Working with the greyscale -- or, I love matte findings

A while back I won the October-November Monthly Challenge at the UK Beaders Forum with my Rowanberries bracelet. You can see my bracelet and read the story behind it in the UK Beaders blog. Apart from the honor of being voted Artist of the Month, I also got to pick beads and findings for 10 £ from Jencel.co.uk. In the photo above, you can see some of the things I picked out.

I just love matte metal so I quickly got both beads and findings in matte silverplate. The antiqued finish give them a lovely grey, not as white as some matted bright silverplated findings I have. Andk then I found the greyish matte alexandrite flat drops with peacock spots. Normally I more or less hate spots, but these I like. Alexandrite changes colour in different lights so while they are more colourless and almost grey in natural light, they turn a pretty lilac in the halogen lights I used when taking the picture.

Not sure what I'm going to do with the mix. Perhaps I want to add a little more colour, e.g. spacer beads, or else I'll stick to the predominantly grey palette.



These silvergrey items is not the only matte findings I own. This year Panduro Hobby has enlarged their supply of matte black findings. They even have several styles of clasps, more than the ones in my pic. Unlike the grey findings, these are totally opaque, coated with pigments rather than having a dull metal-plating. Love them! If I want black metal findings, I prefer these so much more than shinier alternatives (black zink). If I want shiny, I go for a dark gunmetal/antrachite instead.