Bead Color Ideas: Spring

Although we have weeks more of winter to look forward to, the fashion industry has long been planning the looks and colors for the coming spring. This year’s palette from Pantone is a delightful mixture of charming, youthful colors with a hint of attitude, and one of them is a perfect match for beaders. Hidden between an eye-popping pink and elegant neutrals is Sodalite Blue, which pairs up so well with the other colors, and translates easily into beadwork, even if you’re not using the real thing.

This month, instead of looking at variations on the same three colors, we’re going to examine some possibilities for three different combinations inspired by Pantone’s Spring 2012 picks, starting with Sodalite Blue.

As luck would have it, I just happened to have an untouched strand of beads that were perfect for this job. These table cut coins have a gem-like finish in a variety of blue shades, with hints of black and brown. I paired them with chocolate brown freshwater pearls to complement the earthiness of the Picasso finish, and shocking canary yellow seed beads in Mountain Meadow.

Sodalite Blue, Solar Power, Driftwood/Starfish

For a more urban palette, I started with bright orange mother of pearl coins. The shape and smooth finish is a perfect match for the zesty color, and pairs up well with transparent lemon AB and raspberry lined seed beads. Party Punch is a little bit tropical, and a little bit high society. It brings to mind floral prints and fresh bouquets, or cute shoes and perfect manicures.

Tangerine Tango, Solar Power, Cabaret

Finally, I couldn’t resist the smooth, cool tones. Peacock began with turquoise blue druks that have a last breath of winter in them. The unique green of white lined peridot adds a little zing, and wisteria lined crystal brings it all together. Even though it isn't as flowery as pink and orange, this palette looks the most like spring. These are three of my all time favorite bead colors, and they look fantastic together. I'll have to file this palette for later!

Margarita, Bellflower, Cockatoo

Which Pantone color is your favorite?

Copyright 2012 Inspirational Beading
Pantone and Nanette Lepore
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Artifact Necklace

In order to get this year’s destash beading challenge started off right, I wanted to begin with some beads that I’ve been promising to use for a long time. I purchased this strand of transparent red rice beads back in 2010 when I was gathering up supplies for my Cornucopia lariat. Along with some of the ‘vegetable’ beads and a hank of yellow charlottes, I couldn’t resist the luscious red strand of beads. I liked them so much, in fact, that I’ve been putting off using them ever since.

Instead of waiting for the ‘right’ project to come along, I had to try and make these beads work for me, so that I could finally put them to good use. An Egyptian collar seemed like an appropriate way to show off their color and shape, so I paired them with my favorite faux-gold seed beads and got to work.

I started with a plain chevron collar, then tried adding additional rows of chevron chain to the front, with the rice beads in the middle sections. Instead of sticking to a strict structure, I let the beads and thread do their own thing, and I was very happy with the results. The necklace has this elegant disheveledness to it - like a necklace that has survived hundreds of years in a tomb.

It was such a relief to finally snip the string on these rice beads and turn them into something beautiful, and I’m looking forward to many more destash projects - hopefully some will be just as successful. You can join in the challenge too, by sending me some before and after pictures of your destash projects, or post them to your blog and drop by with a link. Good luck!

Copyright 2012 Inspirational Beading
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World Beaders: Germany

Today I want to extend a warm welcome to visitors from Germany! It’s always exciting to see a new country on the list of Inspirational Beading readers, and learn a little bit about where they come from.

Vintage bead lovers and collectors know that Germany has been a major contributor to the glass bead trade in the last century. After World War II, many bead makers relocated from the future Czech Republic to Germany, and continued to produce beautiful beads. The main settlement for these refugees was Neu Gablonz - named after the Bohemian city Gablonz, which would later become Jablonec nad Nisou. The first bead site was established in a bombed out munitions factory, and the trade flourished with thousands of artists at work. Today, there are fewer than 400 bead factories in the region, and many of them do not produce beads for resale, but for in-house jewelry designs.

