLIZED™ - Swarovski Elements Crystal Mosaic Pegasus Pendant in Purple
from FusionBeads.com



Trapezoid Pendant in Amber with Copper Swirls
from AuntiesBeads.com



Extra Large Top Drilled Sea Glass Beads
by Tideline Designs

Copyright 2010 Inspirational Beading and Friends

Poster Sketch: Round and Pointy Shapes

The dice have been thrown, and the lucky winner of my color lined cubes giveaway is Julie, who shared an inspiring story of teaching kids to bead and discover new ideas with shape and color. Thank you so much to all of my readers, and everyone who shared their favorite bead shapes in the contest!

Julie’s favorite seed beads shapes are 11/o rounds and bugle beads. To celebrate finding another home for some of my favorite beads, I have a fun collection of items with round and pointy shapes - just like seed beads and bugles!

Copyright 2010 Inspirational Beading and Etsy.com

A Flicker of Inspiration: Harvest Time

Nobody does color like Mother Nature, and this is her best time of year. Like a young girl with rosy cheeks on a hayride, she's showing us how beautiful a little color can be. Today, I put together a little collection of harvest delights, with colors and textures that make for great inspiration. There are a few handmade items hidden in the mix, too!

1. And the beet goes on :), 2. pumpkin white, 3. two cloves and bulb of garlic,
4. New Potatoes, 5. Spinach, 6. UK - Oxford - Town Garden - Rhubarb sq,
7. Butternut Squash Medley #3, 8. Green Cabbage - The Delicious Daily 11.09.2009, 9. Heirloom Tomatoes,
10. Whole Kernel Macro, 11. Soaking White Beans, 12. Apple Bushel,
13. Green Beans, 14. Red skin potatoes, 15. farmer's market find: baby turnips,
16. Welcome Great Pumpkin, 17. bigchestnuts...variety " marroni", 18. And the crowd goes wild,
19. Colorful niblets, 20. carrots_5278.jpg, 21. Mushrooms,
22. Freshly Cut Zucchini, 23. acorn squash, 24. The Fall Color Assortment of Wool Acorns,
25. look what the little bit of rain woke up

Bead Giveaway: Color Lined Cubes

I have always been a sucker for color lined beads, even before I discovered how much fun it is to weave with them. Many years ago, I discovered that the mixed lots of vintage beads at my local craft store occasionally contained batches of 4mm plastics cubes lined with blue, purple and pink, and I simply had to have them all.

I purchased every package of beads I could get my hands on, and spent countless hours sifting and sorting through them until I had a pretty nice collection of these color lined cubes. They were by far some of my favorite finds ever.

I wasn’t quite so attached to them that I refused to use them in art projects. I even used a bunch of them to wire wrap a decorative fruit basket, and then gave it away as a gift. It was hard to part with them, but I had so many that it seemed like I would never run out.

And sure enough, I decided that I no longer wanted to bead with plastics, making a statement about the origins of the materials that we use in our everyday lives. So now I have all of these pretty little beads and they’re not being put to good use. It’s time that they found a new owner!

How to Enter:

If you would like to get your hands on these gorgeous cubes, just answer the following question:

What is your all time favorite seed bead shape?

Leave a comment on this post with your answer, along with your email address (beadlover AT yourmail.com) and you’ll be entered in the draw! One lucky winner will receive all of the pink, purple and blue beads shown - about 80 grams in all.

The winner will be announced on Friday, October 15th. Good luck!

Copyright 2010 Inspirational Beading

A Necklace for Autumn

Have you ever walked through a department store at the beginning of a season, and noticed that the same color trends appear in many different sections? One summer, everything from patioware to handbags came in a selection of tangerine, chartreuse and cobalt.

It might seem strange that all these different companies and designers would somehow select the same color schemes at the exact same time, but there’s a secret behind it. Every year, experts in the realm of color come together and decide on the season’s top color choices for the Pantone color report.

The idea that everyone should sleep on, eat from and wear the same colors, then switch them up again in four months is really the opposite of what the handmade movement is all about. Still, when Artbeads.com sent out a challenge to create a new design using Pantone’s 2010 fall palette, how could I resist?

The Inspiration:

This year’s fall color lineup includes some great classics like Living Coral, Lipstick Red, and Endive. Many of the color selections are wonderfully bright and vibrant, perfect for adding some personality to fall essentials in neutral colors.

Although it was tempting to mix up fun shades like Purple Orchid and Lagoon, I wanted to test myself and decided to combine all of the earthy tones and see if I could do them justice. With a palette of Endive, Golden Glow, Chocolate Truffle and Rose Dust in mind, I went hunting for some perfect fall beads.

The Beads:

The very first thing that caught my attention was a gorgeous Colorado topaz fancy oval by CRYSTALLIZED™ - Swarovski Elements. The color is fantastic, and full of warm, glowing sparkle. I picked up a big, bold 39x28mm version and moved on to the accents.

I was really exited to come across some limited edition Czech glass druks in fun finishes, and chose tortoise for Golden Glow and brown horn for Chocolate Truffle. The 11/o lustered dark beige beads look so much like coffee caramels that they had me craving candy for days. I topped it all off with some 15/o seed beads in frosted topaz and terracotta.

