CULTURES OF OUR WORLD:
Latin America
by Margie Deeb

Each Latin country has its bounty of spectacular colors and combinations. From Mexico all the way down to the southernmost tip of South America, the colors vibrate and sing. People paint their homes bright orange and pink. They stripe their blankets with Crayola-like hues, and there’s little backing off - most hues are at full strength! Softened cameo tones can be found, yet even the calmer tones are combined into bold high contrast schemes. Its a world alive with sizzling, festive colors.Continued

Aspirations

2008 Bead-It-Forward Breast Cancer Quilt Project
by Jeanette Shanigan

Two years ago via my monthly article in BeadBugle.Com, I announced a world-wide (via the internet) project to raise funds for breast cancer research. I asked folks to contribute small beaded squares which I would sew into beaded quilts. In turn these quilts would be donated and auctioned at the annual Bead Artists Against Breast Cancer event at the Bead & Button Show.  That first project of butterfly quilts was successful, but that success pales when compared to the overwhelming response this year.  This time I received 960 beaded rose squares, which I sewed into 20 beaded quilts! See all of them here: http://shanigansbeadshenanigans.com/BCQuilts08.html

The statistics for the quilts are amazing, too. 366 people contributed 960 squares; 133 people contributed more than one square. Contributors reside in 36 states, Puerto Rico and 9 foreign countries (Sweden, Germany, Ireland, England, France, Austria, Malta, Japan and Canada). The age range for contributors is 6 to 80-something; seven children, ages 6-15, contributed 11 squares. Most of the squares were done by females, but eight males contributed 13 squares. Continued.

Design

The Elements of Design: Size, Shape, Scale and Texture
by Lynn M. Dean

“I could never do that,” one of my students said emphatically.

“You could never do what?” I asked.

“I could never create a necklace like that.”

“All you do is string beads on tigertail,” I assured her. “If you can crimp, you can do it.”

“Oh, I could do that. But I could never design a necklace like that!”

Many people, it seems, have this same misconception. But I firmly believe that by understanding the principles of size, shape, scale and texture, and how they relate to one other, anyone can design not only a pleasing necklace, but one that “sings.” Size, shape, scale and texture are four of the five key elements of design. (We will explore the fifth, color, in more detail next month.) Good design is dependent upon how each of these elements plays off of the other, how they vary or repeat within a design, and how they compliment or contrast each other.. Continued

Not Just For Kids

Coiled Wire Rings
By Ann Turner
 

These colorful baubles are easy to make and will garner compliments wherever you wear them. They make a great gift, and can be made in almost unlimited combinations of colors to match almost any outfit. You can choose from a variety of wires such as plastic coated craft wire, Artistic wire, Brass, copper, 92.5, Gold or Silver plated wire, Steel wire or any combination of content that shares a common gauge and malleability (how pliant and workable it is) Continued

Excerpted from
The Beader’s Color Palette
(Watson Guptill, June 2008)

LIVING COLOR: The Briny Deep
by Margie Deeb

Poet Mary Oliver writes of the ocean “This enormity, this cauldron of changing greens and blues, is the great palace of the earth.”

A dazzling array of hues lurk beneath the ocean’s surface, many of which we may never see. Someone with an outrageous sense of color concocted this vast realm of pastels, muted shades, vibrants, and jewel tones that sway and swim in the currents. Flash photography allows us to perceive a sea creature’s true colors untinted by the veil of water through which we view it with naked eyes. Continued

Photography

Digital Photography For Jewelry & Things
By Sarajane Helm

Here's how to use a digital camera and Adobe Photoshop to create high quality images of your beads, jewelry and artwork in your own studio.

With Photoshop CS2, a Hewlett Packard Photo Smart camera with 5.5 mega pixels and a Digital Concepts Portable Lighting Studio I am able to take photographs of artworks large and small use them in many different ways. I didn't start out to be a photographer, but in the course of my work I've learned a few things that really help.

Here's what the product description says about the Digital Concepts PS-101 at Amazon.com :

The Digital Concepts PS-101 portable lighting studio is light weight and easy to setup. With built-in carrying case; includes 2 high-output lights with retractable legs, 2 colored backgrounds for contrasting light or dark objects, a mini tripod and nylon diffuser screen for balanced lighting portable lighting studio. Continued

About Style

About Style
By Ann Turner

I Owe My Fashion Insight to
Lucy and Ethel

I learned about the rarefied world of couture a long time ago from Lucy and Ethel in the mid-1950s. The enlightening episode was “Lucy Gets A Paris Gown”. As a youngster, I just thought it was silly, but somehow, that episode in particular made a lasting impression on me. As a young adult, I recalled its details when I participated in and learned about the fashion industry. I realized that there was more truth than fiction in the episode. Lucy knew where it was at, and like all good comedians, she worked with what she knew. Continued

To preview other Business of Beads articles click on the links below.

Copyright © BeadBabe Publications - Priceless International, Inc. All Rights Reserved