Trollbeads Inspiration: Icelandic Poppies

Have you ever come across Icelandic Poppies?  They are charming little flowers, a subtle and delicate variety of the Papaver family.  They grow best in sub polar, boral regions and originally grew in Asia and Europe – but not Iceland.  They naturally occur in shades of white and buttery yellow, but varieties have been developed in a gorgeous, juicy array of

colours that include every shade of orange, pink and coral.  Despite the tropical feel of they colours available, they have no taste for heat, preferring gentle climates with cool winters and mild Summers.  They are a short lived perennial which will last longest in the garden if your Summers are cool.  Some people simply grown them as biennals, making the assumption that they will last about that long.

I’ve always loved these delicate little flowers, and in past years, when I have had them in the garden, I’ve often picked them to enjoy in vases.  They are such paper thin, transparent flowers that one would think that they’d wilt immediately – but unlike most poppies they do quite well, happily lasting several days.

Today’s confection of delicate, transparent colours such as coral, buttery yellow and pink is inspired by these lovely flowers…

“Dragon Lock”, “Unique Glass”, “Baltic Gold”, “Unique Glass”, “Moroccan Cushion”, “Pebbles”, “Unique Glass”, “Limited Edition Orange Agate”, “Scarab”, “Limited Edition Carnelian”, “Unique Glass”, “Limited Edition Carnelian”, “Scarab”, “Limited Edition Orange Agate”, “Unique Glass”, “Coral Bubbles”(retired), “Art Deco” (retired), “Golden Cave”, “Unique Glass”, “Copper Bead”.

All beads taken from current Tartooful stock.

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30 Day Challenge – Day 13

“…and now for something completely different…”

Today I decided it was time to kick myself a little out of my comfort zone, and try to design from a different approach.  Usually I am very much colour based in my compositions.  The silvers basically offer me a framework around which I hang all my chunks of colour.  Today I decided to be much more flexible about colour.

Instead, today I sorted out my beads into size categories, and committed to work only with my very tiniest silver and glass beads.  Of course, in the wake of the “Small and Beautiful” series, we all have some smaller beads bouncing around in our bead boxes.  I usually try to use their smaller size to advantage, and place them

close to the end of the bracelet for an attractive tapered effect.  They can also be quite handy to ensure that certain silvers are not obscured.  For instance, “Happy Fish” is even happier when placed next to a Small & Beautiful, so that all its glorious detail can be seen.  However, I don’t think that I’ve ever built an entire bracelet of

“mini beads”, and I have to say I’m surprised and delighted with the result.  Firstly, I am shocked at just how many minis there are, hiding in my collection!  I guess that one on each end of seven or eight bracelets does really add up to about a whole bracelet’s worth.  The next thing I noticed was how amazing this bracelet *feels*. 

Teeny Tiny “Sandi” feels like a giant…

Rolling this bracelet around in the palm of my hand, it feels wonderful.  It’s so soft, so fluid and so unexpectedly petite… it’s a treat!  If you have never tried this approach, do give it a whirl it is so much fun.

This Armadillo never gets the coveted center spot…

Clockwise from clasp:  “Dichroic Flower Clasp” (retired), “Limited Edition Peacock Pearl”, “Art Deco” (retired), “Unique Glass”, “Grey Armadillo” (retired), “Cells” (retired), “Unique Glass”, “Plait” (retired), “Unique Glass”, “Happy Fish” (retired), “Unique Glass”, “Happy Fish” (retired), “Unique Glass”, “Limited Edition Van Gogh” (World Tour Series Netherlands), “Unique Glass”, “Limited Edition Family of Mushrooms” (World Tour Series Lithuania), “Unique Glass”, “Unique Glass”, “Sandi” (retired), “Rosa Pearl”.

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30 day Challenge: Happy Mothers Day!

Today I tried to pick beads as if they were flowers, and turn them into a bouquet that I can wear on my arm!  I tried to hold images of my Mother in my head as I was playing this together, and take my cue from her exquisite taste… I often pick beads more for their aesthetic than their meaning, but for today’s bracelet I really wanted to think hard about each addition, and to include both elements for greater meaning.

