Art Bead Palette :: JoyMunshower

Periwinkle Reticulated Octopus

I've had Joy Munshower's Etsy shop bookmarked for ages, and I had to share at least one of her pieces for the sheer artistry. Isn't that lampwork bead exquisite? The details are just incredible, and when I realize it's glass - I'm blown away, how about you?

These are one of those beads that I'd probably never use, but collect and frame instead. Talk about a little piece of art!

To see more, stop by Joy's shop.

Art Bead Palette :: RedStarArtBeads

Fox | Polar Bear | Hedgehog | Elephant

I came across these rustic animal beads from Red Star Art Beads yesterday and was thoroughly charmed. I love the texture of them, and the muted colors used are calling to me right now. Wouldn't it be a fun surprise to see one of these peeking out of a necklace or bracelet?

For more, be sure to click on over!

February Monthly Challenge Color Palette

This month's challenge piece comes from Edward Julius Detmold, and I love the reminder that spring is right around the corner, don't you?

This month, you want to focus most of your attention on shades of cream and coral, as those are the most prominent colors in the painting. And there are a lot of shades of coral to work with, too, from pale and toned down, to bolder and more saturated. The creamy parchment background has a little variation, but not too much, and tends to take a more muted, grayish cast than pure, bright cream.

If you're not familiar, coral comes from a mixture of red and orange. In this case, it's definitely more red than orange, and again, the saturation varies depending on the shade. This is good news for you, since you may or may not like coral (until a few years ago, I didn't), so there are some options here to play with if it's not a color you feel totally comfortable using.

Beyond that, we also have shades of green, from olive to sage, and touches of a reddish purple. That red-orange/green/red-purple combination is called a split complementary relationship in color theory, so it's naturally appealing to our eyes. This combination works because it's balanced.

Overall, I'm really drawn in by this month's color palette because we have a variation of values here, from pale to slightly dark. Which means you've got a lot of range to play with. Tell me, how do you feel about it?

January Monthly Challenge Color Palette

Happy New Year, ABS readers!

This month, we're working with this lively piece from Hundertwasser. I love bright colors all of the time, but probably never more than during winter when the weather's cold and nature's colors are muted. And this month, we've got as bright a color palette as we've ever had.

Pretty much all the colors of the rainbow are represented here in fully saturated hues, even touches of colors that I haven't included a swatch for, like olive green or pink. I look at this inspiration piece as anything goes, but if want to follow the color proportions faithfully, use a lot of orange - yellow orange, true orange, red-orange. Orange dominates the bottom two thirds of the poster with lines and shading, and the top third with shades of dark brown.

You might also want to use a lot of the aqua (second swatch from the bottom); that color is featured prominently, too, in solid squares and lines. And depending on how you choose to look at the poster, you could also include the dark gray/black of the background, too, either through beads or metal (like oxidized sterling silver). The dark gray helps all of the other colors seem that much brighter.

What colors are you feeling from this month's challenge palette?

Art Bead Palette :: StudioMarcy

Christmas Bunny Rabbit Snow Globe by StudiMarcy

On behalf of the ABS team, I just wanted to wish you a very Merry Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and Boxing Day! Thanks for all of your support this year!

Art Bead Palette :: CalypsoBeads

Summer Wine Lampwork Heart Bead

Is it bad to say that winter has pretty much just started, and I'm already over it? Not that I ever need a reason to dream of warm beaches, but Silke Buechler's shop, CalypsoBeads, absolutely fits into my daydreams right now.

To see more lampwork goodness, click on over to Silke's shop!

Art Bead Palette :: JimenasTreasures

Handmade Copper-Fiber Bead

I am absolutely smitten with the fabric wrapped metal beads from Jana of JimenasTreasures. The soft textures remind me of a cozy sweater, and the bright colors feels so festive for the holiday season. Out of all of the lovely listings Jana offers, this one is my favorite. How about you?

To see more, click on over to JimenasTreasures!

