Bead Wish List: Christmas Delights

They may be weeks away, but when you make things yourself, the holidays are practically around the corner all year long. If you haven’t begun thinking about Christmas and holiday inspired beading projects already, now is the time to get jolly! Here are just a few of my favorite December themed beads.

As a rule, I always go artisan made when it comes to lampwork beads,
but there’s no reason not to ogle these cute strands of Santa hats from Artbeads.com





No love for the traditional red, white, and green? No problem!
This Swarovski Elements Christmas mix from FusionBeads.com is festive but sophisticated.





These holly berry and leaf lampwork beads are almost too gorgeous to use.
Perhaps just one or two at a time? A beautiful set, created by Serena Smith.





There’s something so nostalgic about big outdoor Christmas lights.
I’m especially fond of the red, yellow, green, and blue variety.
A whole rainbow of colors is available in resin charms from Beadaholique.





I love the rustic look of this mis-matched ceramic bead set from Lima Beads,
entitled When My Heart Finds Christmas.





The combination of transparent green and opaque white in these lampwork beads from
Auntie's Beads makes them look good enough to eat.




Speaking of tasty, these lampwork peppermints by Stone Designs are so realistic,
they’d look right at home in a candy dish.

Do you have a favorite holiday theme to use in your beadwork?

Copyright 2012 Inspirational Beading and Friends
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Inspired Beader: Ellie’s Bijoux

Today my guest is Suzette of Ellie’s Bijoux jewelry, whose fun designs have been featured in Bead Trends, Bead Style and Stringing magazines.

Inspirational Beading: How did you first get into jewelry design?

Suzette: I first learned how to make jewelry just 3 years ago while visiting my parents on vacation in Charleston, South Carolina. My step-mother had been learning how to knot pearls, and of course I was so interested she showed me how to do it. I knotted my first necklace and since then I fell in love with everything about jewelry design/making and have begun to advance my skills even more.

Inspirational Beading: Do you remember your first design? Where is it today?

Suzette: Yes, it was a knotted pearl necklace...it has been taken a part several times to perfect my skills.

Inspirational Beading: Do you have a favorite kind of bead or jewelry component?

Suzette: Some of my favorite materials to work with are chains, charms, crystals, enamels, semiprecious and precious gemstones, glass, metals, and pearls.

Inspirational Beading: Where do you find the most inspiration?

Suzette: Everywhere...and especially in nature

Inspirational Beading: What was the inspiration behind your favorite design?

Suzette: I make one-of-a-kind pieces so they are all my favorite.

Inspirational Beading: Is there a material or technique that you would love to work with, but haven’t tried yet?

Suzette: Over the past few years I have learned several jewelry making techniques including soldering metal, which is more of what I want to do.

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

Suzette: I want to make my jewelry line personal where I can connect my true passions (counseling & jewelry design/making). I want to create a line of jewelry that inspires women and gives them the confidence to pursue their dreams.

You can see more of Suzette's jewelry designs on her Ellie’s Bijoux blog, or on Facebook.

Copyright 2012 Inspirational Beading and Ellie's Bijoux
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Wear It Twice: Winter Lava

Unless you happen to attend a lot of holiday parties, winter isn’t exactly the best time of year for statement jewelry. In colder climates, we spend so much of our dressed-up time in heavy coats and layered clothes, where large and bulky jewelry has no place to stand out. But that doesn’t mean that we can’t pretend!

For this month’s fashion collage, I decided to do a little fantasy dressing, by combining a big and colorful statement necklace with winter fashions in warm cream and red wine. The bright turquoise and lava bead multi-strand piece that I found was the perfect way to rebel against the cold! With some simple garments, sassy boots, and a lot of leather, the necklace looks right at home - like a ribbon on a Christmas package.

Winter Matte by mortira featuring a v neck vest

Whether in natural colors or brightly painted, lava beads add a lot of fun texture to a jewelry design. Here are some fun lava bead projects to try:

Bead Embroidered Lava Necklace by Beading Arts
Knotted Ceramic and Lava Bead Necklace Project by Vicki O'Dell
Crystal and Lava Bead Necklace Tutorial from About.com Jewelry Making
Volcanic Bloom Lava Necklace Project by Artbeads.com
Jurrasic Necklace by Beadaholique

If you can’t find lava beads at your usual bead shop, you can also make your own faux lava beads from polymer clay.

Here are my favorite Polyvore collages featuring this month’s picks:

Turquoise Eyes by marastyle featuring long cocktail dresses

Hot Stuff by rchmsj6 featuring john lewis

Black leather by marastyle featuring skinny leg jeans

Color Illusion art with fashion set by lindacaricofe featuring viva la diva

Do you have a favorite necklace style to wear in winter?

Copyright 2012 Inspirational Beading and Friends
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Rivoli and Wine Collar

I recently returned to a favorite technique to tackle one of the remaining two rivolis in my destash tray. With only a few weeks left in this year’s challenge, I didn’t want to waste any time fiddling with experimental techniques. After all, I can only do so many ugly necklaces in a row.

I started with a crystal purple haze rivoli, and some of my leftover purple E beads. The colors go together quite well, but what to pair them with? To save time, I went to the 15/o beads first, and chose a color that would also look good with the multicolor crystal. After picking some transparent lemon lime, I had a long debate over a base color.

Finally, I chose matte purple - a very grape-y shade that I hoped would work well with the other colors. I was surprised by how much the lime green altered the overall look of the purple. It was transformed from an almost juicy color to a more velvet burgundy. Looking back, I don’t think it would have hurt to add a few brown branches and beaded leaves. This piece has a relaxing vineyard mood.

Copyright 2012 Inspirational Beading
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November Pinspiration

I must admit that compared to some artists and bloggers, I seriously neglect Pinterest, even though I know what an amazing source of inspiration it can be. So many pictures - so little time. But when I do visit, I always find something worth collecting. Here are just a few of my favorites of late.

Do you have a favorite Pinterest board to keep you inspired?

Copyright 2012 Inspirational Beading and Friends
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