Party on with All Colors

Like most beaders- I love color.

Like most beaders- I tend to use some colors more than others.

Like most beaders- I tend to avoid some colors more than others.

Hey!  That is OK!!!! 

Beading is something that I love to do so it only natural that I tend to use the colors I like the most rather than other colors.  I enjoy these more, so I let myself party-on!   If and when you want to branch out to other colors, there are many resources to help you do this (My personal favorite is The Beaders Color Palette by Margie Deeb).  Or you can simply test and investigate yourself. 

So what is the point?  My point here is to use colors you love and enjoy yourself.  Yes, there are groups of people who will give you a set of colors like the Pantone colors for the season.  And, they will also name a color of the year.  You will start to see these colors in the stores as you buy new clothing, but you will also see the colors for last season and the season before.  With all of these choices, chances are pretty good you will find something in a color you like and can wear.  These declared colors are taken as “direction” by clothing designers and manufacturers….. but, as a beader, You can use these colors or IGNORE them, it is all up to you.  But there is also another key point I want to make……

I hear far too many times a beader lament that they really love a color BUT it isn’t a color they can wear.  Therefore they don’t use that color in their beadwork.  Recently an intense tangerine orange was the color of the year and even more recently was an orchid/lavender color.  Personally I look terrible in both those colors.  You know what I’m talking about:  when you find many people asking you if you are tired or sick?   You are actually feeling pretty good, but the colors do not play well with your complexion or hair color.   Most people have experienced this, and so they simply avoid that color altogether.  Let me just say “NONSENSE” people!   This is Jewelry so you can use and wear anything you love!   So, unless you are running around naked except for your jewelry then you can wear that color… In Jewelry.   Don’t buy a sweater in that color or a t-shirt.  But ABSOLUTELY you can wear a beaded necklace or bracelet in that color. 

The framing of your face, the reflection off whatever top/blouse you are wearing is much more heavily influenced by your clothing leaving you free to have fun with that “forbidden” color with your jewelry.  If nothing else, get a cream, eggshell, white, or pale grey that looks good with your complexion, then wear jewelry in that orange or orchid (or whatever color is terrible on you) with that sweater.  You will feel wonderful and get compliments… and you won’t be depriving yourself of having a good time with a color you love.

Conclusion:   Party on with your beadwork and jewelry… the world of ALL colors is your oyster! 

Genuine Stones and the Games they Play

I love gemstones.  I have my favorites that seem to have an ability to charm and enchant me such that I can just stare at them in a hypnotic trance.  I have been using genuine stones for decades and still am excited about them.  It seems there are always new discoveries, new stones, new looks.   Gemstones/genuine stones have a learning curve like most things in life.  You learn to recognize them by name and the learning grows and continues.  But here are some things I’ve observed that you might find useful if you are new to using genuine stones in your beading or you just love them.

Most stones are enhanced.  Typically, they are dyed to bring out the color or smooth it by coloring areas that are lighter.  Some stones take dye very well and this is not an issue related to the future appearance, the dye permeates the stone and it will look the same today as 50 years in the future.  Others don’t take dye as well and if exposed to sunlight (like in a window display in a store) may change the color by either fading or changing the hue.  Unfortunately dyed stones are almost impossible to avoid since there is no requirement to label the stones as dyed.  And sometimes it doesn’t matter since the dye is so permanent.  I have observed that dyes that are pinks, reds, and purples tend to be the most sensitive to sunlight exposure.  And… one of my general rules is:  If the stone is pink (especially hot pink), bright red, or purple AND if it isn’t super expensive, then the color is a result of a dye.  This is because nature rarely produces these colors so while they do exist, they are really expensive.  (lol, my general rule is if I can afford it, it probably is not natural!).  

Only gemstone grade garnets are natural.  ALL other garnets are dyed.  Always wash any garnet beads in soapy water before using them in your designs.  If you don’t, you will find any neck sweat will quickly turn your neck red…

Labels Labels Labels.  As I said before there is no requirement about labeling stones as dyed or enhanced in any way.  You can purchase your stones from a trusted source, but I have found issues there too… They can only report what they know and sometimes they simply are not told the truth.  So, it is not a bad idea to wash every stone strand you purchase in soapy water….  Or, do as I do: wash all garnets, wash all pinks and purples, and wash anything else that I have even a suspicion of.  It won’t hurt the stones and could be a help.  If you see the water tinting to a color, you know you were right!