December Monthly Challenge Color Palette

Hey friends, happy December!

This month's challenge piece is all about subtlety because there are two main colors you're going to focus on: cool grays and warm browns.

For the cool grays, you want to go as cool as you can with them. The second and third swatches from the bottom have a touch of green in them, so as you consider your designs this month, keep that in mind.

If you love gray, you can work with both warm and cool shades. With so much gray, though, consider shades of brown instead. The top swatch reads like a muted red brown (taken from the clothes), and the third swatch from the top is essentially a shade of gold (from the hanging lantern). Why go for browns? Because these are really the only colors you'll get with December's challenge.

Because of that, you can really work on a strong design this month. Think architectural influences and strong lines. I love arches, so those would be a great inspiration. If you like patterns, take a look at the patchwork floor, or the repetitive columns.

With a quieter palette this time around, what's your influence this month?

Art Bead Palette :: Juliyamrboro

You all know how I love boros, and since today's Thanksgiving in the US, I thought I'd share this beautiful lampwork bead set from Juliyamrboro. Not only am I thankful to bead artists such as Yulia for creating amazing bead sets like this, I'm thankful to come across so many talented people in the online art world.

Plus, the colors remind me of the holiday. Gobble, gobble. And as always, stop by Yulia's shop to see more.

From the ABS team, we wish our American friends a very Happy Thanksgiving! What are you thankful for this year?

Art Bead Palette :: ZestyFrog

This week's art bead palette comes to us courtesy of ZestyFrog, a lovely ceramic bead shop run by Annica. In there, you can find all sorts of lovely ceramic beads in organic shapes and textures. That's definitely where Annica shines, in my opinion - all of her beads feel like little natural treasures.

For this palette, I chose Annica's organic medley bead set. The colors are fantastic and great for fall, what with the olive greens and mustard yellow. The possibilities for this bead set are incredible!

To see more, stop by Annica's shop! Which beads are your favorite?

Art Bead Palette :: Meital

We're trying something new here at ABS - weekly color palettes! I hope you're as excited for that as I am. We could all use some colorful, beady goodness, right? Right.

This week, I just had to share these colorful spacer beads from Meital Plotnik. Aren't they fun? I especially love the added touch of orange on each bead - so lovely and festive. Plus, the smaller size is a great way to dive into lampwork beads, if you've never tried them before.

To see more from Meital, stop by her Etsy shop.

November Challenge Color Palette

Out of all of the challenge palettes we've had this year, Cattleya Orchid and Three Hummingbirds by Martin Johnson Heade might be the one with the most colors. It's definitely the one with the most number of color swatches I've ever shown!

Normally, I aim for eight to ten color swatches for our monthly challenges (you probably noticed), because that feels like a good balance. Too many, and it starts to feel overwhelming. Too little, and we can't really capture the spirit of the painting with colors. With this painting, though, I felt we needed the extra colors to tell the color story.

To avoid feeling overwhelmed, keep in mind that the bulk of the shades we see come from red, orange, yellow, and green, and most of those are going to be darker, somewhat muted shades. Aside from the flower, the birds, and the hint of sunshine peeking through, Cattleya Orchid and Three Hummingbirds is pretty moody, so keep that in mind as you choose colors and beads for your designs this month.

The trick to using this as an inspiration is to focus on just a handful of colors that call to you, rather than trying to work with all fourteen. If you're liking the moodiness, stick with the swatches on the right. If you like the contrast between light and dark, pull from the swatches on the left and middle, like maybe the shade of light pink against the dark green (which works because they are complements!).

As for specific colors, choose different shades of olive green and warmer browns with red or orange undertones to capture the jungle/forest. Those are the two predominant colors, along with darker shades of gray. The rest - the pinks, purples, yellows, and reds - are just touches here and there against the dark green background; you can use them as you like.

Your turn! Which swatches are you feeling this month?

