Ombre beadplay is always a fun little design project…
Casting an eye over our selection of uniques today I noticed that we have an absolutely marvelous collection of raspberry pinks in stock at the moment. I decided to have a bit of a play with them, but thought I’d give the design a little twist and try my hand at a crimson-to-pale pink ombre composition….
This collection of beads are wonderful, rich shades of soft blush pink through raspberry and down into a deep, satisfying crimson. Add an absolutely dazzling array of pattern and texture, and no matter how this composition came
together it was bound to be a fantastic bracelet. I really think that with these beads it would be impossible to make the bracelet look anything but gorgeous.
The most essential tool when designing this sort of bracelet is definitely a play tray… I string the beads onto the rod to find just the right placement for each bead. Often I’ll think I know just where a bead “belongs” in the ombre gradation – and then when I slot it in, it becomes apparent that it really looks better a little to the right or left.
At the two extreme ends of this bracelet design you’ll find some of the opaque unique beads that are such a delight to true collectors. The rich red and glittery one shown above has actually been tempting me for my own collection! So luxe and utterly delicious. At the other end of the bracelet be sure to note the beads that have elegantly formed flowers traced on milk glass backgrounds. These have been such a lovely fresh addition to the design oeuvre of glass Trollbeads uniques. I’d love to see an entire bracelet made up of these delicate beauties.
I knew that I wouldn’t allow many silvers to find their way onto this bracelet design…. partly because the fun of an ombre is to see how the colours relate to each other, gently transitioning from one shade to the next. It was also in large part because there were simply too many gorgeous beads that I wished to include in the composition! However, the overall effect is much more effective with a little silver to break up the colour blocks and allow the eye a spot to pause and rest. In the end I selected a few highly ornate silvers that were up to the task of matching the drama of their glass companions.
Both the silver and the glass elements in this composition are like a confection for the eye…
Clockwise from clasp: “Lace Lock”, All Glass beads uniques. Silvers: “Spiritual Ornament”, “Elderflowers”, “Spiritual Adornment”, “Wine Harvest”.
C.
I adore cranberry red, even more so when combined with other saturated tones such as raspberry, pink, coral, goldenrod yellow – or in this case all of them! It’s a “Singapore sling” bracelet with juicy sunset colours that range from soft pink and peach down into egg yolk yellow, raspberry, tomato red and claret. These riotous colours all play together nicely, partly because they are all in the warm red family, but also because the textures and patterns of the glass are of a similar complexity and mood.
To begin, the hours of daylight are very slightly different. For those of you who live closer to the waist of the earth, that may not sound like headline news, but for those of us who are farther North, light, or more properly, the lack of it, is a daily conversation. Through the darkest weeks of the year, the sun doesn’t rise until eight in the morning, and has disappeared again by four-thirty in the afternoon. Here it is, only a month past the Winter solstice and already the sun has relented just enough to light the way to school for the kids. It’s a happy thing!
We’re not the only ones that have noticed that the light is starting to come back to our side of the Earth… It’ll sound funny, but the squirrels about the neighborhood are showing the first signs of Spring Fever! I watched out the kitchen window last weekend, laughing out loud, as what seemed like wild herds of Squirrels scurried back and forth across the front veranda. I’m not sure what they were doing, (what happens in the front yard, stays in the front yard) … but whatever it was, it involved a lot of frantic chasing, fluffing of tails and chattering.
Meanwhile, Our elderly cat, Cookie was keeping a close eye on their dodgy proceedings, hustling determinedly along behind them each time they crossed the porch. I would be concerned for the squirrels safety, but fortunately Cookie no longer poses any real threat to the garden creatures.
showy, looking for all the world like microscopic displays of fireworks. Everywhere that I look I see the promise of flowers to come. In the case of the snowdrops, promise is perhaps the wrong word – they are already up, out and in full bloom. The Crocus won’t be far behind, though they seem to pop out of the ground already in bloom, as if they think they’re running late. The Tulips are pushing their lush green leaves out the soil, as are the daffodils, hyacinths and even daylilies! I expected to see the Spring bulbs up and around, but I was surprised to see the Summer ones too.
Well, here we are in the very busiest time of year… the gallery is hopping with holiday shoppers, the streets are bustling, and the sound of live music can be heard drifting through the Village. Most of us are dashing from one errand to another, busily preparing our homes for the upcoming gatherings, and attending various holiday celebrations that are already underway. It can all be a little overwhelming… but it’s part of the rhythm of the seasons and what fun to have a such a joyful time as this in the very darkest time of year.
This Autumn 2015 series has intrigued, delighted and, at times baffled us at Tartooful. On the one hand the designs are absolutely gorgeous – exactly the sort of subtle, natural tones with which we love to play. On the other hand, we are, at times, hard pressed to determine which bead is which – many of the designs can mimic each other in their extreme forms! Rainbow of luck, Power of Hope and Shades of peace are close relations. No matter – we love them, whatever their names are…. (“A bead by any other name would look as sweet…”)
Today I teased together a soft and pretty plum, grey and celadon composition that is designed to be that moment of calm… While it could be seen as hinting at the Spring to come, the subtly earthy tone of the plum, makes me think that this could be an all season bracelet. I’ve included “Pink Conch” in the crew, as it is surely a cousin to the “Balance” family. Recently the “Pink Conch” examples that we have been receiving have a lovely olive tone to the stripes that open up new possibilities for that already lovely design.
I’ve included generous helpings of sparkle in this bracelet – nearly half of the beads in the design are ones that dance with gold. For me, a large part of the appeal of this bracelet is the way these subtle colours play with each other. On the other hand, I think that without the contrast of the deeply patterned silvers, the distinctive texture of the natural stones, and the brilliant light of the “Dichroic Ice”… it might be too homogenous and fall a little flat. I’ve found that before when trying to design with all deserts or all azures – they are lovely but they benefit from the addition of contrast.
tartooful 