I knew there must be flowers, for my Mother’s amazing garden.  “Van Gogh” brings blossoms into the design.  The Sparrow is for the bird feeders in Mum’s garden, and their flocks of feathery visitors.  Mum used to love sitting at her kitchen table, watching the birds enjoy her beautiful garden – and she waged a quiet war against the fat

squirrels who grew even fatter on her luxurious bird seed.  The “Bee on Hive” is for the bumblebees who loved her garden so well, buzzing amongst the tea roses, clematis, bergamot and honeysuckle.  All these silver designs seemed perfectly “Mum” to me… but the “Sweater” and “Ball of Yarn” are perhaps the most meaningful of all.

My Mother could make incredibly perfect things with her hands… she spun, wove, knit, embroidered, quilted, and crocheted with love, creativity and passion, creating textiles that truly were art.  I’m very lucky to still have and enjoy many of the beautiful pieces she made.  On a previous Mothers Day I wrote about a very special Sweater of hers… If you’d like to see her work, take a peek.  The “Ball of Yarn” and “Sweater” beads are an homage to my Mother’s skilled hands.

Finally, after taking care over the selection of very special silvers… it was time to pick a palette of colours that would be equally meaningful.  I toyed with several possibilities, but in the end I found that a subtle, soft array of apricots, blues and greens felt right.  It brings to mind the natural colours of the flowers and foliage in her garden, as well as the timeless Liberty prints that she favoured for Summer dresses and scarves.

Clockwise from clasp:  “Dichroic Flower Lock” (retired), “PInk Prism”, “Bee on Hive”, (retired), “Limited Edition Kimono Series”, “Azure Bubbles”, “Heart”, “Unique Amber”, “Unique Glass”, “Unique Glass”, “Ball of Yarn”, “Unique Glass”, “Aurora Flower”, “Unique Glass”, “Sweater” (retired), “Unique Glass”, “Unique Glass”, “Unique Amber”, “Sparrow” (retired), “Light Blue Shadow” (retired), “Unique Glass”, “Limited Edition Van Gogh” (World Tour Netherlands Series), “Rosa Pearl”.

To all of our very special ladies… those of you who are Mothers and Grandmothers, caring for your families – as well as those of you who quietly mother so many others, taking care of loved ones as if they were your own – thank you for all you do.  We see how hard you work, and how much you care.  You are appreciated, cherished and loved.

Happy Mothers Day!

C.

30 Day Challenge: Day 9

Today I played with all the purples that usually I pair with teal… and gave them a fresh, soft treatment with my gentlest greens!  This is another color combination that has been knocking about in the back of my mind for a while now, and I’m happy to finally be able to give it a try.  Isn’t it funny – when paired with teal these purples feel so much stronger… now that their companions are misty greens they feel quite subtle.

I think the bead that really made me want to try this combination is the “Azure Bubbles” that I have placed in the center position.  I’m very taken with the way this particular example exhibits so many shades of olive to lilac, and I’ve often felt that it wasn’t really been showcased on a bracelet with bolder colours.  Here I’ve custom built a design around it!

This Azure holds other fascinating colours as well – note how its hints of icy blue are echoed in the uniques, as well as in the dichroic dots among the silvers.  The repetition of the colour gives a nice rhythm to the design.  This sort of pattern helps to give a sense of calm to the bracelet, as it seems planned and in control.

more dichroic shimmer…

This little unique is one of my favorite “Small & Beautiful” design.  I’m fascinated by the miniscule array of glittering gold suspended in its depths.  It supposedly is playing the same role on this bracelet as it usually does on my teal and purple combination… but with it’s small size and subtle colour, it’s much more noticeable now that the brighter colours have been replaced with softer ones.

I’m so pleased to be able to pair two of my Limited Edition Jades… they have a distinctive shape and texture, so it’s satisfying to be able to use them to balance each other.

