Indian summer at the door!

It's already autumn outside... the grass is getting yellow... the leaves turn to red, brown and yellow... Some people can say, the nature is dying, I say it's falling asleep, and it makes us enjoy with its fantastic, cheerful and festive colors - Indian summer at the door!


When the sun rises, autumn colors flash out showing fall beauty, and water drops after night rain sparkle like diamonds! I like this season, and once I've already created the Autumn Splendor Necklace. This year the spring was pretty long and cold - but the fall is warm and beautiful, that's why I returned to the autumn theme.


Remembering my Tropical Blossom Necklace, I decided to use Swarovski pendants again, and that brought me to Artbeads.com. My husband said, "Good choice!" I have no idea what he meant, whether Artbeads.com or beautiful pendants they sell. In general, it doesn't matter, I found out what I was looking for.


I received red magma, olivine, light topaz, and copper Swarovski crystal pendants, and bought silk ribbons of bright autumn colors at the closest craft shop. Appropriate Czech glass teardrop and leaf accent beads, and TOHO 15/0 yellow and green seed beads should have been good much to my staff.


I wrapped up memory wire blank necklace and used it as the base of my piece, and embellished it with Czech beads; then I wound it with bead strings and made fringes with crystal pendants. The last touch was the brass leaf closure. The necklace could be named Autumn Wreath, but I call it Indian Summer, because Indian summer is outside!

Disclosure. Being a reviewer of Artbeads.com products and a participant of its blogging program I received Swarovski crystal pendants free of charge. This post reflects my honest opinion; and Artbeads.com is not compensating me for my endorsement as it pertains to the products received and reviewed.

Fall/Winter Color Trends Forecast

Swarovski has released its version of a Fall/Winter Color Trends Forecast. I like the fact that they have supplied suggestions for contrast colors. This handy guide will help you design jewelry for your own winter wear, and winter craft sales, that will have a better chance of (a) matching customer’s new outfits, and (b) fitting in to their perceptions of what is currently fashionable.

There are quite number of companies that offer color trend forecasts to the fashion and home design industries. One of the best-known is Pantone. These firms churn out reports several times a year, often charging big bucks for them. They employ fashion designers, magazine editors, photographers and artists. These experts watch fashion trends in Europe and the Americas carefully. Some companies even create trend reports specific to locales such as individual cities or countries. All are dedicated to creating condensed reports on what’s happening in diverse arenas, from haute couture runway shows to the homemade innovation of street kids’ fashions.

I have a friend who is a veteran of the garment industry, and I asked him about these reports, and whether he thought they weren’t creating self-fulfilling prophecies. After all, if everyone reads them, and follows them, then the trend predictions will come true, right?

My friend shrugged. “Who knows? I think they are an aid for the mass market fashion industry to show a cohesive vision. When you go to the mall, you will see similar color stories in a lot of different stores. This means you can buy separates from different designers and still coordinate them.

“But not everyone follows these reports. The great fashion houses and up and coming avante garde designers go their own way. They inspire future trends. When those trends finally filter down to popular fashion, the really original designers have moved on.”

So should you take this Swarovski color report seriously? I would look at it more as a possible guide. If the colors don’t excite you, go your own way. That’s what the best innovators do.

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Noble Luster Necklace

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Tropical Blossom Necklace

I had a dream - to create a necklace using mostly Swarovski crystals. Of course, with seed beads together! Artbeads.com declared October as their month of Swarovski, and I didn't want to loose such a great opportunity. They have over 5,000 different items from Swarovski including beads, pendants, rhinestones, buttons, chain and more. In other words, everything you need to design the most dazzling jewelry!

I received from Artbeads.com different Swarovski crystal beads (Margarita Bead Jet and Margarita Bead Siam of different size), rivolis (Rivoli Siam, Rivoli Padparadscha, Rivoli Black Diamond), and amazing Aquiline Pendants, added bicones I've already had, and started working.


I must confess, it was a pleasure to work with Swarovski! Though I'm not a fan of bright sparkling beads and elements, I can sometimes afford to work with such materials, right? The name was born easily: Tropical Blossom! I think, it's fine for my necklace.