Thursday, February 21, 2013

How to Bead Away the Winter Blahs!

The exciting holidays are behind us; the Super Bowl is history; the novelty of the new snow blower has worn off; and worst of all, the Ground Hog has seen his shadow.  How do you face this long stretch of indoor winter living?  The first thing you do is get out your favorite summer clothes and lay them out on the bed, then get out your bead stash and start matching colors.  Ask yourself, when I am wearing this outfit in my new tan, ten pounds lighter after February and March at the gym, what bead accessory do I want to be wearing to make this outfit pop?  Perhaps you already have a favorite pattern, or you may decide to let the creative juices flow.  Either way, as you sit by the sunny window working on the "summery" project, you"ll find your winter mood softening, and your thoughts migrating to a beach somewhere.  The bracelet in the photo, entitled Brazilian Bangle, was inspired by a Carmen Miranda hat.  What could make you feel like a warm June day more than working with these colors?  The bangle band is done with cylinder and seed beads in a Crossover Ndebele pattern and it is embellished with SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS.