Amuse the Muse Monday - Marsala - with Rebecca of Songbead

Happy 2015 everyone! How's it going so far? There's not really been enough time to catch our breathe so far, but I hope you're feeling positive about the new year. It's just numbers after all, but I think everyone takes this opportunity to take a look around, dust ourselves off and work out what can be tweaked and enhanced for the new year. I think that when you're in the arts also, the year's end has a natural feeling of conclusion more than perhaps in other areas - a sense of some sort of line being drawn beneath the oodles of craft fairs and art markets, the end-of-year sample sales and suchlike. What next, I certainly find myself asking?

Well, one thing that is set already for 2015 is Pantone's Colour of the Year. Announced a couple of months ago by the Wall Street Journal no less, this year's colour is probably one you've already seen bobbing around on the inter-web, but just in case you've missed it, here it is:

What do you think? 

I must say, I'm less inspired by Pantone's 'flat' version of it (is it a tone? is it a tint? You'll have to ask Brandi!), their Facebook profile picture:

It seems very dull here, perhaps a colour that could be used within a colour palette, but not strong enough (for me) to be a contender for colour of the year. 

But the more intense version, as shown in the first picture and also here:

is much more my cup of tea - or should I say, Marsala! I particularly love it above, paired with that vivid duck-egg turquoise. I can see this being a much-visited palette throughout the year. 

I also love it here, in this more monochromatic photograph - just a little cool blue off-white at the top there. 

Pantone have also made this little collage, which they say this of:

"A rich contrasting color, Marsala is ideal for use in graphic design and packaging. Eye-catching, but not overwhelming or bright, consumers are immediately drawn to the hue, making it an alluring shade at point-of-purchase."

What do you think about Marsala? If you're on the fence, I suggest checking out Heather Powers' board of 'Wine Color Palettes' over on Pinterest for some major inspiration. 

There you go, a little introduction to the colour of the year, according to Pantone. Is it a colour you'll be using? Are you drawn to it? Or does it make you switch off? (I must admit to having felt like that about Radiant Orchid, 2014's colour of the year). 

And you've guessed it, this month's Muse posts are going to be all about Marsala, or red wine-toned beads. I'm excited to explore this new colour for a new year - how about you? 

Here are just a few to get us started:

Hollow polymer lentils from Orly Fuchs Galchen.

Ceramic bracelet bars from Captured Moments.

Polymer Songbird Totem Set from Humblebeads.

Don't forget to share your own marsala bead links in the comments below - I'd love to see what you've found. 

And now for the BeadBlogger Links. Have a great week!

Pinterest Tips and Most Pinned 

Pinterest is terrific if you know how to use it efficiently and how to avoid spammers, like fake followers trying to get information about you. If you have a business website, Pinterest is a goldmine of market information.

Craft Supply Giveaway

In this 11th episode of Crafty Princess Diaries Podcast, find out about a new crafting giveaway for Jan. 2015. 

Art Bead Scene

Check out our last challenge recap of 2015! Erin has made a beautiful slideshow.

 Rebecca is a Scottish jewellery designer; currently living in Edinburgh, capital of her native land. You can read more about her and her work at her blog, songbeads.blogspot.com and see more of her jewellery at songbead.etsy.com. She also has a supplies shop at thecuriousbeadshop.etsy.com.

Pantone's 2013 Fall Colors

Pantone released their 2013 Fall Color picks back at the beginning of February, but I've been sitting on this post for a couple months now. Mostly because I really loved the Spring Colors and I wanted to enjoy them for a while. And partly because I didn't want to think about fall yet.

But because creatives work several months in advance, and some of you might already be working on (or planning) fall pieces and shows, let's go ahead and talk about the fall colors.

Very simply put, I love them. Love them. Take a look:

Overall, they've got a cooler tone to them, but a few are still nice and saturated (my favorite kind of color). Compared to Fall 2012, I like these colors better. They're more saturated and closer to colors I personally favor, where Fall 2012 seemed a little dull to me. I'm also loving pretty much every shade, versus last fall, when I didn't immediately react to choices like Honey Gold or Rhapsody. What do you think about this year's picks?

What I'm especially loving are the quasi-neutrals they included: Linden Green, Deep Lichen Green, Turbulence, and Carafe. I had a feeling those four colors will be so beautiful next to any and all of the other fall colors, so I starting playing with those first.

And I think I'm right - those neutrals/quasi-neutrals look fantastic with pretty much anything they're paired with, which is great for color lovers like us since we can match up any other color to one of them and have it look good. Fall is usually when I start reaching for neutrals/quasi-neutrals more, so having more than one option is nice, too.

