A Bracelet a Week: Hot Chocolate with Tilas

The last few months of winter are so fickle. The weather frequently tempts us with sunny days and warm winds, then reminds us how much time there is before beach season comes again, with plummeting temperatures and flurries.

One of the best ways to chase away winter blues is with comfort foods. Not only are they usually a good way to warm up from within, but filling foods appease those hibernation instincts that make you want to pull a blanket over your head at the first sign of snow.

For this week’s bracelet, I wanted to capture the comfort of a big mug of hot chocolate, complete with swirls of cream and mini marshmallows. I think a hot drink with a big heart in it is an instant mood booster.

I was very excited to get a chance to try out some Tila seed beads from Artbeads.com, but I didn’t want to get too carried away at first. I convinced myself to keep it simple and try using them with techniques I like. So, I added some of these beauties to rows of herringbone weave in warm chocolately shades of brown and beige.

I used three shades of brown seed beads for the base - dark beige, terracotta, and red brown. Instead of using just white Tilas for the marshmallows, I also added some in dark beige, to match some of the creamy beadwork rows, and help all of the elements blend together.

The way the herringbone curves around the increases really captures the fancy cappuccino cream look I was going for. And I’m happy to report that Tilas are just as fun to work with as they look!

I would like to thank Artbeads.com for providing the beads 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.

Copyright 2011 Inspirational Beading
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