Clockwise from clasp:  “Dichroic Flower Lock” (retired) “Unique Glass”, “Happy Fish” (retired), “Limited Edition Violet Petals”, “Limited Edition Kimono Bead”, “Elfbead”, “Neither Fish nor Bird, Large” (retired), “Limited Edition Chinese Jade”, “Aurora Flowers”, “Blue Desert”, “trinity”, “Unique Glass”, “Azure Bubbles”, “Unique Glass”, “King & Queen” (retired), “Limited Edition Chinese Jade”, “Limited Edition Faceted Aurora”, “Unique Glass”, “Frogs” (retired), “Limited Edition Pastel Agate”, “Unique Glass”, “Happy Fish” (retired), “Deep Bubbles” (retired), “Pink Prism” (retired format).

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30 Day Challenge: Day 8

Today’s bracelet is just pure, exuberant joy, isn’t it?  Impossible to feel dull in the face of such brilliant colour.  I first saw a bracelet with a similar colour combination many years ago, in the amazing collection of RT… (You may remember her necklace full of unique armadillos?)  She had a pink – to yellow combination that was anchored by a budded

python that had the perfect array of hues.  That design had since been taken apart, but it lives on in my memory bank of bracelet designs, and there’s no question I was channeling it when I put this together this morning.

I began the design as I always do – right in the middle.  I use a rod to build

the bracelet, so I have the luxury of building from the middle outwards, making sure that the design is balanced as I go.  I tend to cluster my glass, amber and stone in odd numbers, like flower arrangements, and space them with silvers that are chosen by theme and size.  I’ll use a bigger silver to fill in a bracelet that feels a bit sparse, and conversely

can switch out to smaller silvers if I am squeezed for space.   I also generally try to put the showstopping, extra large and dramatic pieces closer to the middle, tapering to my “small and beautifuls” as I get closer to the lock.  In today’s design, I was delighted to be able to use a recent acquisition – the cherry pink with yellow buds – so perfect on this design!

Isn’t it interesting how context is everything with beads?  The golden yellows on today’s bracelet look caramel brown in another design!

Clockwise from clasp:  “Sterling double Lobster Lock” (retired format), “Unique Amber”, “Unique Amber”, “Linited Edition Van Gogh” (Netherlands World Tour), “Issey” (retired),  “Unique Glass”, “Unique Glass”, “Zanzibar” (retired), “Unique Glass”, “Unique Glass”, “Golden Quartz”, “Unique Glass”, “Unique Glass”, “Zanzibar” (retired), “Unique Amber”, “Unique Glass”, “Unique Glass”, “Silver Bead with Garnets” (retired), “Unique Amber”, “Unique Glass”, “Unique Glass”

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30 Day Challenge: Day 6

Today I played with one of my bracelet wardrobe staples – my “Copper and Pomegranates” design.  I usually include quite a few darker red and raspberry tones, to make the overall bracelet very rich in feel.  My Ruby is usually right in the center!  However, as we approach Summer I felt like trying out a lighter form of that familiar palette.

I always say that the fastest way to change a bracelet’s appearance is to edit and selectively remove a couple of beads – and in this case it’s certainly true!  I kept only the coppery and pink tones, removing all traces of claret and raspberry – and what a change!  When selecting shades of pink I took care to only include ones with a very warm cast

to them… much more peach or apricot, rather than rose.  I wanted to play up two beads in particular:  The Pink Kimono Bead, named “Sakura” and a beautiful, artisan Champagne Quartz faceted stone.  I adore both of these warm pink beauties, but find that they can be overpowered by the deep claret of my Ruby.  This is their chance to shine.

Here’s the other bead that inspired this bracelet… it’s an artisan glass Armadillo that was made for me by Trollbeads glass artist, Georgina Black on one of her visits to Tartooful.  Any Trollie worth her salt knows that pale pink armadillos are a treasure – and I wanted to give this one the very center of the bracelet.  As it is a shade more rose than the other more warm pinks on the bracelet, I surrounded it with a pair of “Golden Cave” that help to keep the overall balance warm and golden.  Finally, I pulled all my cognac coloured ambers and scattered them evenly around the bracelet for lots of spice!

