The Importance of Background Colors

I'm using these three pieces of fabric to illustrate how much difference your bead's background color makes.

 Each one gives you a very different feeling, even with the exact same pattern on them.

Do you feel that to get stuck in a rut by using the same colors all the time? If so, what can you do to 

change things up a bit?  Besides being conscious of what you're doing, how about considering the time of year it is?  Different colors tend to be bought during different seasons.  And as I'm sure you know, we're headed into the red and pink season right now.

These three fabrics also help show which colors stand out more against each background.  We've always heard that complementary colors show up best against each other.  The green background, makes the red/coral colors really show up.  And the darker red background, makes the bright white rice really pop.  

I've been making sushi beads for years.  And after comparing these three fabrics, I know that at shows, I'll be displaying them against a green fabric.  These background colors really are important for a variety of reasons.  

When I'm debating colors for a pattern or combination, sometimes I'll make just a quick little donut bead with the colors together on it.  I don't bother annealing it, because I want to see it right away.  I just carefully lay it down (far enough away from me in case it breaks) on my work table.  When it's cool, I can see if my colors are what I want.  Sometimes I notice that there's a reaction that I don't want or the colors don't look as well together as I had planned.  This can be a great time saver in the long run for you.

Now get out there and mix it up a bit.  Let's see what you can do to make your colors stand out and be the superstars they're meant to be.