Sunday, October 10, 2010

Celebrate the Colors of Fall

Owl Cuff
 Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.  ~Albert Camus

I adore fall and October is a particularly special month.  In October, fall colors peak in Michigan and my husband and I celebrate our anniversary, a wonderful 18 years.  This year October begins a new venture for me as well.  I was asked to participate as an Artbeads design partner.  When I received the theme, "Celebrate the Colors of Fall", I immediately knew I wanted to incorporate a bottle cap I purchased during a show in Flint.   My friend Sue took me to a local market that sold beers by the bottle and we splurged and purchased a handful of brews with interesting caps.  I paid $10 for two bottles of Hitachino Nest Beer when I fell in love with this adorable owl cap.  I recently turned one into a cuff and its picture begins this post.

To select my products, I did a search on the Artbeads site for picasso.  I love the multi-dimensional finish of these beads.  I tend towards the triad approach in my color schemes and this finish has never let me down.  I was thrilled when I received my selection a few days later.



First, I must say I'm a big fan of Artbeads packaging.  It's so simple, yet elegant at the same time.  Each package includes an inspiration card that is beautiful to behold. The first item I included in my design were the Czech glass spade beads (code: CR-SP018) in Orange Silk Picasso.  I'm in love with these beautiful beads.  Although the peacock daggers I used on the cuff are luscious, these spade beads have a rich, two-toned colorway and an unique shape.  Strung on wire, they stack nicely, and used, as I have here, they provide a lovely accent for the cap.


After selecting the spade beads, I chose a selection of beads matching the colorway, but strayed a bit from my original concept once I began working on the piece.  What I didn't incorporate were the silk cord and copper cones originally planned for the back strap.  Although gorgeous paired with the cap, I liked the fullness of the beaded design better.  The silk cord matches the cap perfectly and I may need to make a trip to Flint to get another bottle of beer to use it on the next design.

For the strap, I fell back to my favorite technique, the embellished spiral rope.  I utilized four products in the rope:   Czech rondells, Czech grooved rectangles, Czech Ovals, and Toho seed beads



 The result is a fine tribute to autumn and represents the colors of the season shortly before the leaves fall to the ground; the colors of Halloween, pumpkins, and chocolate flavored candy corn.  You can almost smell the mulled wine (hmmm, wonder if there is a recipe for mulled beer...maybe that's carrying things too far).

Owl Necklace
Disclosure: The above mentioned beads from Artbead.com were kindly provided free-of-charge by Artbeads.com, within the frames of Artbeads.com blogging program. The author of this blog has not received any payment from above-mentioned company. The post above represents only personal opinion of the blog author.  You can find additional participating artists and their blogs on Artbeads' facebook page. 

    

10 comments :

Sandy Spivey said...

Beautiful Christine, as always. The richness of the colors is quite inspiring. And, you are right about Artbeads, their packaging is meticulous regardless of what you purchase.
I also wanted to compliment you on your pros. You write in a very eloquent manner!

Rose Clearfield said...

Gorgeous piece! I'm so glad that you're enjoying being a design partner. I've been one for over a year now, and it's been great. Art Beads is a wonderful site. :) I'll have my fall piece up on my blog later this week!

Unknown said...

Sandy,
Thanks so much for your kind words. To be described as eloquent was a great way to start my day and had me blushing with joy.
Christine

Distressing Delilah a.k.a. jenn said...

I need to get some beer now!! Love the little owl..and your extreme creativity!

Unknown said...

Thanks so much Jenn. You may find yourself spending an hour in the beer isle. I often get asked if I need help as I pull out each bottle to look at the cap. The store clerks must think I'm crazy, lol.

Unknown said...

Rose,
I loved your piece. There are so many inspiring pieces in this collection and I love, love, love the colors.
Christine

Griselda said...

OHH my goodness...I am enchanted with your work...just lovely!!
I am linking it to my blog if it is okay with you.

Bright Blessings
Griselda

Unknown said...

Griselda,
Thank you so much for visiting my blog and for your kind words. I'd be honored to have you link on your gorgeous blog. I'm taking a class this week with Anne Hesse to learn to learn to paint a polymer face. After all these years, I still have a hard time coloring. Your blog is very inspiring.
Christine

Ababeads said...

I love it!!!

gourdphile said...

Christine: Is it any wonder I, a fellow bottle cap fiend, adore you and your work? You paid ten bucks for two bottle caps.

You mined your mind, added the caps and produced treasure.

Peace,

jan