Analogous Beaded Bead

My new beaded bead is all done- I can't wait to start using red in October!

Analogous Orange Scheme

After working in a monochromatic colour scheme for the past week and watching everyone else having fun with colour I'm itching to spice things up.

I'm still working on my Colour Challenge and the colour I'm using now is orange.

So far I've mixed it with blues for a complementary scheme, browns and yellow for a toned down look and pink with teal and gold for a sunshine look.

This time I have gone for an analogous scheme so am using red, orange and yellow.

Color by COLOURlovers

Onye 4

Well- she's all beaded now and I'm delighted with her.


This was a real lesson in perseverence as well as actually being sensible and think about what you're beading before you go down the wrong path- I would have saved myself a lot of unnecessary beading and chopping if I'd done that first.

I am really pleased with the way the colours worked out. That was my first hurdle as I wanted the piece to look green (a monochromatic scheme) but found that all of the greens I put with it just weren't the right one.
They were too blue, too yellow or even just too bright.
Eventually I settled on... gold

Ok, they're not completely gold but when looked at away from the beadwork they're definitely more a greenish-gold than a goldish-green. A lot more gold than they look in this first picture.

In this second picture you can see that whilst there is green in there they're definitely more gold- and there's lots of red and blues too.


But in the finished piece they look green- which works for me!

Work In Progress- Day 4

If you ever thought beadwork appears by magic prepare to have your illusions shattered!

So far I have chopped this piece up 4 times and I think I’m going to have to do it again.

I’m finally getting somewhere and love the colour but it’s what do I do next about the design.

You see I had got my maths all figured out so the number going around my central crystal is divisible by 6- except I now want to add 8 crystal around it.

I’m only 1 bead a row out.

That’s not much.

I’m going to chop it up anyway.

What would happen if I went along and cracked out 1 bead a row all the way across the width of my work?

Would I crack a wrong bead?

Would I snap a thread?

Would it ever work?

Would it always look wrong?

Am I just being lazy and should I bite the bullet and chop it all up again?

Eventually I reason: “Nothing ventured, nothing gained” and in I go.

Well, so far, so good.

I cracked out the beads- taking the first 2 rows down from 66 beads to 64 beads and wove and wove and wove through with a new thread before it all unravelled and fell apart (of course I snapped a few threads cracking the beads- I wasn’t going to get away with it that easily!)

It all seems to look ok and I’m now onto my 2^nd surrounding rivoli so fingers crossed it works out this time as otherwise I can see the crystal not surviving its rapid trip towards the nearest wall…

Work In Progress- Day 2

Still beading Onye version 4.

Ok, I then moved onto an emerald green which didn’t work.

Out came the scissors

Then a bluey-green.

Out came the scissors.

Why is it not obvious these don’t work until I have beaded at least 2 components which are all joined together?!?!

Now I have settled on a dark greeny-gold.

But it soon becomes apparent that though my maths are correct and I have the right number of beads etc, my geometry is a bit off- there is no way the number of surrounding rivolis I had planned will actually fit.

I had not taken into account the curvature of the large crystal being different.

Of course not- I’m just a simple beader!

As soon as I stand back and take a look at it I want to smack my own head as it is so obvious they wouldn’t fit (I’m too embarrassed to tell you how many I had planned!)

Why did I not take the simple step of laying the whole thing out flat and just seeing if it would work first?

Out come the scissors…

Work In Progress- Day 1

I’m off in Chichester again teaching a 6-day long geometric beadwork class and am really looking forward to spending all that time immersed in it and seeing what people produce (I will be running the same class again next year if you’re interested- who knows how it will have developed by then!).

Whilst I’m here I’m determined to get some of my own beading done and once again I’m working away on another Onye Pendant. This time though I’m using a much, much larger crystal for the centre.

My first problem is what colour to put with it. Of course most of my bead stash is sitting at home and try as I might I just can’t find the right green to use along the edge. This light one looked ok until I began adding extra rivolis around the outside edge and then it was obvious it was all wrong.

So out come the scissors…

Colour Project

I bought this frame on my way back from Liverpool and am itching to bead some panels to sit inside it- not sure it will work but will give it a go when I get a chance.

Colourful Liverpool

A vist today to the Tate Gallery in Liverpool to see their exhibition on colour. Unfortunately no photos were allowed.

These were some great pieces, especially 'Eight paintings with eight colours' by Katharina Fritsch, pieces by Gerhard Richter, some of Damien Hirst's 'spot paintings' and 'Zobop' by Jim Lambie.

Inspiring Orange

A visit to Arundel Castle and its gardens again today.

Last time I was looking for yellow but this time it was orange I was seeking out.



Also loved the texture of this bobbly plant


Great orange chillis


Loved this scheme- red, orange and yellow are to be expected but the added bonus of purple is fab!


A close up of the mixed scheme.


Purple and green- will file away for future use!