Das Land der Dichter und Denker - the land of poets and thinkers - is home to more than 4000 museums, and an amazing 25000 libraries. Germany is also known for it’s musical influences, with hundreds of theatres and symphonies, as well as the legacies of composers like Beethoven and Bach.

The Neues Museum is one of particular interest for me - it is the current home of the infamous and beautiful bust of Nefertiti. The artifact was discovered in 1912 by Ludwig Borchardt, and has since traveled throughout Germany, to finally settle in the museum before World War II. There has been plenty of controversy surrounding Nefertiti, as the Supreme Council of Antiquities attempts to have their queen returned to her homeland. While in Germany, Nefertiti is visited by over half a million people every year.

Happy beading, Germany!

Copyright 2012 Inspirational Beading and Friends
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Bead Giveaway: Savannah Collection

My beading challenge for 2012 - to destash some long hoarded beads - has two benefits. Not only will I finally have to find the inspiration to use beads that I’ve been overlooking for a long time, but I’ll also have a lot more space for those beads that I want to use again and again. Plus, I’m hoping to relocate my home and studio later this year, and fewer beads means fewer boxes to pack and carry.

To help get both of these goals underway, I have decided it’s finally time to share my favorite acrylic beads. I can’t explain what has made me hold on to them for so long, even though I have given up using plastics in my designs. Only a fellow bead hoarder could possibly understand. And now I hope to find these little treasures a new home with someone who can appreciate how fantastic they are!

To get things started with a bang, I’m going to be giving away one of my all time favorite sets of beads. These pieces have been collected from a variety of sources, but they all have one thing in common - they have a distinct tribal flair. There are a few animal print pieces, some imitation bone, some long tubes with a wood-like finish, and three gorgeous tribal design buttons in bone and amber colors. Together or separate, these beads have a lot of potential!

How to Enter

For a chance to win these beautiful acrylic beads, plus a handful of Czech seed beads in orange and yellow, simply leave a comment on this post, and answer the following question:

What is your favorite cultural influence for beading inspiration?

One lucky winner will be drawn at random on Wednesday, February 8th. If you don’t have a Blogger profile with email contact enabled, please be sure to leave a contact link in your comment, so I can get in touch with you if you win! This giveaway is open to readers from Canada and the US.

Good luck, and happy beading!



Copyright 2012 Inspirational Beading
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2012 Destash Beading Challenge

With two year-long beading challenges finally wrapped up, it’s time to start a new journey in jewelry making. This year, I want to invite everyone to join in and share their ideas, inspirations and creations. For 2012, my challenge will be to finally use beads that have been languishing in my stash for far too long.

With tax season rapidly approaching, I’ve been busy going through my shops, paperwork and bead trays, making spreadsheets, and counting away. While I was at it, I prepared some beads for this year’s challenge. First, I needed an empty compartment tray to help me stay organized and focused, so I packaged up a whole bunch of beads from my acrylic collection, and I’ll be finding new homes for them in a series of giveaways over the next few months.

With the storage space free, I continued doing inventory on the last three years of beads, and set aside everything that has been hanging around for more than a year. I was actually a little surprised by how few compartments I filled, but there are still enough beads to keep me busy. The challenge will be to find a way to use each of them before the end of 2012.

I’m really looking forward to using up a few of these little treasures, including my last pair of heart shaped nut beads, and some vitrail rivolis. I’ll be posting each design here on Inspirational Beading to mark my progress on this destash journey. To make this challenge fun and a little easier, I’m not going to set any deadlines or quotas. I want to let the beads lead the way, and hopefully they will all find the designs that they were meant for. This also means that I can invite you to play along!

To join in the 2012 Destash Challenge, all you have to do is make a design using beads that you’ve had for more than a year - anything goes! Then post some before pictures of your beads, and after pictures of the finished design on your blog. Don’t have a blog? You can also send your pictures directly to me at InspirationalBeading@gmail.com and I’ll make a feature for you!

My first design for the Destash Challenge is already under way, using beads that I’ve been hoarding forever. I can’t wait to show you the results, and see what you come up with, too!

Copyright 2012 Inspirational Beading
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