When I was playing with the swatches, I did have one surprise: I kept reaching for Vivacious a lot. I knew I'd be reaching for Samba and Koi, as those are deeper, richer versions of Poppy Red and Nectarine (which I'm a big fan of), and I love pretty much any blue, so Monaco Blue was a given. But Vivacious caught me off guard.

At first, I didn't think I'd like it much, but the more I look at it, the more I think it's beautiful. And it pairs really well with other colors, especially Deep Lichen Green, Turbulence, and Carafe. Those are my favorites to use with Vivacious because they really let it shine without taking anything away from it.

So while I obviously used Vivacious a lot, I also had fun pairing up the other colors, too (can you tell?). I can't get enough of the blue-gray Turbulence, or the gray-greenish Deep Lichen Green. If I had to pick a favorite neutral, it's a dark gray, so it's fun to have two shades to play around with.

Your turn: what's your favorite Fall 2013 color? Favorite pairing?

Emerald City - Pantone Color of the Year

If you've been following trends, you know that Pantone, the color forecast experts, have declared Emerald as the color of the 2013.  Hmm, emerald - really?  You may have thought the same thing.  I'm way more into the warmer, yellow/olive greens than this cool jewel tone.  But with a little Pinterest inspiration I found a few fun ways to access this trend and keep my own design style. I focused on four emerald inspired themes to share my inspirations with you today.

Beads pictured above: (left to right) NiNisBeads, Alisha White, TinasBeadMind

Zen Garden

For the Zen Garden inspiration I picked a lotus focal from The Classic Bead that surprise - doesn't have any green. You can pair up stoneware influenced pieces in gray, browns and muted white-washed tones.  And then add in some emerald green stones beads for a fresh pop of color.  Totally modern and totally zen.  I love it!  I picked faceted emerald beads from FabulousRocks, but any emerald color stone would work. 

 Garden Gate

Oh, I know what you are thinking looking at this inspiration photo - brass filigree!  Yes!  It's such a great combination with emerald green.  In fact Vintaj did a whole series on emerald green and you can see a few of those designs here.  So add in rustic elements with brass, amber colors and dark browns to temper the bright green.  Lampwork flowers from Susan Sheehan, emerald green lampwork spacers from Lampwork by Amy.

 Emerald City

I love this architectural inspiration.  Take your cues and go with monochromatic shades and dip into the lighter shades of emerald paired with the brighter.  Find beads with graphic shapes and outlines and pair them up with faceted beads.  Use clasps and findings that echo the graphic design elements.  I love these lampwork beads from Heather Behrendt that remind me of these windows paired up with semi-translucent faceted stones like these emeralds from CherishedFew. 

Forest Finds

Okay, this is more my comfort zone.  Add emerald green to those warmer, earthy hues of olive and forest inspired finds. Sneak in some yellow or yellow-green to brighten up your palette. Pair them up with rustic brass wire and woodsy findings like metal branch connectors to give your emerald greens a rich and rustic feel.  A fern ceramic pendant from Kylie Parry would be so cute matched up with a mix of green Czech leaves from YashmaCreations, it doesn't take much emerald to grab hold of this trend. 

So if you haven't been feeling Emerald green I hope I inspired you to give it a second look, because you'll be seeing it all year round!  

The inspiration photos are from the Art Bead Scene's 2013 Spring Trends Pinterest Board, unfortunately the photos can not be credited back to their original source.  Sorry!

Pantone's Color of the Year: Tangerine Tango

Handmade Lampwork Glass Bead... mermaidglass $17.00	ORANGE CRUSH FLOWERS Lampwor... SerenaSmithLam... $12.00	Scarlet Orange Enameled Cone... NadinArtGlass $6.00	Lampwork Focal Bead -Coral D... PowersArtStudi... $25.00
Handmade Round Raku Clay Bal... funkyprettybea... $6.00	Glass lampwork beads Rustic ... radiantmind $4.75	Lampwork glass headpin / Mix... GardanneBeads $10.00	Artisan Handmade Lampwork Gl... squirrelylumpk... $15.00
Yellow Orange Vintage Brass ... missficklemedi... $10.00	Small Pendant Art Nouveau St... maryhardingjew... $10.00	Copper Leaf Pendant humblebeads $14.00	2 Large Rectangle Curved Bea... CapturedMoment... $5.99
On Sale 30% Off Handmade Lam... NomadCraftsEtc $7.00	Big Handmade Brass-Fiber Bea... jimenasjewelry $26.00	Lampwork Carnelian Dragonfly... kerribeads $95.00	Glass lampwork Head Pins Apr... radiantmind $9.25

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

Are you ready to dance?  Tangerine Tango is an energetic color that adds a pop to any jewelry design.  Go all out with a sun kissed creation or add in bits of the orange as accents.  Pair tangerine up with teal and grey for the modern palette.  Or go with greens and browns for an earthy creation.  Pick a sherbet colorway and add in yellows, pinks and purples for a combination that is ready for spring.

