World Beaders: Italy

Today we’re going on a trip to visit historic and beautiful Italy, home of Murano and Venetian glass. I was very excited to see Italy on Inspirational Beading’s list of top visitors recently - it is one of the most notable countries in bead culture, and not just for its deep origins of glass bead making. The technique and term millefiori comes from Italy, and is used by glass and polymer clay artists all over the world. The tiny village of Torre del Greco near Naples is one of the world’s best sources of hand harvested red coral.

Along with innovations in glasswork and bead making, Italy has also given birth to many wonderful things such as the piano, the thermometer, cologne, eyeglasses, espresso machines, the typewriter, and of course, pizza. As one of the world’s most loved dishes, the word pizza is recognized in almost every language and culture, although the recipes and styles vary from region to region.

Italy’s capital is one of the most known and well recognized in the world. Rome was the center of Western civilization for centuries, and continues to be an important cultural and historical destination. Italy is visited by more than 43 million tourists every year, including religious pilgrimages such as the Easter or Pasqua ceremonies in Rome. Art and history lovers also flock to see the amazing landmarks such as the canals of Venice, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Colosseum, and the Sistine Chapel.

Happy beading, Italy!

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How to Style an Easter Necklace

Easter weekend just keeps getting closer, so for this month’s fashion collage, I couldn’t resist starting with some sweet egg inspirations. Not all of us can pull off wearing pretty pastels like baby pink and blue, but luckily, soft gray counts when you’re going for a spring palette. And since accessories and jewelry can look good no matter what color they are, it’s easy to find a nice balance of pastels for any taste.

I tried to locate an egg shaped or bunny rabbit necklace for this spring collage, but the choices were not very inspiring. I didn’t want to go with a simple pendant-on-chain piece, which would be far too easy. So I restarted my search with pastel jewelry, and was nearly overwhelmed with tasty choices. The one that really stood out was a pretty necklace with big chunky round beads in four pastel colors. The ribbon closure only adds to the Easter-basket look, and it had more than just a hint of gray, which I was determined to include in the palette. It was perfect!

Sweet Spring Pastels by mortira featuring ballet flats

For the more adventurous ensemble, I started with a pink baby doll dress in pleated polyester. It’s light and pretty, but could look very grown up with the right accessories. For cooler climates, I added some gray tights, but it would also look great with some gray suede ankle boots.

The second outfit is a little less girly, with a beautiful cinched jersey top and sailor jeans. A pink leather shoulder bag and soft yellow ballet flats add a hint of color. I couldn’t resist adding an optional pom-pom scarf with hints of magenta.

Each outfit has only a hint of blue to complement the necklace, with earrings that are small but stylish. Some fun round and egg-like cocktail rings add some extra color and sparkle, and the lovely pastel crystal bracelet would work well with both sets.

As always, handmade and vintage alternatives can build looks just like these:

And here are my favorite Polyvore sets featuring some of today’s picks:

bez tytułu by mine-and-only-mine featuring a wood necklace

Powered by Flower with Nine West by gakranz featuring skinny fit jeans

Kandela ime by lealeal featuring loose pants

I wish I had never met you by rasha featuring enamel jewelry

What’s your favorite pastel to wear or use in beadwork?

Copyright 2012 Inspirational Beading and Polyvore.com
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More Beaded Body Parts

Warning: This post features (im)mature content.

It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to say this, but…The April’s Army shop is now open! This month, Regretsy readers and fans are raising funds to purchase the very best in service dog equipment, to help a young woman live life to the fullest. You can learn more about the fundraiser on Regretsy. But first, let’s have a look at some of the amazing handmade items that are up for grabs! (Don't linger too long though, as items tend to move fast!)

Before I show you the piece that I created, I want to say that it’s designed after something that I normally wouldn’t consider for jewelry inspiration. It’s actually kind of awful. In fact, if you don’t recognize it, I don’t recommend trying to figure out what it is. Seriously, do not Google it. My consolation is that when you laugh at something, you take it’s power away. And this particular topic has been turned into a huge source of laughter on Regretsy, and in turn helped to raise a lot of money for very worthy causes.

To create my donation, I used matte black seed beads, and a beautiful mixture of blue Miyuki seed beads that I purchased with some rewards points at Auntie’s Beads. As soon as I saw them, I knew they were destined for something great! It took some time to decide on a method for the necklace chain. I ended up modifying the round right angle weave a little to get a nice, sturdy chain.

You can see this “Blue Moon” necklace, and other amazing creations in the April’s Army WePay shop. This is a new selling platform who’s main appeal is complete freedom from PayPal. Anyone can shop in the store, but seller accounts are currently limited to US residents. If that’s you, I highly recommend checking them out!

Without any further ado, here are some of my favorite jewelry designs from this month’s fundraiser:

Caged Pearl Bracelet
by Slipstream Blue





Hellephant Pendant
by Quiddity Designs





Circuit Board Bracelet
by The Blue Kraken





Winds of the Orient Collar
by MBush Digital Art





Red Beads Bracelet
by Sew Goth

Here’s to crafting for a cause!

Copyright 2012 Inspirational Beading and Friends
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Easter Egg Craft and Beading Tutorials

Earlier this week, we had a look at some fantastic egg inspired and oval shaped beads for spring designs. To continue with this theme of eggs and fun candy colors, we have a round up of some fantastic beaded Easter egg tutorials and projects. There are a few decorative projects, plus some fun eggy jewelry designs as well.

Spring Fling Beaded Felt Easter Eggs
By Artbeads.com





Easter Jewels Right Angle Weave Bracelet
By FusionBeads.com





Wire Bird’s Nest Charm Tutorial
By Beadaholique




Hanging Beaded Egg Project
By Crafts Unleashed





Microbead Covered Applique Easter Egg
From CraftIdeas





Perler Bead Easter Eggs
By Perler Beads





Good Egg Earrings
By FusionBeads.com

Is anyone else craving chocolate? You can dress these projects up for a really special piece, or tone them down a bit for Easter craft time with the kids. Happy beading!

Copyright 2012 Inspirational Beading and Friends
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Fall Back Collar

Have you ever sat down to make something, with just a vague idea of how it would turn out, only to get something completely unexpected? Last week I pulled a handful of Czech glass leaves out of the destash pile, and decided to make a little collar with them. There were just enough beads to make a nice fringe of green and topaz. All I had to do was choose a background color and get beading.

I decided to go with yellow, plus hints of extra green and orange to tie everything together. Both of the leaf beads that I had on hand feature a vitrail finish on one side, so I was careful to stitch them all in the same direction, and give the finished piece a reversible option. It wasn’t until I really got going that I realized how very autumn the piece looked. In fact, it’s so autumn that it’s almost Thanksgiving-y.

I worried for awhile that the necklace might end up being a little obnoxious - like a piece from a Pocahontas costume. It’s not just the colors and the leaves, but the pattern of the chevron chain that suggests something kitschy. Still, I kept at it, and the closer I got to completing the necklace, the more I liked it. It’s not as Egyptian as some of the other pieces I’ve made recently, but it’s sophisticated enough not to be mistaken for a kid’s November craft project.

Copyright 2012 Inspirational Beading
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