Clockwise from clasp:  “Sterling Double Lobster Clasp” (retired format), “Rosa Pearl”, “Unique Glass”, “Unique Amber”, “Pink Desert”, “Anniversary Bracelet Two Trolls”, (retired), “Limited Edition Kimono Series Sakura”, “Unique Amber”, “Unique Glass”, “Limited Edition Trollbeads Day 2014”, “Golden Cave”, “Artisan Glass by Georgina Black”, “Golden Cave”, “Bead of Fortune”, “Unique Glass”, “Goldstone” (retired), “Artisan Champagne Quartz”, “Tupilak Mouth”, “Unique Glass”, “Unique Amber”, “Pink Prism”, “Unique Amber”.

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30 Day Challenge: Day 3

Today I decided to play with combining beads that I had traditionally thought of as coral, with beads that I had always considered to be golden yellow.  As always, the challenge is helping me to see the true colours and potential of my beloved collection – and it turns out that the “corals” and “golden yellow” are really in the same family!

I first discovered the amazing power of yellow as a complementary tone in my first year of the challenge.  By the end of those thirty days it seemed I had found a use for my few golden ambers on virtually every day, and it was clear that I should find and acquire a few more special yellows to expand that part of my collection.

As you can see… a few more did indeed find their way into my design kit, and over the coming days I’d like to explore some of their potential.  Perhaps a pure yellow design?  Hmmm.

In this case, I added just a hint of very subtle blue, using our familiar friend, “Azure Bubbles” and a rather interesting pair of “Blue Deserts”… I can’t resist the combination of slate blue and golden yellow, but in this case the emphasis is not on the few scattered blues, but rather on the various tones and textures of the yellows.

Clockwise from clasp:  “Sterling Double Lobster Clasp” – (retired format), “Aber Unique”, “Blue Desert”, “Bee on Hive” (retired), “Unique”, “Azure Bubbles”, “Unique”, “Van Gogh”, “Azure Bubbles”, “Unique Amber”, “Unique Glass”, “Golden Quartz”, “Azure Bubbles”, “Zanzibar”, “Unique Glass”, “Azure Bubbles”, “Unique Glass”, “Bee on Hive” (retired),  “blue Desert”, “Unique Amber”.

Tartooful 30 Day Challenge: Day 1

Day one of the 30 Day Design Challenge… and I am starting off with a colour combination that has been tickling the back of my brain for a little while…

I’ve always loved colours in the aqua to teal to olive colour family… so there have always been a bunch of beads in my kit that featured those tones.  However, over the past year my little collection of olive beads seems to have expanded a little, (as does seem to happen…)… so I decided to try a whole composition!

Of course – nothing but Olive beads all lined up in a row isn’t very interesting – no matter how pretty they each are!  These lovely warm spicy browns caught my eye, and seemed to be just dying to come out and play… so I popped them onto the play tray, too – and this bracelet came together so easily that it practically built itself.

One of the intriguing things about arranging all one’s beads on a tray as a colour palette is that it truly shows the colour of each of your beads.  For example, I might think of my Labradorites as teal, because their flash makes them play nicely with my warm blue-greens.  However, when arranged in neat rows by colour it becomes apparent that they really are more of an earthy green, and can easily be used as such in a design.

It’s only day one, and already I’m a little surprised by what I see when I lay out my beads on the play tray… I always thought I had more soft pink?  Do I really have this many cinnamon browns?  Have I managed to add some good neutrals since last year?  So much to learn, and so many creative days to come!

Clockwise from clasp:  “Sterling Double Lobster Clasp – retired format”, “Small & Beautiful Unique”, “Limited Edition Kimono Bead”,  “Smoky Quartz”, “Petanque” (retired), “Azure Bubbles”, “Labradorite”, “Tigers Eye”, “Paradise Birds”, “Brown Desert”, “Azure Bubbles”, “Labradorite”, “Azure Bubbles”, “Blue Desert”, “Jugend”, “Deep Bubbles”, “Labradorite”, “Artisan Bead by Scot Bouwens”, “Etruscan” (retired), “Limited Edition Kimono Bead”, “unique”, “Limited Edition Peacock Pearl”.

