Hello dear peeps and welcome to the Bead Peeps Swap N Hop 17 reveal. This an annual virtual bead gala that is hosted by Linda Anderson of Cherry on Top Design.co where jewelry enthusiasts from across the globe come together to swap beads and hop blogs. My partner this year is Karin King of Maverick beads – The Sparkly things blog. I blogged about the Black, white and gray goodies that she sent me and the bead sets that I sent her in the intro post here.
When I first got my black, white and gray bead soup, I was excited. I often work with black and grey or white and silver/gray, however I stopped using black and white together in 2010-11. Most of my clientele prefers to pair my pieces with ethnic or traditional Indian attire, which seldom is black and white. The color combination never really sold for me. As a consequence I stopped using it.
The soup, though achromatic, was interesting in its own way. There were lampwork beads with patterns and solid lampwork headpins. There were beaded beads (made by Karin), wooden trinkets, and a whole lot of plastic beads in various shapes. The key question running through my head was – how do I put them all together? Does Lampwork really go with plastic?
In Black, white and gray
When I started working on pieces I had clear priorities. I wanted to make atleast 2 pairs of simple earrings and one necklace in Black, white and gray. The pieces would be completely achromatic with no other color whatsoever. In any case, I wanted to use only the beads from the swap which further simplified my decision.
I tried various arrangements before settling on the current asymmetrical pattern. More often than not, I am particular about rhythm brought about by repetition in my pieces. However, in this design, I tried to create balance even while breaking the rules of rhythm. I guess, it works due to all the visual movement in the piece. To me, the hero of this piece is the clasp and hence the design starts at the top of the clasp and ends at the bottom. The bead tassel, though resembling a focal is merely a lagniappe.
This necklace represents my state of mind and my life these last couple of months – Black and white with lots of gray. Toned down and muted yet trying to find a new, interesting way out. Not sure what that is, but sure that it will come.
My White moon and black pine earrings
The earrings were easy; I paired lampwork headpins with plastic beads and beaded beads. I wanted to use the headpin wire to make fancy earhooks (continuous earrings). However, that did not work out as the wire made my ears feel itchy. Ultimately, I ended up making simple artistic wire earhooks for them.
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Feeling a little mellow? Here, try some yellow
End of March, I thought that I was done and ready for the hop and was quite satisfied with myself for finishing early. I went back to check the rules of the hop and once again realised that I am bad at following instructions. This Swap N hop comes with a twist. We need to make something with the beads that we sent our partners. Ha, Ha, Ha!! Where in this big bad world am I going to find time for it, I thought, as my day job is smothering me with work.
For the swap, I had sent 2 sets of beads – yellows and blue – purples, green and red violets, plus fibres and components to Karin. I picked out the glass patterned glass beads and combined them with the big purple fabric beads. To create a kitschy asymmetrical design, I added another focal, a decoupage bead from Pricilla beads. I picked this bead with a print of Gustav Klimt (Of Eugenia Primavesi perhaps?) for my stash at beadfest as it was totally my style. The result is a vibrant, attention grabbing, chain and bead necklace. How do you like it?
To see what Karin made with the beads I sent her hop over to her blog. Do check out what all the other beaders made for some awesome inspiration. Moreover, this year it is not just a blog party but Swap N Hop 17 is on Instagram too. Do check out my photos on Instagram and show some love. Do share the pieces that I made and this post on Social media with the hashtag #beadPeepsSwapNHop17
Both the necklace are available for sale. Please email/msg me to buy
I hope you found it interesting
Cheers
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