The Egyptian Gods Series Jewelry Challenge

It’s time again to plant a stake and mark the beginning of another year-long beading challenge. Last year, I decided to loosen things up a bit by eliminating deadlines, which created a lot more room for creativity and contemplation. The result was a mostly steady parade of new designs, and a fairly successful mission to use up leftover and forgotten beads.

This year I’m really taking it easy, while also improving my skills and exploring new possibilities, by sticking to something that I’m very passionate about. As an added bonus, this year’s challenge also coincides with my jewelry business goals - to adhere even more firmly to a niche and establish a more recognizable line of handmade designs.

In short, I’m going Egyptian in 2013.

I’ve given myself a bit of a head start, and five designs are already completed. Since each design is also accompanied by not only a shop listing, but a blog post detailing the traits of each subject, I’ve been dragging my feet a little. By making my new series of jewelry this year’s challenge, I hope to gain a little more motivation to keep things rolling at a steady pace.

The plan is to create a unique piece of beadwork jewelry inspired by every god in the Ancient Egyptian pantheon. I’ve already passed by some of the lesser know deities in order to get a firm hold on the idea, but I’ll be swinging back through the alphabet - hopefully - before the year’s end. I’ll include any missed gods and goddesses, plus revisit any subjects whose designs were not satisfactory the first time around. Here are the icons I’ve completed so far:

Amun’s necklace drew on several of the air god’s traits: blue skin, golden feathers, and the horns of a ram. I started with the carved bone Maori pendant, which I had hoped to back with some blue tagua. Unfortunately, all of the slices I had were too small to really show a lot of color, so I switched to a new tactic and added the blue to the beadwork. I used one of my favorite golden substitutes - Autumn Tuscon - and some black magatamas to create feathery St. Petersburg chains.

I was very excited to get started on Anubis. Although I had already made an Anubis bracelet and collar using gold Swarovski pearls and black seed beads, I couldn’t resist trying again. If it works, stick with it! This time I wanted the jackal's necklace to be a bit edgier, and a little more fitting for a god who spends his time in the underworld. I added some copper stick pearls, and got exactly the effect that I wanted.

Next up was Bast, the sometimes-cat and sometimes-lion goddess of womanhood. I couldn’t resist using some coconut dagger ‘claws’. Since their blue color is so intense, I kept things fairly simple with a golden brown rope, adding a stripe of wine in the twist to represent her fondness for festivals.

It took awhile to decide how I was going to tackle the earth god Geb. Although I want each piece to represent the gods, I also want to make sure that the pieces themselves have an Egyptian flair whenever possible. In the end, I went down the obvious but pleasing route - an all green collar. To increase the earthiness, I included some dark teal coconut heishi as a light fringe.

Hathor had me stumped at first, and I almost didn’t make this design for fear that it wouldn’t come out correctly. I wanted very much to make a necklace that included the unique curved horns of Hathor’s crown, as well as her signature stone - turquoise. After some experimentation, I was able to get the shapes that I wanted, without casting off any unused beadwork!

Next up is Isis - and I believe that this necklace might be the first in the list of re-do’s in the last leg of the challenge, simply because she’s such an important icon to get right. I hope you’ll follow along with me during the Egyptian Gods series this year, and perhaps challenge yourself to an inspiration journey as well!

Copyright 2013 Inspirational Beading
Subscribe to Inspirational Beading
Get inspired on Facebook and Google+

The Best of Beading 2012

It’s been a great year for beaders and jewelry designers, with so many fantastic new goodies to enjoy, great tutorials and inspirations, and of course, no apocalypse to get in the way of creative time! Here are some of my favorite beading highlights of 2012.

Several wonderful new beads arrived on the scene this year, including Swarovski Elements crystal pearl colors in red and pink coral, lapis, and turquoise. Swarovski Mini crystal beads fill in the gap between manmade beads and cut gemstones perfectly, providing their characteristic crystal shimmer in tiny shapes with a fantasy feel.

Despite these innovations, Miyuki two-hole Tila beads stole the show again this year, with the arrival of several new colors and finishes. Tilas and Tila projects seem to be featured in nearly every beading publication of 2012.

Soutache bead embroidery made a big splash in the technique department, with a gorgeous feature on the cover of Bead and Button magazine. The inclusion of fiber braids into beadwork was a natural step for many beaders, especially those with a flair for embroidery techniques. It was an absolute pleasure to chat with soutache artist Amee K. Sweet-McNamara about getting started with this emerging jewelry style.

There were some fun tutorials featured on Inspirational Beading this year, including a few from guest instructors, such as How to Make a Resin Clay Ring. Some of my favorite tutorials of 2012 are: bead covered beads, Russian spiral, and Potawatomi daisy chain.

While 2012 had a fantastic lineup of color trends from Pantone, it is also the year that we learned of the upcoming jewel-tone color of the year. Looking forward to lots of emerald in 2013 doesn’t quite leave the 2012 palettes behind, which included a fantastic lime green, sodalite blue, and of course, Tangerine Tango.

Last year, many beaders, crafters, and designers alike were eagerly anticipating new reality shows that would appeal to magpies everywhere. First came Project Accessory late last fall, which hoped to take off on the success of the creatively tantalizing show Project Runway. Then there was Craft Wars, which even included Margot Potter as a contestant! The show has received plenty of criticism from crafters and non-crafters alike, but it does provide an easy bar to stay above! Perhaps, hopefully, it will pave the way for even more beadwork exposure in mainstream media.

Thank you so much for joining me for beading ideas and inspiration in 2012! What new waves do you plan to make with beading in the New Year?

