You don't have to know me well to know that bling and sparkling crystals aren't my absolute favourite thing. Now, I can like a little sparkle and you can find charlottes and (lots of) fire-polished beads in my stash. As well as crystal rivolis. But it's rarely the sparkle itself I'm after buying crystal beads, it's the colour. There are so many colours and finishes I love. And that's the reason why I bought these beads last year. Don't use bicones that often, but the colour -- cyclamen opal satin -- just spoke to me.
I like how the satin effect (aka hematite) darkens the cyclamen opal and makes it more purple. Originally the colour is a sort of pink lavender as you can see here. I was sceptical about whether I'd like it IRL and to this day I have only seen it in a tiny 6 mm rivoli pendant. But the satin version grab my attention as soon as I saw it.
As I don't use crystal bicones that often these beads -- like most of the crystals in my stash -- are still waiting to be used. Until then I'll just hoard them, pick them up sometimes and enjoy the beauty of them.
Guess what? This second photo is the same colour as above. To acheive this effect, I lite the beads from below. You can often get a different colour by back lighting opal glass and also glass with certain finishes (try holding up a 2xab bead against the sun/a strong lamp). This colour was a bit unexpected, but it's also a shade I like and so I opted to include it here eventhough it looks very different from what the bead will normally look like.
Lovely crystals. I didn't know what to do with my crystals before I started making beaded beads. (I just used to admire my treasures).One bead on silk ribbon makes a necklace fit for a queen. Or a night out feeling like a princess. I do admire the elaborate jewellery talented artists create nearly completely out of crystals, but it is seldom possible to wear that kind of jewellery here where I live. And crystals are very expensive. When I saw a picture of a beaded bead for the first time, I knew there was no way going back. Milka
ReplyDeleteYes, beaded beads can be a lot of fun (not that I've done any lately). And I like that it's often a good way to evolve you own designs, starting with a basic weave and then adding embellishments. Kind of the same way I've used my RAW rivoli bezels.
DeleteStill prefer my f-p, but sometimes you just have to use the angular bicones to get the right shape so I guess it's always good to have a small stash laying around for when inspiration hits. As for other shapes, well, they're often much more expensive so like so many I mostly have bicones even if it's not the favourite shape...
Hi, I usually buy crystals with coatings (like the ones you show here).This makes the crystals look mysterious. Colors that cannot be described in words. I also love fire polished beads.They have more shimmer than sparkle to them. As do crystals with coatings. I love to play with beads, like you do here. Milka
DeleteI loved the above crystals too much! I love beading gemstone jewelries an often make necklaces and bracelets. I would love to make a beautiful bracelet with opal beads after having your blog. Thanks for sharing this inspiring post.
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