Fresh Starts

I love Fall.  Partly because my birthday is in October.  But mostly because of the cool, foggy mornings, the feel of warm fabrics, and the promise of new beginnings and fresh starts.

Energized and ready for action following a long summer hiatus from blogging and from my bead table, I spent September transitioning to a new season –refocusing, reorganizing and re-evaluating my approach to design.

Yesterday brought the first official day of Fall. I spied what to me is the very essence of the season - a trio of pie pumpkins on the shelf at my neighborhood Publix. And I received an acceptance letter into my first juried Art Show. So much to be excited about!

Here’s a look at one of the new designs I’ve been working on in September - long, sleek lariats to go with the changing necklines of Fall.

 

Sapphire rondelles and metal seed beads in platinum and pewter
 bring together Pantone's Royal Blue and Aluminum for Fall.
Contemporary sterling leaf shapes are from Nina Designs.

I also love the look of Sangria and Aluminum, another Pantone Fall color trend.
In this lariat I've used garnet and rose quartz rondelles with a natural ruby focal.

Like pumpkins and changing leaves,
labradorite and garnet set against brass seed beads just say Fall to me.

What are you excited about this Fall?

A Time to Stitch Five - Reveal

Blues are slated to be big this Fall, and I love the shades Pantone includes in their Fall Color Report, especially when paired with the trendy neutral, Aluminum.

Classic blues and silver-grays were the colors I chose to work with for today's A Time to Stitch Challenge hosted by Christine Altmiller and Therese Frank. Our challenge was to take one stitch and make three designs with it, changing up the beads in each - either the size, color, shape or finish. The purpose of our exercise was to observe how bead choices affect the overall character of the design.

My stitch for this challenge is right angle weave and the design is the very chic O. Mosaic Cuff from Rachel Nelson Smith's Seed Bead Fusion. My first cuff is five rows wide in blue pewter and sterling silver size 15 Japanese charlottes. Bright Cobalt is the star of this cuff with accents of the not-quite-gray, not-quite silver Aluminum. Light and delicate, the cut surfaces of the charlottes shimmer metallic on the wrist and give this cuff a definite special-occasion quality. Rachel offers several design options for the cuff and I took this one directly from the pages of her book.

Still the O. Mosaic pattern, but for my second piece, I came up with my own design variation. Color blocking and round size 11 seed beads make this version instantly more casual. I went bi-tonal with the Aluminum, weaving in a matte and a metallic shade with the classic blue. At four rows wide, it's the same width as the charlotte version, but the slightly larger beads, smooth surfaces, and combination of finishes make this cuff appear much heavier.

I'm just starting my third design. At three rows of size 15's, it will be a skinny version. The blue is royal, the silver-gray is understated, and I think the minimal matte-metallic gold is really going to pop!

This has been a fun and very enlightening exploration of bead choices and how they impact the finished design. Many thanks to Christine and Therese for continuing to challenge all of us. (I, for one, am hoping there will be more!) I hope you'll have time to check out the work of all the participating designers:

Hosts:

Therese

Christine

Participants

Kim

Maryanne

Lola

Dagi

Shirley

LiliKrist

Amy

Crystie

Sally

Cynthia

Bobbie

LizE

Becky Pancake

Karin G.

Ana

Wendy

Mary H.

Jasvanti