Color My World

I've always been drawn to playing with color, whether it has been with paint and paintbrush, color pencils, or now with beads and clay.  When I first started out making jewelry, most of my pieces had a monochromatic color palette, but I've since grown to love to mix it up a bit.  I find inspiration for color everywhere, and some of the references I turn to frequently include the following:

• Jewelry How To Books - There are a ton of wonderful jewelry and beading books out there, and my library is stocked with quite a few of them.  While I don't duplicate the designs in these, I do get great ideas for various color combos.  One of my favorite color inspiration books, is Polymer Clay Color Inspirations by Lindly Haunani and Maggie Maggio. 
• Stacks and Stacks of Beading and Hobby Magazines - I love pouring through my back issues of magazines like Stringing, Bead Style, and Bead Trends.  When I'm in a rut, it always helps to sit back with a stack of these.
• Non-Hobby Books and Publications - My husband and I are currently planning to build a house, so immediately upon deciding to build, I picked up a few books on paint combinations for the interior of houses.  I wasn't too surprised to find a lot of great color combinations that will work well in jewelry design.  Those free little painting idea books that they have by paint samples also have some good combos.
• The Bead Themselves - While most of the strand of beads I buy are immediately cut apart and stored in plastic containers, I sometimes find myself playing with the strands - laying a few together at a time to see what kind of combination they will make. 
• Making Something to Match - Another fun idea is making jewelry to match a specific item of clothing.  It can be something you own, or something you see in an advertisement. 
• Design-Seeds.com - I just found this site after becoming hooked on Pinterest.  The site is just loaded with awesome color palettes!

Here are a few of some of the colorful bead combos I've done:

Starfish Pendant Necklace

I recently purchase one of the humblebeads grab bags, and was so happy to find a cute little starfish pendant in it.  It was perfect for the "Inspired by the Sea" challenge.  I paired it with some beachy artisan lampwork glass beads from Etsy's GlassbyLeese, some gorgeous aquamarine nuggets that were a gift from my sister Lori, abalone shell, bronze colored mother of pearl, and some antique brass findings.  And, the icing on the cake - I was able to take decent pictures of the piece this morning.  Turns out the white balance setting on my camera had gotten set to the wrong setting.  I'm so glad I discovered that! 

This piece is available at my Etsy Shop

Resistance was Futile

You'll notice something new on my blog...  a link to a Facebook fan page.  I have to say that opening a Facebook account gave me some heartburn.  My resistance to joining is a very long story, but suffice to say that wisdom won out over emotion, and I now have an account.  So if you get a chance, please stop by and like my fan page (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Inspired-Theory/262799490407168)!  Thanks so much!

Oh crap! Projects That Don't Turn Out

I was very excited by the Humblebeads "Inspired by the Sea" Challenge.  I had a great idea - a sea anomone necklace.  I even knew how I was going to go about it.  I researched anomones.  I made up custom color mixtures, I did skinner blends, even a cane to get the color gradiation that would be the center of my anomone.  And I spent a lot of time trying to make it just what I envisioned.  Unforunately, when it was all finished, I wasn't happy with it at all.  For starters it was way too large - about 3.5 inches across... and it just wasn't what I had in my mind.  Now it sits on my desk, taking up space.  I should probably just throw it... but I just can't bring myself to do that just yet, after spending so many hours on it.  I may come back to the idea and try some other ways of going about it...  but not right now.  I can't help but wonder what other people do with their projects that don't turn out - toss them away, or tuck them away in a box...

Inspired by The Sea Challenge

When I saw the Humblebeads Challenge was "Inspired by the Sea", I knew this was the perfect opportunity to use the wonderful artisan lampwork glass bead with a starfish on it that I had purchased from Glass by Leese.  I was so happy with it, that I decided I couldn't part with it. Unfortunately the photos really don't do it justice.  Apparently the morning light is a lot weaker in fall than it is in summer.  It goes to figure, just when I think I have the lighting thing figured out - things change.