Artbeads.com: The Pantone Colours of Fall 2010

Another Artbeads.com project is here!  If you've read previous posts about Pantone Inc. on this blog, you'll be familiar with their importance in the fashion industry in the definition and language of colour.  The tools available from Pantone are a wealth of resources for fashion designers, interior decorators, paint manufacturers and many other facets of art and design.  Pantone Inc. releases a palpable colour palate every season, coinciding with fashion collections, interior design trends and visual art applications and receive feedback "on prominent collection colors, color inspiration, color philosophy" and signature shades of featured designers.  Take a look at this season's colour palate, featuring a great mix of warm, cool, earth and jewel tones!

So many possibilities when I looked at these colours!  My mind had went wild with the matches and combinations that I could use in these projects.  I had purchased a couple of bronze and gold-plated chain necklaces from Value Village, a local thrift department store, to repurposed into these pieces.  I had also purchased these ball headpins from snapcrafty on Etsy for this project to add some special detail.  There's also a pair of earrings and a few that had lost their mates, a store-bought necklace, fabric appliques from an old shirt and a few other little surprises!

After a little fun with Color Scheme Designer 3 for some inspiration on colour combinations (a great tool when you have an inspiration block, or don't know what to pair those fabulous beads you just got with), I had a great time strolling through Artbeads.com with lots of ideas in mind.  With so many choices in beads and components, I had a hard time narrowing down selections. After finally deciding, I had realized most of my choices came from the Limited Edition selections, which will make these pieces all the more enticing and one-of-a-kind!  Most, if not all, of these beads used in these pieces will no longer be available from the site, but I do insist you take a look - you just may find that 'rare gem' your signature piece can't be without!  Beautiful coloured glass, vintage elements, resin rings and detailed pendants all fit into the bill for this colour-inspired collection.

The Beauty of Spring With Artbeads.com!

Ooooh, spring is around the corner!  Can you feel it?

Artbeads.com has presented our most excellent creative blogging team with showcasing the Beauty of Spring with their fantastic array of products!  Spring is a beautiful season, full of rebirth, colour and sunlight, a wonderful and deserving muse for what we're about to produce!

So, it had me thinking - what is my favourite image of spring?  What's the one thing I look forward to when I know spring is about to arrive?  I walk to work almost every day, trying to stick to the scenic route (unless I'm running late, I've got a few shortcuts) along bikepaths and through parks.  Lately with the balmy weather, I've traded in the heavy winter jacket with a lighter cropped cordouroy jacket, perfect for warmer weather.  As I look about the park and through the bare trees, I see them - the small buds along the branches that will erupt into leafy greens and pink blossoms!  That perfect pale green shines much brighter on a sunny day, and it makes me so anxious for picnics and bikerides and long hours outside.  Green has always been a 'power colour' of mine, and I'm really excited to bring a 'green' collection!

The 'Green Awaits' collection focuses on these beautiful limited supply of Lemon Chrysophrase chips in a beautiful pale green.  Their jagged, unique shapes give a beautiful image of how each leaf on a tree is different from the next.   The premature buds, using Czech glass Bellflowers in Lemon Lime and fuschia glass rondelles add a little taste of what we'll expect to blossom and grow as we go deeper and deeper into the season and watch things grow!  Inspirations of vines, trees and blossoms are evokes with the sterling silver and resin Summer Oak pendant in lime green and the curving separator bars.  These pieces will be available for sale on my Etsy shop - well, maybe not everything quite yet.  I think I'll need to show these off first!

Green Awaits earrings

Guitar Rings!

I love statement and cocktail rings.  I've been wearing more and more of them now, and was struck with a really interesting idea.  Armed with some antiqued brass adjustable ring settings I bought from snapcrafty.etsy.com and some felt appliques, I've got a pretty good idea going here.  Take a look!

Gibson Guitar ring, no. 1

Gibson Guitar ring, no. 2

Gibson Guitar ring, no. 3

Gibson Guitar ring, no. 4

I have a few different guitar catalogues from work and a bunch of different images that can be captured underneath these glass bubbles.  I'll have these up in my Etsy shop in time for International Guitar Month - April!

Photography credit: Cassandra Watsham

Lookit! New Beads!

Being swayed by new visions of cleverness, I hit some of the shops on Etsy that provided nothing but the most gorgeous beads and findings - and nothing short of!  Check out these fantastic beads from these fantastic sellers!

Snow White Czech glass flowers, floridaangel.etsy.com

Czech glass in rose, floridaangel.etsy.com

green Czech pressed glass beads, floridaangel.etsy.com

vintage feather charms, snapcrafty.etsy.com

vintage plastic filigree beads, snapcrafty.etsy.com

ruffled grey rose cabochons, snapcrafty.etsy.com

ruffled jet black rose cabochons, snapcrafty.etsy.com

antique brass adjustable rings, snapcrafty.etsy.com

antique brass scarab pendant, snapcrafty.etsy.com

vintage warrior cabochon, waytobead.etsy.com

vintage German lucite conch shells, waytobead.etsy.com

Amber Floral Pandora lampwork bead, beadcrazed.etsy.com

Just you wait and see what I do with these!  I've got upcoming project ideas for the next Artbeads.com sponsored project, as well as some new items to go up in my Etsy shop!  You'll get the first look right here, real soon!

Photographs courtesy of mentioned shops.