Colour conundrums!

I heard recently that the issue of Bead magazine that Maid Marian's Quiver is scheduled for, is going to be a 'colour special' and so I have been doing a lot of thinking about colour.  Of course I often think about colour when choosing beads for a new project, but this time I have really been questioning my approach to those choices and trying to gain some level of understanding about the use of colour.  I think I have said before, that I am not a natural when it comes to choosing colours.  I know what I like to look at and what appeals to me, but when it comes to actually choosing the right beads for a project, well, I struggle.  I think I am beginning to realise that the form of the beadwork could be more exciting to me than the colour.  When I have an idea for a new project, I first envisage the shape, the stitches that might work and the mechanics of creating that piece and that's when I can't wait to get started.  The next step usually involves rummaging around my bead drawers, pulling out a main colour that would probably work and then struggling to find something that I think goes with it.  This stage often takes far too long for my liking and can dull my enthusiasm, and for me, it doesn't seem to be getting any easier with practice.  All this thinking has given me a few ideas regarding the use of colour in beadwork though, so if you want to know what they are, make sure you get your copy of the April 2010 issue of Bead magazine!

On the subject of Bead magazine, issue 19 is now available and has my Mistletoe Earrings project on page 12, a picture of Maid Marian's Quiver on page 81 and a sneak preview of my Pearls In The Net project on page 119.

Staying with colour, I managed to create a couple of Etsy treasuries at the end of last week.  One was to showcase the work of some of my fellow Etsy Midlanders teammates, and the other was just for the fun of it.  I always like to have some kind of theme for my treasuries and so this time, colour was the obvious choice!

Right, that's it for this week and now it's back to the beads and racking my brain about what goes together and what doesn't.  Let me know your thoughts on using colour and whether you find choosing colours plain sailing or like me, feel that sometimes it can be the hardest part of beading ...

Crazy Daisies!

Not much exciting new beadwork to show you this week I'm afraid, just a little pair of earrings I've made as a present to myself to match a new top. They really are as bright and colourful as the picture shows and I call them my Crazy Daisies! The centre is a hot pink Miracle Bead and the petals use a sparkling shade of lilac lined cylinder beads.

I also wanted to tell you about the new issue of Bead magazine that is out this week. This is the third anniversary issue and there is an interesting 'Where are they now?' article which looks back at some of the artists that have been featured since the magazine started. It's fascinating to read what having their profile in this internationally available magazine meant to the various designers and how their work has evolved since that time. My profile originally appeared in issue 12 of the magazine and was quite a bold move for me. Here is what I said in my profile update - click on the picture to enlarge it (used with kind permission of Ashdown).

My mistletoe earrings are also shown in the 'coming next issue' section of the magazine and although I have shown them in this blog before, I've added a refresher picture below. That reminds me, there will be no new blog entry for the next 2 to 3 weeks, but if you click on the links under 'Blog Archive' there are 63 previous posts - feel free to make yourself at home and have a look back through my beading history. I hope to have some pretty new pictures to share with you before too long ♥

The love and loss of leaves!

Although it's a crisp sunny day here today, things have been a bit gloomy now that all the deciduous trees have lost their leaves. I still struggle to come to terms with the contrast between the lushness of my garden in June and the bare black branches in December.

In fact, the view from my window for several days this week was so miserable, that it inspired me to do something about it and cheer myself up by making my own leaves!

Most of my beadwork has a nature theme and I've made lots and lots of different flowers over the past few years, so why not leaves? Of course my first attempt at leaves was Olive Earrings which was published in Beadwork magazine earlier this year, but this week I have 'branched out' and created Willow Earrings and some very festive Mistletoe Earrings!

I now have a pair of leafy earrings swinging merrily from my ears and I feel much happier - hmmmm, do you think I might be bordering on the eccentric?