Have we talked about bead finishes?

I walked into my studio today and the morning sun was pouring in from the East. (Because I still haven't put up curtains on that side of the room...) I had a small bead embroidered wall piece leaning against the back of my table, ready for hanging.


Click the image for a closeup

I confess I hadn't looked at it closely in a long time, but today the bead surface finishes really played across the whole (little) composition. Do you see how each different color above tends to come forward or recede? That's primarily due to the beads' surface finishes.

Click the image for a closeup

Can you see the differences in the bead surfaces, and how they reflect and absorb different amounts of light? Even the differences between the plain old opaque beads (the teal/turquoise blue above the green) and the opaque luster beads (the green beads) stand out differently because of their finishes.

This all made me realize that I don't talk about bead surface finishes much in the current incarnation of  my color theory class, now that I've migrated from lecture to hands-on workshop. So I thought I'd talk about it here over the next few days.

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Vegan Bone Beads

I scarfed up a hefty pile o' these wooden alphabet beads over the weekend because of one thing -- the rounded edges on the cubes! (Ya never know what will finally tip the pocketbook open.) But there was something.. I dunno... bland about them in their pristine state.

So last night I dunked a handful into a cup of hot chai tea, and here's what I scooped out this morning:

Bravo! Nicely tinted! Encore!

I like. The antique-y look of bone, without those pesky animal parts.

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A Few New Things in my Shop This Week

Too many new items this week to show them all here ... so how 'bout a little sampling?

Antique Sripada Coin Silver Pendant

from Rajasthan, India

Vintage glass chandelier crystals

Bright Sky Blue Vintage Couture Sequins

Vintage woven Southwestern retro trim

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La Llorona

Just added La Llorona images to my Bead Art page.

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Nikia's Buttons

Ooooh, lookie what I got from Nikia tonight!

XL Czech glass button. I'll probably use it as the centerpiece on

a bead embroidered cuff. For the money, you get maximum bling

and with minimum effort since the button fills so much space.

Wow. Crazy beautiful in real life.

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