Trollbeads Design Challenge: Day 9

Phew!  It’s a relief to be back into colour!

Today I built a bracelet around a unique armadillo that has very similar colouring to the legendary “Green Lilac Armadillo” from the Tibet series…

I placed the peacock toned armadillo unique at the very heart of the bracelet, and then built out from there.  I’m delighted by the effect of framing it with the two “Feather” beads – one unique in shades of light blue and lilac and the other a production “Blue Green Feather”.  The “African Amethyst” and “Canadian Jade” balance each other

quite perfectly.  When I was picking an Amethyst I bucked common wisdom by choosing a misty grey one.  The dark, perfectly clear ones are undoubtedly better quality stone, but as you can see from this bracelet, a soft greyed grape tone works much better with the misty colours of my collection.  After the pair of stones I placed a pair of “Bubbles”.

One of the bubbles is a very intense, very green “Organic Bubbles”.  The other is a lovely, light coloured “Azure Bubbles”.  We see so many beautiful beads and I can’t take them all home…. but this one I simply  couldn’t resist!  It seems to work with everything.

As I grew closer to the end of the bracelet I tried to calm the colours down a little, so that the centre portion with the armadillo and the dichroic glass could really shine.

C.

Trollbeads Design Challenge: Day 8

Day 8: Another Surprise

So.  here’s a surprise… I have a really *really* hard time making up a Trollbeads bracelet with all silvers.  I set out to showcase some of my quirkier silver bead designs, such as the “Brandenburg Gate”, “Clown” and “Playing Cards”.  Not silvers that just blend in… but ones that I love for all different reasons.

My first thought was to do all silvers – all different shapes and sizes, and perhaps to use smaller silvers inbetween the big ones to offer the eye a rest between the large images.  But no… I put it all on there and it just felt all wrong.  I know I’m not supposed to overthink it, and perhaps I should have just worn it to see if I got used to it…

But somehow  I just couldn’t imagine wearing it all day.  So then I thought I’d add just a few totally neutral, mostly shades of white, glass and amber beads…. just to give the eye the calm space between the silver images.  Well, long story short, you can see how well I adhered to those rigid guidelines.  How do you like my all white and silver bracelet?

There are just too many beautiful colours to play with…

All kidding aside, I do feel as though this exercise has shown me a few of my own design weaknesses, and I know I will return to that playtray and try again and again with all silvers until I discover how I can make that idea work for me.  Meanwhile, today I am enjoying this calm palette, which showcases the subtle shades of the natural stones.

This time I tried placing each side of the “Bead of Fortune” on either end of the bracelet, to “cap” the ends… You may be curious what the earthy, striped bead is that is shown above?  You’ll notice that it is an artisan bead with no silver core.  It was purchased as a gift for me at the studio of Scott Bouwens, the glass designer who created the Rocky Beach kit for Trollbeads.  In person it has an iridescent sheen to it that is fascinating.

Day 8.  Silvers, this isn’t over between you and me.  I’ll be back…

C.

 

Trollbeads Design Challenge: Day 7

Happy Father’s Day!

Wow!  We’ve made it through the whole first week!  Today it’s a day of relaxation for me… the gallery is closed, and I am spending today with family, and of course honouring all the special Dads in our life… (Especially my own dear husband, Greg!)  It’s a good day for a casual leather, with fun colours and just a few beads.

I decided to try a new twist on my usual approach to designing with the leather bracelet.  One most often sees it with the beads scattered around its strands.  I often wear mine quite full, as a choker necklace… or sometimes use it to help build a very long and dramatic, opera length necklace.  (I must remember to show that to you.  It’s amazing.)  By the way, leather bracelets like this are verrry yummy on a guy, especially with just a few well chosen, chunky silvers.  However, not to get distracted, here.. today I decided to make a surf style wrap bracelet, with neat lines of focal beads.

With only a few beads in play, I chose some designs that I often find tricky to integrate into larger compositions.  The retired “Green Armadillo” is a wonderful acid green, but it can dominate my subtle and soft collection.  However, its energy is well matched by the retired “Turquoise Armadillo”.  The “Christmas in Australia” limited edition nestled between them ties the whole palette together.  The “Small and Beautiful”, teal feather unique at top left is a treasured gift from a Trollbeads friend in Virginia… thank you again, LM, I love it so.

Give your special Dads big hugs today! If your own Dad isn’t around to hug anymore, maybe just lift a glass of something special in his memory and take a few minutes to remember…

C.

Trollbeads Design Challenge: Day 6

A Happy Accident

Today’s bracelet is inspired by the happy accident of some beads’ placement on the play tray.  This morning I disassembled yesterday’s bracelet as usual, and grouped beads roughly according to colour.  When I glanced down at the rods with their neat cohorts of glass, my eye fell on a deliciously sparkling combination.

My eyes love to play across the sparkles

Now that I’ve seen these three beads together I can’t believe I’ve never created a bracelet using this exact combination.  I’ve owned all these beads for years!  I must have played with multiple deserts before, for clients’ compositions, but never on my own.  The rest of the bracelet followed so naturally, it was designed and strung in minutes.

