Autumn Apple Collar

I suppose it must be time to get out and pick a few apples from the neighborhood tree, because I’ve still got crisp fall fruit on the brain. When I finally shook off the case of beader’s block that took over during the herringbone rope fail, the first thing in the destash tray that called out to me was a packet of vintage Czech leaves in smoky amethyst.

I asked around for some feedback on possible color combinations, and thought I had it all worked out - something equally smoky and mysterious in cool tones like blue, teal, and black. But when I pulled out my 11/o seed bead trays, all of those ideas went right out the window. As soon as I spotted a packet of transparent red AB, I had visions of juicy apples.

The color is a lot more like magenta than plain red, and with the addition of some dark topaz, it was a perfect match for the amethyst leaves. The palette had all the mystery that I wanted, with just the right amount of sweetness. I topped everything off with one more destash pick - some leftover Czech nuggets with hints of blue and red.

Of course I had to put all of these beads together in a collar. I’ve decided that it’s time to start focusing on what I really like to do, and leave behind all of the stitches and styles that just don’t fit my tastes. I think all beaders reach a point where experimenting is less productive than specializing. Doing beadwork that we think we should do, instead of what we really like, is just going against the creative grain.

What do you think of the relationship between repertoire and repetition? Are you set comfortably in a niche or searching for your beading identity?

Copyright 2012 Inspirational Beading
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