"Celebration" ~ Bead Embroidered Cuff Bracelet

"Celebration"

Many times my bead embroidery projects begin with a color choice.  Other times it's a special gemstone cabochon that I want to feature, and then I pick colors to enhance that particular piece.

With "Celebration" I turned to two printed artworks that I have saved for a few years because I loved the color combinations in both paintings.  One painting is by Thomas Cooper Gotch and it is called "The Child Enthroned." This artwork features a young girl wearing an elaborate robe and sitting on a throne with a halo behind her head. (Seen below on the bottom of the photo on the diagonal.)  The other painting is of a mother holding her sleeping infant.  This was a Christmas card, and unfortunately, I do not know the name of the artist or the title of the painting itself. [If you know, please tell me, as I'd love to know the name of the artist or the title of the painting!]

What these two paintings have in common is their similar "colorway."  Both paintings utilize the complementary colors of green and red - and in these two cases, the green leans towards turquoise, and the red leans toward orange.  The addition of a golden yellow and a creamy oyster color add to the harmony.

click on any photo to enlarge

Turquoise-green and red-orange (coral) are my two most favorite colors, so it's no surprise when I choose them for my bead embroidery.  As complementary colors, they sing in the presence of each other.  

The above photo shows the bead embroidered cuff bracelet flat on the beading foundation before it is attached to the brass cuff bracelet.  

Above photo and below photo show the finished cuff bracelet.

The central focal piece is a Jasper gemstone.  It is bezeled with turquoise colored cut crystals, topaz-gold colored cut Czech crystals, and 8 mm golden fossil beads. 

In addition, there are red glass faceted beads in a few sizes, Japanese glass Toho beads, four oval green glass cabochons, ivory luster fossil beads, two vintage green buttons, and four red-dyed Mother of Pearl buttons.

The inside of the cuff is green UltraSuede, and the outer edges of the cuff bracelet are finished off with a decorative picot edge.  

As in my other bead embroidery jewelry pieces, the backing I favor is by Nicole Campanella, and is called NBB.  Here, I used the Green Leaf color.  

For 13 additional colors of NBB, please check out her Web site at 

www.Beadwright.com

"Heat Wave" ~ Cinnabar Red and Gold Bead Embroidered Cuff Bracelet

                                 

"Heat Wave"

 Cinnabar Red and Gold Bead Embroidered Cuff Bracelet

 (click image to enlarge photos)

This bead embroidered bracelet is somewhat asymmetrical, although the design is balanced on both "sides" of the central gold leaf.  All of the red beads are RED - but as with most colors, there is a combination of the warm reds and the cool reds for added interest and texture.  The same can be said for the golds beads, which vary in shade, shape, matte, and shiny exterior.  Crystals and two uniquely shaped  AB faceted glass focal beads reflect light onto the bracelet.

The above photo (click to enlarge picture) shows the bead embroidered bracelet after the top stitching has been finished, but before the embroidered beadwork is attached to the inner brass cuff, and finally finished off with the inside UltraSuede and beaded edging.

The above photo (click to enlarge picture) shows the top center of the bead embroidered cuff bracelet which features a gold leaf enhanced by glass seed beads for "veins."  Along with the various shaped seed beads in red and gold, this bracelet has bamboo coral beads, crystals, pearls, and two AB glass focal beads on the sides.

This image shows the soft interior UltraSuede fabric, which is in a suble pattern like tooled leather, in a light gold color.  This a side view of the bracelet showing the various shapes, sizes, and colors of the beads embroidered. 

 A final photo of the cuff ends plus the picot edging, as well as four gold buttons can be seen here.  

* My right hand is still in a cast, so this bead embroidered cuff bracelet was made entirely with my non-dominant left hand.

"Truth and Beauty" ~ Scarlet and Midnight Bead Embroidered Cuff Bracelet.

"Truth and Beauty"

Scarlet and Midnight Bead Embroidered Cuff Bracelet.

click photo for larger image

Above is the Scarlet and Midnight Bead Embroidered Cuff Bracelet, "Truth and Beauty." It is difficult to get black stones to show up well. This cuff is mostly glass beads with some jet stones and onyx stones included, as well as crystals and pearls.  Inside the cuff is soft, black, UltraSuede fabric lining.

RED Tag Board

THE  RED  TAG  BOARD

click on photo for larger view

The RED Tag Board project came about simply because I had so much fun creating the Christmas Advent Calendar Tag Board, and I didn't want to stop making tags.  Being the overly-ambitious type, my first thought was to make a new and different Tag Board for each month of the year, and each month using one of my favorite colors, or color combinations for the tags.  I decided to start with red, my most favorite color, with turquoise following close behind (and no doubt coming up next.) 

Using the same board as my Christmas tags were pinned to, I simply turned it over and added a layer of polyester batting, a layer of flax-colored burlap, and a final layer of off-white burlap.  Then I stapled this down all around the edges, and finally hand-sewed a thin edging of crocheted lace in off-white to hide the staples. 

The tag board itself could display only 30 tags, not 31.  For purists, this means the months with 31 days are cheated.  Nevertheless, somewhere into the project the exact number of days and the idea of a tag calendar was lost, and the emphasis was instead on the display of the tags themselves.

Each tag is a miniature collage using my personal collection of ephemera and found objects.  Making these tag collages is such a fun and satisfying process ~ I'm already eager to begin the next batch.

*Click on the image to make it larger for viewing.