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Sunday, 7 October 2012
Bits and bobs -- sunday ramblings
A sale made me buy some new beads recently. Don't know what I want to do with the beads I bought (rarely buy for projects, just go for gorgeous colours and pretty beads) and so far I've mostly made a couple of sample to test ideas and see how different bead shapes fit together.
Those 11/0s are Toho gilded marble turquoise. Not the cheapest seed bead finish, but I only regret not getting them in green too. And maybe gilded marble lavender too. I have a bad habit of falling for the more expensive seed bead and pressed-glass finishes/effects...
I really have no idea where I'm going with these samples. Will try variations of one or two of them and have some sort of thought about making a flower with the daggers and superduos.
Just to add a little colour, I took this pic below. The mottled turquoise and blue beads mixed with matte bronze sequins, which you might remember from my previous sequin posts. Realised yesterday that I need (or want, if you want to split hairs) some more matte metallic beads, especially seeds. Some of my beads just scream for matte/satin copper and (light) bronze seeds.
Putting a bead -- or in this case sequin -- in the middle of a 2-hole bead ring like the one above makes a big difference compared to keep it as an "open circle". Preciosa Ornela has a free bracelet project for something similar (using Twins, not Superduo of cause), which you can find here. So simple, so pretty!
Maybe I'll try to make my own variation of that kind of flower motif. Or maybe I'll just use it -- in a tweaked version -- as a centre of a dagger flower. Many possibilities to muse over (which might just be a way of saying "I don't have any ideas and the creativity isn't flowing today", right?).
There might be another little flower motif next week as I thought of a simple variation while writing this post. Just hope I'll find matching colours in the bead shapes/sizes I need -- that's usually my biggest problem: no matter how big the seed bead stash grows, I'm always missing the right colours in the right bead shapes and/or sizes, which makes it hard to combine beads in one design... Well, we'll just have to see what I find in the stash tonight, won't we?
Envy! Not a nice feeling, but those beads are so lovely and I don't have them. Not to mention those gorgeous sequins. Your samples make the beads look even better. The Twins flower project is really sweet, I'm going to try it for a pendant.
ReplyDeleteLove those beads, the colours and finishes look perfect. The samplers are just beautiful. The double rows of daggers look so organic.,please let us know, if you make any projects with these designs.
ReplyDeleteThanks! I agree, it's pretty beads and I'm glad I got them even if my wallet isn't.
ReplyDeleteHaven't finished the "doubled daggers" piece yet. Thinking about ways to finish it. Also haven't finished the variation of the round motif now that the smocking got in the way, but I have a little idea I want to try so hopefully more pics soon.