Names of stones:

This is a pet peeve of mine, but I also recognize it is a complicated area.  So, first let me explain the complication.  A stone is scientifically identified by its molecular components. It has a MOH (hardness) rating and a structure for the stone.  Quartz for example has a crystalline structure. You can take the same recipe of stuff that is in quartz and lab-create something… the problem is that it won’t have the crystalline structure which typically can only be tested by crushing the piece.  This became an issue with Strawberry Quartz which is a natural stone BUT is very expensive and was re-created in glass and labeled as “Strawberry Quartz” in quotes.  But the quotes typically didn’t make it on the label.  Many stores/suppliers began to call these created pieces Strawberry Quartz Glass but not all did.  This is one type of complication.

Another type is the “assembled” type of complication.  The best example of this is amber.  Amber is very soft.  When you carve or otherwise shape a piece of amber into a round bead or other form, then there are leftover shavings/scraps.  You can take these scraps and press them together is form a new piece of amber.  This is “reconstituted” amber.   Natural amber and reconstituted amber are both expensive (it’s amber after all…. ) and you have no way of proving that reconstituted amber is not natural, there is no test that differentiates the two. So trust in your supplier is the key here.  While both are expensive, natural amber is even more expensive. 

This same issue is involved with turquoise versus chalk turquoise.  Turquoise is an extremely soft stone, therefore it is always permeated with a resin.  If it wasn’t, it would simply crumble.  So, natural turquoise bead or cabs are made of turquoise and resin.  Chalk turquoise is the remnants, of carving/shaping turquoise and is infused with resin and reconstituted.  Typically, dye is also added.  If you do a chemical test on each you get the same answer: turquoise with resin.  And there is no requirement to label chalk turquoise as chalk turquoise versus just saying turquoise.  If this matters to you, then check with your supplier but keep in mind, they may have been misled too. 

Another complicated factor is that some stones scientifically are one stone but can have many appearances.  Probably the best example of this is Serpentine.  So, from a practical point of view for beaders, it isn’t helpful or useful to call it all Serpentine when one piece looks so different from another.  Therefore, Serpentine has nick-names depending on its appearance.   Yellow Turquoise, New Jade, and Olive Jade are all examples of Serpentine.  This is NOT Turquoise that is yellow any more than it is Jade.  Again, these names are in “quotes” but the quotes get left off, they are all Serpentine.   Rhyolite is another stone with many appearances and has nicknames for the various looks such as Rain Forest Jasper and Noondrite.

So, this brings me to a pet peeve of mine.  You will quickly notice that nicknames and new names for stones (you find it, you name it) are intentionally misleading.  Key words people use are jade and opal because there is a familiarity and general belief in the value of these stones.  So, call Serpentine “New Jade” or brown-green chalcedony “Green Opal”.  This elevates people’s opinion of the stone but it is not real.   I at least understand a certain need here to more adequately describe the appearance of a stone, but in the case of “Blue Labradorite” there is no such need.  This is actually Larvikite and is mined in only one area…. it has only ONE appearance and this nick-name is solely (IMHO) to mislead.

So now I will get off my soapbox (which is carved chalk turquoise with inlaid mother of pearl – gorgeous!)  and hope you have learned a few things.  Remember, you can always do some web-searching to explore or learn… just do it with a lapidary or scientific site that doesn’t sell anything so they have no other motivations.

We Learn by Doing

Yes, Captain Kirk said to Spock, “We learn by doing” and it really is true.  Beaders know this from countless experiences learning new stitches and doing projects.  Sure, you can read instructions and understand what is going on, but to Truly “get it”, and see all the nuances, there is nothing like actually doing it.

So what if you are challenged by color?  This is an issue many beaders would like to improve on and enhance their skills.  Maybe you are stuck always seeming to use one particular color or set of colors.  Maybe you use many colors, but just aren’t comfortable doing it.  First let me say that I’m not a big fan of experimenting  when you are creating big projects.  There are so many things you need to pay attention to with a big project.  And, it typically takes a chunk of time. By definition, an experiment might fail, so do your learning and experimenting with something that doesn't take a big chunk of time.  In order to experiment with color, we need a large surface area to play with, one or two patterns to do so there isn’t a lot of time or concentration spent with the execution.  We need a fast project.  And we want the end result to be something easily used or saved. 

