Colors of Fall

I love autumn! Nature seems to explode in a riot of colors as berries, fruit, nuts and grain ripen and leaves erupt in a flash of changing colors just before trees and shrubs go to sleep for the winter.

Swarovski Crystals not only capture these colors of fall, but their sparkle resembles morning sunlight on nature's dew-kissed bounty.



ArtBeads.com's blogging for beads theme is Colors of Fall, and they graciously supplied me with these gorgeous fall colored Swarovski Crystals and the antique gold Bali style ring and toggle clasp.

I chose 4mm bicones in 5 colors.  Moca, hyacinth, fire opal, citrine, and olivine.  The moca wasn't available in the new 5328 Xillion cut, so I took a 5301 in the moca.  I found that is is just a little bit shorter than the Xillion cut.  It worked well with the other colors in the modified apache leaf pattern shown in the first picture, but not too well in the double flat spiral shown in the second picture.  I used just the last four colors in that one and closed it with a round floral copper box clasp.

This is the first time I've tried to design with colored Swarovski Crystals.  I usually use the crystal AB in more elegant and formal designs.  I find the brilliance and depth of color in these beads striking.  They made up into beautiful, sparkling, casual, fun bracelets.

I like the new Xillion cuts better every time I use them.  They don't have the sharp edges around the holes so you really don't have to buffer them with seed beads if you don't want to and their sparkle and shine is just amazing.

This blog post is my honest evaluation of the supplies I received from ArtBeads.com.  They do not pay me to blog about their store, but  occasionally supply the materials free of charge for evaluation.