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Design Story

16 Saturday Apr 2022

Posted by beadlove in Uncategorized

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Allegory Gallery, The Bead Chest

I really like design stories. So here is the one of the necklace featured in this post. I’ve noticed the streaming services I watch have a limited number of commercials that run frequently. One I see/hear often is for something called The Real Real, a consignment business for high end goods. I am not their target audience, and I say “see/hear” because I’m often listening to TV as much as watching it. The commercial seemed to be the same one, except one time when I actually was watching. It was a different version, and I’ve never seen it again. One model was wearing a necklace I got a glimpse of for maybe a few seconds. I suspect it was part of the styling for a jacket or another part of the outfit, rather than the featured item itself. But it was the necklace that caught my jewelry-loving eye.

What I took in (which is not to say this is what it was actually like) was that it was super long, the fibers of the necklace seemed to be a natural material, the bead at the bottom was large, there were just a few other beads, large but not as large, and the colors were yellow, blue and red with maybe neutrals. I immediately thought of two large Indonesian (I think) glass beads I got from Allegory Gallery. My course was set.

Necklace made of leather and multiple strands of waxed linen featuring a few beads in various materials - yellow, green, black, blue, metal, red, orange, green. Glass focal bead of blue with white, black, red and green design.

I chose beads and put it together on several strands of natural 7-ply waxed linen. I included recycled glass, wood, resin, amber (not sure about those two), metal, and a blue Moroccan pottery bead from The Bead Chest.

I love how it turned out, but the linen didn’t feel comfortable on the back of my neck. I was thinking about different ways to remedy that, but most of them involved needing to take it apart and ordering more waxed linen to remake it. I was showing it to my parents on FaceTime to see if they had any suggestions since they also make jewelry. As we talked about it, we came up with this idea of strap leather at the back for comfort (and it fits with the design) knotting the cut ends of the linen through the leather and then cutting off the ends when it was the right length.

I thought I would knot some small beads on the ends of linen hanging off the knots, but I didn’t like how floppy it was, so I cut it short. If I had thought of it before knotting, I might have seen how I liked a flatish bead against the leather behind the knot. It might have added too much depth, so I’m happy with it.

I like working in conjunction with others to figure out design challenges.

Mixed Materials Love

24 Saturday Jun 2017

Posted by beadlove in Uncategorized

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Allegory Gallery, Allegory Gallery Design Challenges, Andrew Thornton, Art beads, The Bead Chest, William Jones

I get some of my best beads from artist Andrew Thornton – his destashes, the shop he owns with William Jones, Allegory Gallery, and the kits he puts together for Allegory Gallery Design Challenges.  Recently I got a strand of paper beads as a prize, and I love them.  I had multiple ideas for them right away.  (They have some similar beads in their etsy store right now.)

Andrew made the polymer faux Moroccan amber beads for a challenge kit. I took apart the necklace I originally made that didn’t do them justice, and I’ve been saving them for something special.  I got some cool, chunky wooden chain from a destash that I knew would find just the right project someday.

After auditioning different metal spacers, I decided to use some I just recently got at Bead & Button.  I added in an enamel Berber bicone bead from The Bead Chest and a large swivel clasp.  I really love how it turned out. It’s a fun mix of materials – paper, polymer clay, metal, wood. Some of these materials have been waiting for the perfect project and some new beads came in handy right away.  I’m already picturing what I will wear it with.

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Frida Kahlo and Mary Harding

28 Sunday Jun 2015

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Art Bead Scene, Eden Art Glass, Frida Kahlo, Mary Harding, Shipwreck Dandy Supply, The Bead Chest

I love Frida Kahlo‘s art and also her personal style.  In April, Kahlo’s painting Self- Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird was the inspiration on the Art Bead Scene blog.  Artist Mary Harding, one of the Art Bead Scene blog editors, made beads inspired by Frida Kahlo.  I loved the flowers on first sight and snagged one.

Mary Harding Frida flower close up

On her blog post that featured these flowers, Mary Harding said when she thinks of Kahlo, she thinks of “big beads, big jewelry and flowers.”  I looked at some pictures of Kahlo wearing jewelry and knew the beads I had in mind would work well with Mary’s Frida Flower to create a Kahlo-inspired necklace of my own.

MH Frida fullI got these beautiful Moroccan pottery beads from The Bead Chest.  I think they look perfect with the flower.  I’m so happy with this necklace.  It’s my modern, wearable-for-me take on Frida Kahlo’s beautiful jewelry with the help of Mary Harding.  I even found the perfect clasp in my stash – a rustic twisted wire piece I got in a mixed lot destash box from Shipwreck Dandy Supply along with a twisted jump ring in a patina just the green of the beads from Eden Art Glass.

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