.: Beading and the Bead Thief

Friday, February 26, 2010

Beading and the Bead Thief

I recently ordered an assortment of beads to try on the wedding gown; I was wanting white pearls and crystals. In looking through the catalog for "white" pearls, what a surprise - I thought white was white, but not so. There's parchment, Victorian, champagne, cream, off white etc and crystals - the same thing. So being the obsessive person that I am, I had to order a strand of each to preview. I'm only going to do this once, so I want it to be the best choice. I ordered from Fire Mountain Gems and Beads - a lovely company. My order came wrapped in tissue and Packed with Love.

A great assortment of crystals...

and pearls. I can't wait to make samples.

I pinned the pearls in strands against the silk and lace and shared with some friends for input.

I then made samples for my daughter to see.

All were pretty but as I worked with each color and size I began to have favorites - very strong favorites. Below is the white pearl; yes...just white and the crystal is an aurora borealis in 2x which is twice the amount of coating and sparkle. It looks pink on the lace.

I chose 2 different sizes to preview - the 3mm and 4mm in both the crystal and pearl. I found the 3mm to be a really good size - not overpowering but still very obvious.

One of the crystals was "rosewater". I thought that sounded pretty and maybe just a hint of a pastel might be nice, but after sewing it down, I didn't care for it.

I worked with champagne and Victorian colored pearls. I liked the antique look but thought they were a little too dark.

The parchment pearls were nice - a little bit of an antique look but not too dark; they were one of my favorites.

The crystal AB is an aurora borealis without the extra coating. It gives a nice sparkle without being over powering.

In my mind, I decided on the white or parchment pearl and the aurora borealis crystal, both in 3mm. I was anxious to see what Jill wanted. It's her decision, but I hope - have my fingers crossed - she likes the ones I do. It's just more fun to work with your personal choices - AND she loved the same ones. She suggested a mix of the parchment and white pearls, having more white than parchment. I thought that was a great idea. So back to the catalog to order LOTS of pearls and crystals.

My cat Molly, not quite 2, loves to get into mischief especially when I'm around. She found the samples of pearls... hmmmmm, deciding on which ones to take.