What a lovely contest the Bead Mavens offered up, enticing those of us who are new to creating our own designs to take a step in that direction by melding two or more of their tutorial patterns together to create something new. I love pieces that are component based, and the Mavens offered some exciting ones. Do you ever see something and just know you have to make it? As soon as I clicked on Heather Collin’s Cactus Drops tutorial, I knew I’d found my focal. I was equally captivated by Cynthia Newcomer Daniel’s treatment of side-drilled beads in her Woodland Treasure design.
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On to colors! I chose chocolate brown and bronze, paired with delicate red violet tones, inspired by the mystique and majesty of night-blooming cactus.
My first attempt with this color palette was dreamy and delicate, but after stitching up a few sample components, I realized it didn’t convey what I was striving for - the mood of a desert garden at the moment that day changes into night.
Reversing the colors, using a warmer shade of violet as the accent, and switching from iridescent stick pearls to faceted nuggets in smokey quartz gave my design the glow and the feel of a moonlit garden.
The drops are stitched in cubic right angle weave, which was new to me. Drops finished, but still fascinated with the stitch, I continued it into the neckstrap. Heather Collin has a definitive basic CRAW tutorial, which helped me master this stitch, and you might also check out Gwen Fisher’s video if you want to take your CRAW skills to the next level.
The deadline for entries is tonight at midnight. Click over to the Mavens’ challenge page to see some very amazing work.
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