Beader's Block: Finding Inspiration

Do you ever get beader's block? Where you have one element, but just can't think of how to design around it?


I was having trouble trying to figure out how I was going to design a bracelet around this red fabric button. The color red was stumping me. I don't seem to use much red in my patterns, which I find strange since I really love the color. I went digging through my stash only to find that I did have a string of coral, but I wasn't sure the reds were going to work together. The coral is such a deep color that I worried it would completely overpower the focal button.   


I stared at the pile of coral for awhile. Sorting it by size, matching it to various other beads .... then I realized I could look for inspiration from my recent New Zealand trip. I got to thinking about the beautiful view of Auckland's North Shore. Each morning my sister and I would walk along beach looking for shells and checking out the sea life in the little estuaries that sit in the volcanic rock. You can see Rangitoto out in the middle of the Auckland Bay -- a dormant volcano -- that left behind all kinds of nature along the shore.


I went back at my stash to rethink what I should pair the coral with and ran across an old string of cowrie shells. One of my daughters used to love this necklace, but had long since abandoned it to one of my many bead drawers. Perfect!  I had my beachcombing idea.  I had also picked up a new pattern on my trip that I thought was a fun. It's called Garden Bracelet by The Bead Hold which I altered to be more of an underwater garden theme.

So without further ado, I finally have my 4th installment of the bracelets I'm designing for a friend who makes these beautiful buttons.  I'll be back with the 5th and final design shortly ... once I find some more inspiration.


Materials:
1. Navajo: Miyuki seed beads, Beauty button
2. Elizabethan: black banded agate, onyx, Miyuki seed beads, Beauty Button
3. St Petersburg: Miyuki seed beads, Czech beads, Beauty Button
4. Neptune: coral, Miyuki seed beads, cowrie shells, Beauty Button