Art Bead Palette :: Margit Boehmer

Artisan Pendant

I came across the work of Margit Boehmer yesterday, and I just had to share it with you.

Everything about her work draws me in. From the geometric shapes and textures, to the unabashed use of bright colors. Margit is a color lover, too (which you know I love), and it shows in pretty much every polymer clay bead she creates. I'm especially a fan of her color combos, which are unusual and captivating.

Here's more:

Flower bead earring elements

Calypso beads

Spindle beads

Aren't they lovely? As always, there's far more than I can show here, so be sure to stop by Margit's Etsy shop.

October Monthly Challenge Color Palette

My favorite color palettes are the ones with a surprise, whether it's an eye-catching color combination or a beautiful color that pops. This month's challenge piece offers us just that kind of surprise!

When I first saw Milton Avery's Autumn, the vivid pink-purple in the middle of the painting caught me off guard (in the best possible way). Because the rest of the painting is very traditionally autumnal, that purple stands out, and would even if it was a slightly different shade.

Here's why it works: blue and orange are complementary colors, and so is purple and yellow. So, even though the purple looks a little out of place at first, it works very well with the oranges, yellows, browns, creams, and tans.

Those colors offer a great background for both the purple in the middle and the blue on the left, which are more saturated and cooler. The saturated yellow-orange, fourth swatch from the right, helps match the saturation of the blue and purple, too, giving the color scheme a sense of balance.

As you start designing, I think the key is finding the right shade of purple and using it right in the middle, like the challenge painting does. If you use gemstones in your work, you might want to consider a treated stone or glass for that purple, since that shade doesn't normally occur in nature; I've seen dyed chalk turquoise that could work, for example. Clay, whether it's polymer or ceramic, or artisan glass are also great places to start looking for it, too.

Happy creating!

September Monthly Challenge Color Palette

If you've been playing along with ABS during our monthly challenges, you'll know that our challenge paintings have been full of subtle colors the last few months. We're continuing that for September; in fact, September is all about muted shades.

As you can see in the above palette, I've pulled out every major color that's represented in Margaret Macdonald's "The White Rose and The Red Rose." The color swatches are pulled directly from the painting, as always, but you'll also notice that color amounts are going to be key to this month's challenge. Because while you can find the sage-y greens, reds, purples, and that bright blue, the majority of the painting are shades of cream, beige, tan, and gray.

So, if you love bright colors, you can use pops of them around your challenge piece against a backdrop of those muted beiges and tans - just like the challenge painting does.

But as I was putting together that first palette, I realized that while it's a faithful representation of the challenge painting, that bright blue was sticking out in a way that didn't blend well (for me) with the other colors. So, I created a second palette option that swaps out just the bright, saturated blue for a softer, calmer gray. Take a look:

What I like about this palette over the first is that all of the colors have the same saturation. None are too bold and bright, none stand out in a bad way. Instead, they all flow together well and in a way that makes sense visually. From strictly a color perspective, this palette matches the feeling I get from the painting better than the first, even if it doesn't represent all of the colors you can see in the painting.

But as always, it's your choice as the designer! Which direction do you plan to go on this month? What palette are you loving?

Art Bead Palette :: Beadwife

Sky Romance by Beadwife

Lilac Romance by Beadwife

Spring Romance by Beadwife

I'm really into aqua, green, and purple right now. This combination works because they're analogous colors, colors that sit right next to each other on the color wheel, so no matter the shades, it's going to look good.

I especially like the way Kalera Stratton of the Etsy shop Beadwife uses them in the lampwork beads above. Aren't they pretty? The speckles of color are fun, and the other touches of color - from the browns and oranges to the golds and yellows - make these beads really pop.

To see more from Kalera, be sure to stop by her Etsy shop! She's got a ton of gorgeous lampwork beads to pursue.

What color combination are you liking today?

August Monthly Challenge Color Palette

Hey ABSers, can you believe it's August already? I'm not entirely sure where 2014 has gone, to be honest. It's going by so fast.