Copyright 2012 Inspirational Beading and Friends
Subscribe to Inspirational Beading
Get inspired on Facebook and Google+

Destash Challenge Wrap Up

The end of the year is just around the corner, and before it passes us by, it’s time to wrap up another year’s beading challenge. For 2012, my mission was to use up all of the beads in my stash that I had been keeping for more than a year. It was a big goal, since my collection has been forming since around 2006 or so, and my preferences for style and stitches has changed a lot since then.

There were a few flubs and failures in this destash challenge, but for the most part, I was able to turn beads I had been ignoring into really great designs. Apart from having lots of space for new beads, and being able to see the materials that I really like without distraction, the most rewarding part of the destash challenge has been all of the new experiences and insights into my own beading style and skill.

It all began with an entry into the Ugly Necklace Contest, which turned out to be a very relaxing, liberating, and hilarious experience. This project wouldn't be revealed until the spring, so the first official destash design was a collar necklace. I nearly ended the challenge with another hideous design, but it turns out that there were a few inspirations left in the destash tray.

A single roble wood bead became the base for a new necklace in my Egyptian Gods series. To create the look of Hathor’s crown and horns, I stitched a herringbone tube around wood beads in a pleasing curve. Although I've had a pretty good head start, this series is going to continue into next year's beading challenge. I'll be sharing the entire series to date, and all of the inspirations in 2013.

Just when I thought I was done for the year, one last bit of inspiration struck. I had decided it was time to make use of some peanut seed beads I had ordered, and make a new spiral lariat. Predictably, I got bored after several inches of stitches - and anxious to start some other ideas cooking - so I switched to a pendant and added the last heart shaped nut bead from the destash pile.

So here’s what’s left:

For accent beads, I still have a few mother of pearl charms with flowers painted on them. I’m probably going to add them to the craft beads and pretend that I never bought them. There are also two matte transparent ruby glass rings, one black clam shell Czech bead, and Swarovski Elements rivoli. The heart shaped nut bead found it’s home right after posing for this picture.

I still have oodles of mother of pearl chips and macrame beads left, along with a strand of patterned wood beads. Since there are enough of them for just about any project, I don't mind setting them aside until the right idea comes along. Hopefully they won't keep me waiting too much.

The rest of the bead tray spots are taken up by an assortment of seed beads. I’m not at all unhappy with the amount of beads I was able to use up this year, and I know I’ll be able to make use of what’s left. So they’re all going back into their proper place in the stash. Some of them may make an appearance in a new ugly necklace some time in the new year.

Although I wasn't able to use up every single last bead that I had set aside for this challenge, I did achieve my goal of making new designs with old beads, and cleared out so many things that would still be sitting around if it weren't for the extras motivation. I'm calling it a success!

Thank you so much for joining me on this year’s beading journey!

Copyright 2012 Inspirational Beading
Subscribe to Inspirational Beading
Get inspired on Facebook and Google+

Beaded Laughter

December can be a pretty hectic time of year, when everything seems to happen at once, there’s never enough time to get it all done, and there’s always something that you forgot to add to your list. Personally, I feel like I’m being pulled in a dozen different directions at once this year. I’ve learned to let go of a lot of the expectations I pile on myself during the holidays, but I’ve still got gifts to make, shopping to do, and there are only a few weeks left to finish up the destash challenge - not to mention keep track of all the fantastic beading ideas that keep popping into my head at random.

If you’re even a tiny bit stressed out during the holiday rush, you deserve a little break. So go put on a cup of tea or some cocoa, then put your feet up and feel the tension melt away as we pay a little tribute to an excellent blog for beaders. You’re probably already familiar with Beaded Laughter - a humor blog dedicated to pairing dreamy photos with sentiments only a beader would melt over. It’s been on hiatus for most of this year, but the laughs are still there to enjoy! Here are a few of my favorites.

When we're rushing to finish projects for gifts, keep our shops up to date, and all the rest, it's easy to forget that our hobbies and our passions are meant to help us relax. I hope that all of my fellow beaders are able to find a little stress-free time with their beads this season!

How are you coping with the holiday rush and crush?

Copyright 2012 Inspirational Beading and Beaded Laughter
Images Hosted by Pinterest
Subscribe to Inspirational Beading
Get inspired on Facebook and Google+

Bead Color Ideas: Candy Cane Twist

Now that December is rolling along at it’s usual speedy pace, I think it’s safe to take a look at some color palette ideas in traditional red, green, and white. This trio represents many of our favorite holiday themes, like ribbon candy, snow, holly berries, and of course, decked out Christmas trees. To add a twist and a challenge, I decided to stretch the palettes out a little bit by using slightly non-traditional colors. Instead of holly red, pine green, and show white, I looked for assorted shades that would still have a festive vibe when used together.

I started with the easiest approach first - opaques. The pepper red seed beads are certainly Christmasy, but would they still be jolly with the addition of matte vanilla and cactus green? I was excited to discover that the palette was not only December-worthy, but delicious as well. I think Pepper Pistachio would look fantastic under the tree.

Next, things got really wild when I replaced white with lovely Picasso ovals in a soft brown, and added some garnet coat ovals for red. I think almost any shade of dark green would look fantastic with this pair, but turquoise lined pale amber added an extra layer of woodsy flair. It’s got both the pine needles and the sap! Whenever I look at this trio, all I can think of is a Log Cabin, with bunches of holly around the edge, and firelight in the windows.

For the final palette, I replaced Santa red with transparent raspberry. I couldn’t resist pairing it up with tasty lime green, which always reminds me of Jell-o. To steer these bright colors away from fruity, I added silver-lined crystal 6/o’s for a dash of sparkle. Now it’s a bowl of Christmas Punch!

Do you have a trio of go-to colors for Christmas beadweaving?

Copyright 2012 Inspirational Beading
Subscribe to Inspirational Beading
Get inspired on Facebook and Google+