So, how do you apply the “learn by doing” easily to learn color?

Answer: Give yourself a class using a beaded snowflake for your project!  Your class is not really about doing the snowflake, but about doing a bunch of snowflakes and how you design the colors used to create them.  It’s very cost effective, quickly executed and you have large area for flexibility in testing color palettes.  Give ‘em away as a décor on Christmas presents, or hang from your studio ceiling.  You can also slip them into a plastic sleeve in a 3-ring binder if you want to keep them. 

The supplies you’ll need are seed beads, thread and a needle.  If you have a snowflake pattern, use it.  If you need to get one, I have an inexpensive book on Amazon “Little Book of Beaded Snowflakes” you can get (and it is available in Kindle too).  It will also be very helpful to have a book that teaches color.  My recommendation is “Beaders Guide to Color” and/or “Beaders Color Palette” both by Margie Deeb.  If you have a favorite color book, use it. If you don’t have one or want one, you can still give yourself a class, however you may not learn as fast or understand what you learn as deeply. 

The key is to do it.  Select colors of beads, get those tubes.  Decide the proportions of each color. 

For instance, this snowflake uses turquoise and peach with the turquoise the dominant color and the peach a secondary.   

This ornament uses red for the dominant color and the gold is an accent.

This ornament uses one color (purple) but shades of it from light to dark.

 Or maybe you want to experiment with a 5-color rainbow.

The key is, you can use the patterns over and over yet each snowflake will be very different as you experiment with using different colors and changing the proportions of the colors.  Use one, two, three or more colors.  Change the dominance.  Select colors you want to get comfortable using.  Play with adding other colors to it, changing the proportions and see how it works, and how you like the result.  You can concentrate on the COLOR while you quickly (15 to 20 minutes) create the snowflake.

PLAY.

JUST DO IT.

Treat yourself to a class (it’s almost Halloween right? Time for a treat!).  And winter is coming so think Snow!

Beading that Explores

I have often heard/read discussions about selling beadwork.  Since many of these conversations are from beaders who do bead embroidery, invariably the discussion leads to comments that the large complicated collar style pieces are slow to sell and smaller pieces are needed in a booth.  Those large pieces bring in the “eyes” but the smaller pieces (typically pendants) are the ones with much more sales velocity.  This isn’t surprising, the cost is less and the style is more familiar to everyone.

Then this leads to several people complaining that they don’t like doing these smaller pieces, they are bored, not challenged, or it is not legitimate artist expression.  

Recently I came into a situation where I needed to make approximately 30 pendants, on a chain.  My reaction?  Thrilled!   I have found that one of the best ways to test (and best) your skills as a designer is to challenge yourself.  Working on a limited scale is a fabulous test. I’m not spending hours and hours on one design.  I get to explore color schemes.  I get to work with different materials.  Get an idea while working on one piece?  Great! Let it flow to the next. Keep it interesting by exploring lots of different techniques.

One thing I’ve observed is that all beaders have tendencies to do the same thing in their designs.  That is human nature, to do what you are comfortable with. However, this does limit you as a designer (always a peyote bezel, always a sunshine-raw-brickstitch edge).  Instead, I like to have many different techniques to choose from so that I’m challenged in my execution and I get the best design suited for that particular focal.  For example, so many people who do bead embroidery ALWAYS do a peyote bezel.  I find this boring.  And, it actually annoys me when I see that bezel used when it is clearly a bad choice (used on a cameo and covers the hair or other parts of the design).  Or, when the focal is soooo gorgeous (and expensive) and it is half covered.  The edge is another area of interest for me.  The edge treatment can be just there, or you can use it as an integral part of the design. 

So, here are some I’ve done.  It includes lots of different edge treatments, and different bezels.  I do have a tendency to choose the plain/standard bezel technique.  But I don’t use it by rote, it is after reviewing all of my possibilities.  However, when I have a focal that I love and don’t want to cover but want to simply and beautifully frame, then that is my choice.