But like always, a new month means a new beading challenge. And for those that like darker, slightly muted colors, you're in luck with Anne Redpath's "The Indian Rug" - this one's for you!

This month's challenge palette is a little different from past months in that the colors here are pretty set. There isn't a whole lot of deviation in the shades; a touch lighter or darker, and that's it. So, if you're going to be following along faithfully, you want to stick as close to the color swatches as you can. Darker and muted is the way to go this month; even the red, which is the boldest, brightest shade, is a bit muted.

As far as amounts go, use both the brighter red, purplish red, and dark yellow sparingly. The dark teal, the two blues, and grays are used most often. And speaking of the grays, not all are represented with a color swatch. If you'd like to use more, focus on the background of rug as inspiration. Use cool middle grays, and if you go darker, go with slightly warmer grays (like the part of the painting directly above the gray palette swatch).

While I normally go brighter with my color choices, this month's palette is just lovely. What do you think?

Art Bead Palette :: Orange, Peach, Copper, oh my!

Hipster Lampwork Glass Beads by GlitteringprizeGlass

Enara mini beads by GlitteringprizeGlass

Concave Crater orange focal bead by StudioTambria

Tumbling Dice Beads by TheBeadedBead

Beaded Beads set of 9 by TheBeadedBead

Hey art bead lovers! It's Brandi, here for a rare Sunday post because... I goofed last week and missed my scheduled day. Yeah, so that happened, which might be the first time ever. All I can say is that I've got summer brain right now, and focusing and remembering and doing anything requiring recollection is not my forte at the moment.

But I'm here today to share with you a few palettes to make up for it!

And actually, I thought I'd do something different today, in that rather than showcasing one shop, let me show beady goodness from a few. Mostly because I come across so many awesome shops doing these posts, and it's a good excuse to showcase a color combo I'm really liking right now.

Which would be pretty much any shade of orange.

This is a little strange to me; I'm not usually an orange person. I can handle coral, a little peach, and a touch of copper, but orange isn't usually what I gravitate towards. Ever. And yet, as I went searching for art beads today, I couldn't help but zoom right in on every shade of orange I saw. I just can't get enough of the warmth of it right now.

So, enjoy these lovely art bead-inspired palettes! You can find links to each shop directly under the photos, should you want to cruise on by and see more.

Tell me: what color are you digging right now?

July Monthly Challenge Color Palette

Whenever summer rolls around, I just want to be at the beach. That's how I spent my summers growing up (total water baby over here), so this month's challenge art work is right up my alley!

So, too, are the colors. Pretty much every color is represented in some form here, with the biggest amounts being shades of blue and green (my favorite), and the next being the purples.

The trick with this painting is to make sure not to go too bright or saturated here. Overall, this is a fairly muted painting and color palette, with dozens of subtle shades that blend into each other, versus boldly standing out. Keep everything toned down and cool - like choosing cooler yellow browns instead of warmer orange browns, and blue-purples over red-purples - and you'll be just fine.

You also want to watch the amount of colors you use. The red at the top, which is the brightest, most saturated of all the colors, is only used sparingly in small amounts; same goes for the yellow-y tan. But you can use as much blue, green, and purple as you like. Start with light to medium blues, medium to dark olive greens, and dark blue-purples, and go from there.

Your turn: what colors are you loving from this month's palette?

Art Bead Palette :: Ema K Designs

Organic Twists Focal

Refined Sphere Focal

This month's bead palettes are courtesy of ABS contributor, Ema Kilroy!

If you've been reading my posts for a while, you'll know that I'm crazy for lampwork beads - I just can't get enough. It's the colors that pull me in, and keep me mesmerized, then the textures, and finally the designs. So, when I went looking for inspiration for this post, I didn't have to look very far! Aren't these just lovely? I couldn't help myself.

And I'm curious - who are some of your favorite lampwork or art bead artists?

For more from Ema, be sure to check out her shop, Ema K Designs.