Welcome Back Guest Blogger and former Bead Maven Callie Mitchell :)

I must admit I was thrilled when Callie accepted my invitation to be a guest blogger...I loved working with Callie on the Mavens so it's great to see her back in a guest spot :)

Callie Mitchell

Many thanks to the fabulous Bead Mavens for inviting me to be a guest on their fabulous new blog!  This page is fast becoming a “go-to” site for all beaders interested in great design and the latest news in all things Beading.  It’s an honor to be here, and it’s great to have the Bead Mavens back again!

I’m also glad to be back designing again after a summer-long hiatus from beadwork. 

Sometimes it really helps recharge the batteries to spend a little time doing other things.  I find that I think about beadwork design almost constantly, even when I’m not actually at my work table with beads in hand. And my summer break was a good time to reflect on where I’ve been as a beader, and where I’ll head in the future.




Kathryn Howard Necklace

 When I got back to work, one of the first pieces I wanted to complete was the Kathryn Howard necklace.  For the past several years in an on-again, off-again way, I’ve been creating jewelry pieces to represent Renaissance Queens.  I’ve made a cuff for Mary Queen of Scots, a bracelet for Elizabeth I, and necklaces for Isabella of Castile and Catherine of Aragon.  Translating designs from other periods, made with different materials and techniques, is always a challenge.  I deliberately kept the palette soft and rather monochromatic in this design, as the details were quite varied – scalloped St. Petersburg chain, chaton-embellished structural component and natural pearl accents.  I was trying for a fresh and youthful, though elegant look.  The necklace is an investment in time to create, but it’s definitely glamorous. 



Carousel Cuff

 After Kathryn Howard, I wanted something simpler to work on.  Geometric beadwork designs are very much in vogue right now, and though my Carousel cuff isn’t a dimensional piece, it is every bit geometric.  I chose bold color palettes for this one, in primary colors and gold, as the shapes are geometric primaries in themselves – triangle, rectangle, circle.  As I worked on this piece, it struck me how much the design evoked childhood memories of a carousel, with pennant flags waving  in the breeze and shields brightly blazoned around its overhang.  Peyote stitch, both flat and circular, as well as brick stitch are employed in the design, and it makes up fairly quickly.



Noughts and Crosses Bracelets

During my “quiet time” this summer I also began to think about a future direction for my beadwork and found myself really going back to my roots as a beader.  I’ve spent a good bit of time these past few years exploring dimensional and complex designs and I find that I’m yearning for simplicity.  This week I worked up a new Tila bead design that fills this bill for me.  The “Noughts and Crosses” bracelet can be made in under an hour but is nevertheless richly textured and has, I hope, a “more than meets the eye” quality.  I chose really rich color palettes for this style, to act as a counterpoint to the simplicity of the design itself. I'll be working up tutorial for this fast and simple bracelet in the coming weeks.

I think simplicity in design can – and should – nevertheless be sophisticated and varied.  Designwise, right now I’m heading back toward basic ropes, flat work, beaded beads worked up in deep, rich colors, suitable for daytime, night time, any time. 

 I’m glad to be back at my beading table, and thanks for having me here, Bead Mavens!