7/10/11

Of Birds and Bedes

Celebrating her soon-to-be-released book, Heather Powers is inspiring us all by nature, and this week’s challenge was to design something feather or bird related. I turned to National Geographic and quickly found this tantalizing tail feather, compliments of the Golden Headed Quetzal. Gorgeous colors that I happened to already have in my stash.


My nature-inspired triad of green, purple and orange began with a kumihimo neck strap finished off with some Inca Rose rounds, Unicorn glass donuts, and a ceramic and sterling silver front-clasp in the feather’s predominant blue-green.
The large focal is Rachel Nelson-Smith’s Oothecal Bede pattern, a right angle weave beauty from Seed Bead Fusion that allowed me to bring in another touch of the accent purples and oranges. The focal is finished with a Stuart Abelman art glass bead in a stunning purple with silver accents. Dangling from the tip are three silver feathers.

Thanks to Heather for the challenge. To see other designs, click over to the Inspired by Nature Flickr group.


Beading My Stash – project one finished!

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7 comments:

  1. H.T.July 10, 2011 at 6:02 PM

    Hello:-)
    I have to 'tell' You something:
    I am not fond of those all metal endings connected to the beadwork and I am trying not to use metal chains,or other connectors of this kind in my sets...but... :-)
    In this case...IT LOOKS INCREDIBLE!!! :-)
    This is the first pendant containing different materials,which I passionately love.It's adorable in color,in texture,design and featured to the main topic ideally!
    I have no words to say-it's breathtaking!
    Warm Hugs-Halinka-

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  2. Lois MoonJuly 10, 2011 at 7:06 PM

    Wow! Absolutely gorgeous. You really captured the spirit of the inspiration pic and pulled together these colors and beads wonderfully.

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  3. ReginaJuly 10, 2011 at 10:06 PM

    Love the large beaded focal, it is absolutely gorgeous. Great design!

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  4. AnonymousJuly 11, 2011 at 5:29 AM

    Karin that is stunning!!! You make color seem so EASY!

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  5. Karin SlatonJuly 11, 2011 at 2:59 PM

    Thanks, everyone, for your kind comments. Halfway through the focal bead, I lost confidence in my design - the kumihimo was too long, the focal would be too big, etc. Luckily, I kept beading and it came together as I envisioned it! On to the next challenge...

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  6. UnknownJuly 20, 2011 at 4:47 PM

    Hi,BackstoryBeads!
    Unbelievably harmonious, I fell in love with it!!:)

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  7. Smadar's TreasureAugust 10, 2011 at 5:25 AM

    Such a beautiful necklace in gorgeous colors!

    ReplyDelete