Familiar, yet fresh thanks to the sparkling center portion featuring “Pink Desert”, “Golden Cave” and “Brown Desert”.  I’ve seen older examples of “Golden Cave” that were soft and tawny versions of this bead, with hardly any bronze and lots of smooth, metallic lilac toned gold.  They are stunning and I feel like I missed out by not finding one sooner.  Perhaps one day I will stumble across one.  It’s all part of the allure of Trollbeads.

I couldn’t wait to wear this design

C.

Trollbeads Design Challenge: Day 5

Day 5

Today I had an urge to combine light blue, warm claret and lilac.  It’s an unlikely combination that I toyed with briefly when composing the dramatically different, Day 3 Bahamas bracelet.  Seeing the light blue and bright orange near to each other in that design made me see the potential for a softer pairing of the same colour families.

A few key beads were very helpful in trying to make this palette “gel”.  My very forgiving “Azure Bubbles” in the centre portion of the design has every possible colour hidden in it.  It’s always useful for making a scattered composition feel cohesive.

“Golden Cave” is a keystone bead here as well, with it’s lilac background and garnet tinged metallic bronze.  The feathered unique shown at right is a real treasure, and in this design the lilac and blue stripes help to pull together the palette.

These three beads are where the magic happens for me:  a perfect, warm and light blue… framed by rich and clear garnet tones.  On the right is the retired “Silver Bead with Garnets” and on the left is another fortunate find, a faceted unique amber.  I’ve found so many uses for this versatile bead, often placing it with pinks and peaches.

I would definitely make up a combination using these colours again… it’s easy to wear with most of the colours in my wardrobe, and there’s just something about the colour combination that is pleasing to my eyes.

Whatever will I do for day 6?

C

 

Trollbeads Design Challenge: Day 4

Day 4

As day four rolls around I am feeling a little fuzzy, after a whirlwind of a day yesterday.  I am in the mood for something comfortable and familiar, with a touch of decisive clarity.

The result is familiar teals and greens, with a hint of crisp white and black to give it some snap.  I began as I begin so many of my favorite bracelets, by reaching for my beloved “Silver Mountain”.  It was my very first bead, and it is still my favorite.

I didn’t want to stay in the light blue tones, so I added rich teals such as this retired “Blue Green Feather”, one of the “Christmas in Australia” series, a green lilac armadillo lookalike unique, and a very green “Organic Bubbles”.  My new “Canadian Jade” grounds it nicely with a deep rich green which is echoed in the lustre of my limited edition “Peacock Pearl”.  So far most of these combinations were well within my usual comfort zone, and might have appeared on any number of bracelets over the years.

However, with the addition of the “Black Spot” and “White Steel” it took on a fresh appearance.  This reminds me a little bit of a Summer fantasy necklace that I made up for myself last year, one day at the beach.  It was inspired by a beautifully worn, crisp blue and white quilt, and featured my tricky-to-use World Tour “Sakura” bead.

 

 

 

 

 

Perhaps it’s the memory of that quilt that makes this feel comfortable yet crisp?

This feels just right for today…

C.

Trollbeads Design Challenge: Day 3

“Travelers’ Bliss”, by Sara Morison

Today is the opening celebration for the art of Sara Morison at Tartooful… we’ll be having a glass of champagne with the artist at the gallery tonight between 5 and 8pm, and would love it if you all came and joined us and enjoyed her lovely art.

Day 3

With Sara’s amazing palette of colour in my head today my bracelet reflects her art… This combination makes my heart sing, but it’s very different from the bracelets that I usually design!

I feel as though today I finally let go of some of my preconceptions about what my bracelet design ought to look or feel like.  I tried here to break through some of my design guidelines and simply make something that felt right just for today.  I reached for bright, clear colours that reflect the joyful palette of Sara Morison’s art.

Turquoise and softer shades of warm blues are a must for this bracelet, so I placed them in the center of the design.  The individual beads were chosen for their simplicity of pattern and clear colour.

Most of the colour groupings are anchored with a brilliantly toned armadillo.  Although I love these beads, I often find them too bold for my usual subtle compositions.  It’s a real treat to bring them out to play!

Ordinarily I prefer to sprinkle the various colours of a bracelet design more or less evenly around its span.  Here I have grouped each family of colour:  blue, pink, green, orange and lilac.  Clearly my collection is lacking orange and yellow!

I wanted the bracelet to feature modern blocks or chunks of colour, rather than a tapestry effect.  For silvers I chose sculptural forms such as the “Spot”, “Smiling Cylinder” and “Cells”.  The “Neither Fish Nor Bird, Large” and “Waves” were a nod to the aquatic life of the Bahamas that inspired Sara’s recent art series.

This is not your typical Tartooful Bracelet!

What fun it was to build today’s bracelet… a total departure for me, I broke all kinds of my own rules!  Prisms tucked into the middle of the composition, finishing on one silver and one glass, not perfectly balanced, colours all blocked together… and still so pretty.  It feels so liberating to simply design in the moment.

If you’d like to see this bracelet while it is still all together, come by tonight for a glass of champagne with Sara Morison and us at the gallery, between 5 and 8pm.  As the gallery will be open until late, we plan to open a little later than usual at noon.  Hope to see lots of you there!

C.