Pantone's Color of the Year

I'm feeling sunny already!

Color of the Year: Honeysuckle

Pantone has picked Honeysuckle as the 2011 Color of the Year.  They state, "Honeysuckle emboldens us to face everyday troubles with verve and vigor. A dynamic reddish pink, Honeysuckle is encouraging and uplifting. It elevates our psyche beyond escape, instilling the confidence, courage and spirit to meet the exhaustive challenges that have become part of everyday life."

What can I say, who knew the power of color could be so, um powerful.  Need a shot of elevating, confidence-instilling pink in your creations but really not a 'pink' kind of gal?  Let me break it down into a few manageable color palettes and show you how I have added in some of this potent honeysuckle to my designs.

First up, a sugary sweet mix of honeysuckle and teal are tempered by neutrals with the brown lotus pod beads and matte silver components.  Even though pink is the dominant color, the intensity of the teal takes away some of it's thunder, offering more of a Spring color scheme rather than screaming "I'm wearing a pink heart!".

Diane Hawkey pendant, Humblebeads disk beads and egg.

This design uses the honeysuckle as an accent to the navy, melon and cream palette.  The pink rhodonite beads are combined with peach aventurine and gunmetal findings. 

The flower connectors are Arte Metal from Vintaj.  The pendant is from Gaea and the navy blue disk beads are Humblebeads.

The pink beads above, left to right: Jubilee, Spirited Earth, Humblebeads, Diane Hawkey and Lynn Davis.

Want more color inspiration? Check out Kuler where you can find color palettes based on honeysuckle and create your own.  Warning - don't click this link unless you have time to spare, it's too much fun!

Fall Color Inspiration

Oh, color - it is such an exciting part of our job and yet it can sometimes be completely overwhelming.  Some designers have a natural instinct for color.  Others struggle, some search out the experts for helpful advice, some pull out the color wheel and rely on the faithful results of color theory.

Wherever you fall on the spectrum, you can find endless opportunities for color inspiration using Pantone's Color Forecasts.  You can download the Fall 2010 Forecast here.  I wrote an article with tips for using the fall color palette, jewelry samples and a printable color worksheet.  You can view them on my website here.  

I think the hardest part of seeing a list of colors, like the palette above, is trying to figure out how they translate into beads and jewelry. 

I've gathered 4 examples from our ABS Contributors to help inspire your color adventures.   

Erin Prais-Hintz combined golden glow, endive, oyster gray and chocolate to create a monochromatic design that is anything but boring!  This necklace sings a fall color melody that hits all the right notes.  Art bead: Humblebeads.

Next Lori Anderson has paired a lovely collection of art beads offering just a hint of color in this light and airy collection.  The earthy palette mixed with creams whisper a softer expression of fall designs.  This would be a great transition piece as we move from summer to crisp fall days. I could see it paired with a gray cardigan and your favorite jeans. Here we see oyster gray, a darker shade of purple orchid, chocolate, lagoon and a hint of golden glow in the accent beads.  Art Beads: Floridity and lampwork by Lori Anderson.

Lorelei Eurto has gathered together a mouth-watering combination that is inspired by the fruits of the season and the trees associated with them. There is a delicious play of lipstick red and chocolate truffle that add zing to this design.  Touches of oyster gray, endive and lagoon add depth to this playful palette.  Art beads: Jade Scott and Earthenwood Studio.

Shannon Levart offers a reserved color palette that is anything but boring.  What creates such visual interest in this design?  Texture!  Shannon brings color into her findings with a dark chocolate truffle patina that echoes the details in the light golden glow of the wing pendant. The stone egg in shades of oyster gray provide another contrast of texture. She named this piece Transcend and the colors do offer a heavenly combination! Art bead: Earthenwood Studio.

(You may notice two additions to our sidebar and I'd like to officially welcome Lori Anderson and Erin Prais-Hintz as regular contributors. We loved them so much as guest writers, we just had to snatch them up to write for you on a regular basis!)