Yellow Sunflower Cuff

Last weekend I needed a pick me up from all the snow that is now piled up around me.

I've had this beautiful yellow flower cabochon from Lisa Peters Art. This cabochon reminded me of the sunflowers we grow each summer. However, yellow is a really difficult color for me to incorporate into my pieces so this beautiful cabochon has been waiting to be used. I pulled out my trusty color wheel and decided to pair the yellow cabochon with purple. The color combination provided me with that color pick me up.

I decided to embroider the yellow cabochon with bronze seed beads. I wanted to mimic the feel of flower petals so I added the two rows of fringe beads in bronze and rainbow opaque. The centerpiece is attached to a metal cuff that was covered with genuine purple leather. The underside of the cuff is lined with lavender ultrasuede. You can see more pictures of the cuff here.

If you'd like to see more of Lisa's work, you can find more of her lovely beads, buttons, and cabochons here.

Perfect Autumn Day Part 2

Luck was on my side. We got a second beautiful day. With my camera battery now charged, I ventured out to capture some of the beauty.

Inspired by the colors of the season, I pulled out this cabochon that I bought months ago. I personally find working with red and yellow very difficult. I've challenged myself in the past and haven't been happy with the results.

I purchased this cabochon months ago and I have two round ones that match it. It reminded me of a sunflower. I purchased it from Lisa Peters. You can check out more of her beautiful handmade ceramic beads, buttons, pendants, and cabochons at her shop here.

I'm happy with the results so far. This is going to become a bracelet, which I hope to finish this week and will post the results when it done.

Do you have a color that you find difficult to work with? Have you overcome your color issues and how did you do it?

Color Inspiration

Nature is a great source of inspiration. Right now I can take a quick little stroll and see so many colors, shapes, and textures. Today was no exception. Our gardens and field are filled with so much color right now, it's hard not to find something to spark a new idea. I thought I'd share some color inspiration with you. 

Where do you find inspiration?

 

Tiger Lilies

This past weekend the tiger lilies bloomed. They are everywhere. We have a line that surrounds our small garden near our house, but you can see them everywhere along the roads right now too. 

Orange and yellow are not at the top of my list of favorite colors, but I can't deny that these are beautiful flowers. I now feel challenged to try beading something using the same color combination as these lilies. I find yellow a really difficult color to work with in beading. I'm sure that is because it is not one of my favorite colors, but I also struggle to figure out how to complement it with other colors. I took a few moments over the weekend to study these flowers and I'm warming to the idea of yellow and orange. Maybe it is the deep red that separates the two. I have a few other projects in the works, but my head is now filled with a number of ideas. Oh, only to have more time to bead.

Is there a color that you find hard to incorporate? Have you been able to overcome it?