Bead Inspiration Through Embroidery

I'm always looking at other art and crafts as a source of inspiration.  Recently, I found this lovely blog by Mary Corbet, which offers free patterns, videos and tips & tricks.  I love beautiful needlework and wish that I had the patience to learn it, but instead, I buy it, receive it as gifts (that's what my sis used to do for me), or admire it from afar.

But meanwhile, I'll use some of the lovely patterns as inspiration.  I think this one is made for beads.  It's a great exercise in stringer control, layering dots and surface embellishment.  You could even take it a step further and make the leaves and flowers in murrine.  If you already tend to use these patterns, let us know your sources, if you don't mind sharing.  Google is my usual first stop.

See you tomorrow!

Shoes- Patterns, Textures...Mix It Up!

Daily, I receive an email from Endless.com, advertising their shoes du jour. Now, how I can survive this punishment and avoid going broke while perusing all the enticing shoes is beyond me.

But practicing meditation and maturity, I try to look at the ads through an artistic eye, instead of the "I wish/want" point of view. Which brings me to the focus of today's blog.

Did you happen to see how many stripe/line/color patterns and textures are on this particular model by Marc Jacobs? Wow!

And of course, I look at it as how does it relate to beads? (Can't help myself)

So all the colors, patterns, textures... just how do they relate to glass? I'm not sure exactly. But what I did notice, was that I like the smooth and woven texture together- which could be interpreted through stamps or even acid etched glass with some part of the smooth glass reserved. And the four different stripe patterns-did you notice how that caramel color unifies them? Have you made anything in glass (or another medium) that would be an interpretation of the multi patterns and textures? If so, post a link in the comments section. We'd all love to take a peek.

And I'll see you tomorrow, same time, same place...http://www.StudioMarcy.blogspot.com

From Design Pattern to Bead

Well my ongoing creativity workshop, Finding Your Voice (my group is called "people who just won't leave", had an assignment a couple of weeks ago, that I thought might be interesting for all of you to try. I think it relates to other art forms other than just beadmaking.

We had to click on "random" under patterns on the Colour Lovers website that I recently mentioned. Then we had to interpret a bead from whatever design we received.

I was really happy to get this pattern because I've always loved paisleys, but knew it was far too complicated to
interpret the entire picture on one bead. I needed to
simplify and distill the main element out of it. Which of course was easy, because it was the same design made into a pattern.

I had to decide how many paisley elements I wanted and pondered between 1 and 3. It came down to, what would look best? Because I wasn't sure how intricate I would make them and how small I could make them, I chose just one.

I needed a deep green that had yellow in it for the base and a lighter bright green as well as aqua. That was easy too. Unfortunately, I didn't have the original with me and my memory didn't work. (that will teach me), the main teardrop shape should have been aqua and I would have liked it better. As Doris Day used to sing, "Que Sera Sera" (what will be, will be). And if I were ever making it again, (we're only allowed one shot in class), I would add more detail and contrast to my bead. This bead is about .8" tall, so I would stick to between one and three paisley designs on it still. (By the way, I put mod dots on the back- kept it to the 60's vibe)

And again, if I were making the bead one more time, I'd want to reconsider the shape of the bead. Would a flattened bicone be more interesting? If so, how would the paisley design be laid out? What about a large lentil with more of them on it? So the question of the day is, what shape would you make it and how would you interpret this design? I'd love to hear your opinion.

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.