Have you decided to have a play too?  if so, please share them on our Facebook page, or email them to me at Tartooful@gmail.com for posting so that we can all be inspired!  Tune in tomorrow for day 2….

C.

30 Days – 30 Designs: Tartooful Design Challenge 2015

It’s almost May – and dedicated Tartoofulers know that means that it’s almost time for the Tartooful 30 Days Design Challenge!  Will you take the challenge with us this year?

What if you started fresh… free from preconceptions about how your bracelets should look.  What could you create with your beautiful beads?

So here’s how it works:

1.  Photograph your current bracelets, so you can always put them back exactly the way they are if you want them back.

2.  Take everything apart and arrange it on a play tray or similar tool, so you can clearly see your design kit.  In effect, you will create an artist’s palette for yourself, using your beads and jewelry components.

3.  Play!  Create a new bracelet every day for 30 days.  The next morning, take it apart, place all the beads back on the play tray to create again with a fresh eye.  (Don’t forget to take a daily photo so you can always rebuild a certain arrangement again in the future.)

May 1 – 30th will be the third year of the 30 Day Design Challenge…

…and every year I find I come to know my collection, and myself, just a little better through this simple creative process.  I can’t wait to get going, and see what evolves this year.

Finally, this isn’t just about me – I would LOVE to have as many of you as possible to take the challenge with me this year!  Let’s share the results of your wild design experiments on our Instagram feed (@tartooful #30daychallenge) or Facebook page so that we can all enjoy them and be inspired.  If you don’t “do” social media, simply email them to me at tartooful@gmail.com and I would be delighted to post the photos on your behalf.

Get ready, get set… go play!

C.

Trollbeads Inspiration: Little Frog and the Night Sky

Five frogs call this necklace home…

Once upon a time there were five frogs, who all lived together in a round pond in the deep and leafy woods.  They swam in the green coloured sunshine all day, eating mosquitos and playing “pass the bubble” together.  At night they found a cosy spot and curled up together in a circle.  They would whisper froggy stories to each to each other as they drifted off to sleep.  It was a happy way for a frog to be, and a sweet life.

Green Jasper is subtly rich…

One evening, as the frogs went to settle into a leafy nook to get sleepy, they realized that the smallest frog of all wasn’t tucked into the story circle.  Where could he be?  They called to him.. “Little Frog?”… but no answer.  They were curious frogs, and just a little concerned, so they popped out into the dusky light to find their friend.

It didn’t take long to find him.  There he was, just above their sleepy hiding spot, sitting on a leaf and gazing in rapture at the darkening sky.  “Little Frog”, they cried, “what are you doing?  It’s time to be sleepy and we missed you!”.  The little frog turned to his friends in amazement, and said “I was a little late, chasing one last mosquito… but look – have you seen this?  Just look at the sky.  There is the most beautiful thing there, sparkling in the dark…”

Looking towards the sky, the little group of frogs saw, for the very first time, a star.  They became very quiet, and sat together with their friend, watching with wide round eyes.  The first star of the evening glowed brightly, and over the next few minutes the sky darkened from grey to pale and then sapphire blue.  Finally, the sky was velvety black and sparkled with the infinite host of stars that can only be seen deep in the leafy woods and far away from human places.  The beauty of the night sky gave the little frogs so much joy that deep in their green and slightly clammy breasts, their hearts seemed too full.  Little Frog’s amphibian heart could bear no more, so he started to sing softly, just to let out some of the joy.  One by one his friends joined in, and together they sang the happiness of the beauty of the stars.

Nowadays, if the evening is clear and fine, the five frog friends always sit out for just a little while to sing joyfully with the stars before curling up in their sleepy hiding spot.  On rainy nights they still enjoy a cosy, froggy story, but nothing makes them happier than to sing goodnight with the stars.  In fact, if you go very quietly to the round pond in the deep and leafy woods just at dusk, you too might hear the frogs’ star song…

C.