A Study in Color

Berry Martini Necklace
Originally uploaded by cymbaline84

I have just started to work with cabochons, after quite a while of sttering clear from them. When I first started, I used to scoff at beads that didn't have any holes in them~ what on Earth could I use them for? But I studied some ways to incorporate them into jewelry designs. In this necklace I have paired a raspberry wine hued flower cabochon with a large filigree flower. I then did something I don't normally do: matched this raspberry tone with a complimentary color, rather than something that matched it. I really love the efect! I studied a color wheel and saw that raspberry was a shade of red, which was complimentary to green. I paired this cabochon with beautiful muted olive green beads. This proves that you don't have to match things perfectly (say if I used a pink bead instead) to have a wonderful look!

Blue n' Brassy

One of my favorite reasons I love working with glass beads is the amount of colors I can work with. One of my favorite color combinations is a rich navy blue that is paired with antiqued brass. Antiqued brass has a burnished dark gold color that works so well with the dark blue. I have made a few pieces that have this.

The necklace is lariat styled, featuring a simple antiqued brass chain that ends in a cluster of navy blue flowers~ it is worn with the brass ring in the front, with the cluster threaded through it. I like how the earrings turned out~ they are bold, swinging, and dangling. These, too, end in a small cluster of flowers. I was going to go with a streamlined earring, with three flowers in a line instead of the cluster at the bottom, but I love how the cluster has more visual appeal.

I am very much inspired and in awe of costume jewelry from the past century. If anyone is interested in this subject, there is a wonderful book out there called "Fabulous Fakes" by Carole Tanenbaum. It has a gorgeous array of pieces that the author has in her collection and has included for show in this book, illuminating what women wore in the past decades.