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!

Spotlight on Strawberries

I was thinking about my childhood and came across a memory of going strawberry picking every June in a place near where I used to live. It was a big field, where you could just roam around with a little basket and pick your own strawberries. The place had a huge strawberry shaped balloon that would fly high above the field~ you can see it from a ways away while you were driving. That's what I remember most about picking strawberries~ the balloon! In honor of my childhood memory, I went looking for beautiful things that have a strawberry theme to them.

This art print is handmade by LaBerge (http://www.laberge.etsy.com/). I really love the details of each berry, and their vivid color!

Ah... soooo cute. This is a strawberry felted doll necklace handmade by Rosemary4Remembrance(http://www.rosemary4remembrance.etsy.com/). I am really loving the adorable face!

This beautifully photographed soap, handmade by savor (http://www.savor.etsy.com/) , is entitled Strawberry Rhubarb Pie. I love the vibrant pink coloring...and well, it looks good enough to eat!

These earrings are from me, cymbaline84 (www.cymbaline84.etsy.com). I made them with my childhood memory in mind. I love how the brass and the bright red really go together.

A New Lariat

I had off from work tonight~ the perfect opportunity to sit down and create something! I came up with a new lariat necklace. It is inspired by a pair of earrings I have in my shop, sporting these wonderful bright brass daisy shaped bead caps. I have added white freshwater pearls onto gold plated chain to create a simple necklace~ the necklace, measuring about 18 inches, is threaded through the gold toned ring that is worn in the front, and therefore doesn't have a clasp.

This is the pair of earrings that this is inspired from~

Cooling Aquas

Fall might be here, but it's pretty close to being in the thirties out right now outside my window. I am already looking ahead to snow. I am for skipping for now the warmth and spice of autumn's colors and turning to the crisp cooler (colder!) side of the color spectrum. One of my favorite colors from that side of the spectrum is aqua blue. The lighter blues are used in interior decorating to bring a serenity to a room. I have comprised a list of a few of my finds, spotlighting Etsy artists who also pay homage to this calming color.

Not only do I love the muted tone of aqua used this soap, I also love the way it was photgraphed. The white background makes the color of this picture really pop! This soap is called Caribbean SpearMist, and it is handmade by AngelBellaBody (http://www.angelbellabody.etsy.com/)

It is a goat's milk soap, scented with Spearamint essential oils and sprinkled with rose hips on the top.

This print, handmade by OrangeWillow (http://www.orangewillow.etsy.com/) , has crisp lines and a bold color scheme. I love the details of the petals. The aqua hued background is perfect! It is another one of my favorite ways to create aqua, with a bit of gray mixed in, to make it more muted. This is entitled "Petal Dreams". It is a perfect size, 8.5" X 11", and would look so sharp with a black frame.

The pendant on this gorgeous genuine sea glass makes me thirsty... perhaps it is the refreshing color, a bit warmer tone of aqua that the previous two pictures, and perhaps it is because the pendant is a bottle top that was weathered by the sea. I love how this photograph was taken, it really shows the clear details of the pendant, and its vivid color. This necklace was handmade by seaglassdesigns (http://www.seaglassdesigns.etsy.com/) .

This aqua brings us back to the more muted aqua hues of the color spectrum. A wonderful piece of pottery that incorporates earthen browns, reds, and greens. This piece was handmade by redhotpottery, (http://www.redhotpottery.etsy.com/). It is perfectly sized to serve soup in, which is a wonderful thing this time of year. Personally I love eating soup out of pottery mugs, as opposed to eating it out of bowls~ they have handles so they can be held while you are curled up on the couch..wrapped up in a warm blanket. Did I mention it was very cold out right now? :)

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.

Necklaces

I used to be a huge fan of making necklaces. I stopped for a time, because I wasn't entirely satisfied with them. I also had trouble taking their pictures. I recently found an awesome Etsy store, BluewaterStudio, and ordered some vibrant colored Czech beads. They really inspired me to use them in necklaces. I also found a necklace style that I love~ the lariat. I combined these beads and the lariat style to make very simple and bold necklaces. The beads are the center of attention, as their vivid colors draw the eye. I made two lariats using copper and brass chains.


























The orange beads makes me think about pumpkins, and best of all, pumpkin pie. I love the orange and the copper~ the color combination brings a lot of warmth. Brass and green are a wonderful color combination as well~ they remind me of Ireland!