The Beadwork:

I was so smitten with the druk beads that I wanted to do something with lots of beady texture, but once I had all the pieces in front of me, the colors started to take on a personality of their own. In my mind’s eye, I kept seeing circles, so I started out with circular brick stitch, using the druks for a base. After stitching one round disk, I could see that something wasn’t quite right, so I switched to one of my favorite techniques - circular peyote.

Great Spirit Necklace

I made a few peyote rings using each shade of 15/o’s at the center, and added a matching peyote bezel to the fancy oval. Once I had all the components ready to assemble, decided to place the different colored rings and druks on opposite sides, rather than use a symmetrical pattern. The overall effect of the colors and shapes was very tribal - like ceremonial leather.

I still felt that the design needed something else. Instead of stringing everything together using the caramel 11/o’s, I used black and white seed beads, adding an extra layer of tribal appeal, which also allowed the opposing colors to stand out more clearly. This necklace is definitely ready for fall.

What are your favorite colors from Pantone’s fall 2010 lineup?

Copyright 2010 Inspirational Beading,
Pantone Inc. and Elie Tahari

I would like to thank Artbeads.com for providing the beads and crystals used in this piece. Inspirational Beading has not received paid compensation for including Artbeads.com products or reviews in this blog post. I have shared my honest opinions about the products used in this design.

Wear It Twice: Mysterious Maven

The best thing about creating your own jewelry is being able to make things that no one else has. You can wear pieces that are unique to your own style, to match your wardrobe, and to express your creativity. Being able to make your own clothes would add an even greater level of originality to your style - especially if you like to have a hint of Halloween every day of the year.

For this month’s wear it twice collection, I wanted to start with something that has a bit of dark appeal. I found a great bird skull pendant, which is certainly spooky, but also has an elegant side that can carry it through any season.

For the first outfit, I started with a medieval style skirt in red and black. It was tempting to pair it up with a Victorian inspired blouse, but I wanted to keep the textures down to a minimum, and keep the ensemble suitable for everyday. So I added a simple long sleeved top in jet black, but tweaked it a little bit with a pair of black witch boots. To add a little more color and keep things light, I topped everything off with a set of pretty flower hair clips in purple satin.

The second outfit is a little more adventurous. I couldn’t resist looking for a great corset dress, and found one with a tutu skirt in red and black. For color, I added some thigh high boots in purple suede, then finished things off with some Victorian floral earrings and a black marabou fan. Add a mask and it’s a perfect costume for a masquerade party!

If you could make it Halloween every day, what would you wear?

Copyright 2010 Inspirational Beading and Polyvore.com

Quick Inspiration: Fall Beading Contests

When you’re stuck with beader’s block, sometimes all you need to get inspired is a carrot on a stick. Especially when that carrot is oodles of wonderful new beads! Here are some great upcoming beading contests that you can enter to rev up your beading motivation:

The What Inspires You? necklace contest is the first ever beading competition held by Artbeads.com. This challenge will show artists’ work along with images of the places or things that inspired their creations. The first prize winner will receive a $500 gift card to spend at Artbeads.com!

To submit a design for this exciting contest, visit the What Inspires You? entry page and upload an image of your piece and the object of your inspiration. Entries must include at least 50% beads and components from Artbeads.com.

The deadline for What Inspires You is November 22nd.

The Fall 2010 People’s Choice Awards hosted by Mama’s Minerals is a great way to dive into autumn designs. The contest theme is Autumn: Warm Fall Variations of Orange, Yellow and Brown. All entries must be a necklace that uses these three colors for a distinct fall look.

There are three prize categories in the People’s Choice Awards. The first place winner will receive a $100 gift certificate for Mama’s Minerals. To enter your design, fill in the People's Choice Awards entry form, along with an image of your creation.

The deadline for entries is October 17th.

Do you know of a fabulous upcoming beading contest? Share it with us in the comments!

Copyright 2010 Inspirational Beading and Artbeads.com

Blog Spotlight: My Everything Corner

Have you ever heard the expression “Keep it simple, Stupid.”? The phrase might be cheeky, but I think that keeping it simple is the key to writing a blog about a variety of topics. It’s not always easy finding readers who want to commit to your blog, so if you’re offering a combo platter of topics, bite-sized posts keep them coming back for more.

This is a metaphor that really describes my favorite blog of the month. My Everything Corner covers a variety of topics like gardening, cake decorating, scrap booking, jewelry design and running an Etsy store. It’s a great mom blog, with lots of examples of fun activities for school aged kids.

With all of these different themes, you’d think it would be hard to keep up, but the author, Andrea of Blue Jeans Jewelry, keeps things simple. Each post is a little morsel of warm thoughts and good ideas. Reading My Everything Corner feels a lot like getting a postcard from your favorite pen pal.

With a crisp, clean layout, My Everything Corner doesn’t feel like a shopping mall, but more like the foyer of a spa. You’re just listening to quiet music and drinking cucumber water, and catching up on some light reading. Sounds like a great way to spend the day!

Some other great blogs to check out:

Designs by Dawn Marie
Trash-Cat
Little Bear's Mom
Haute Ice Beadworks

What's your favorite blog? Share a link in the comments!

Copyright 2010 Inspirational Beading