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Add rich jewel tones to designs

By Bethany Waldrop Keiper

As you look through the sweeping racks of new clothing this autumn season, dark chocolate browns, blacks, and shades of gray are everywhere. But dotted in the midst of the solemn hues are rich jewel tones of color. Glowing sapphire, topaz, amethyst, and emerald are just a few of the lovely surprises hiding between the dark standards. These beautiful jewel tones are the perfect foils for gray or black neutrals.

Texture is also important, and you can find wonderful textured beads in rich colors. Traditional Czech firepolished beads, with their sparkling facets, have a great texture, and are ready-made to add both texture and color to your designs.

Czech beads come in lighter and darker shades of the more red-based purple, amethyst, for the gemstone they match. There are other firepolished beads in a larger variety of purple shades, but many of these are clear beads that have had a color coating applied. Some of these shades can appear more blue than purple in different types of light, especially violet and tanzanite. But however they are made, these beads are perfect for designing pieces to match the jewel tones popular this year. Cranberry, fuchsia, light rose, berry, grape and amethyst are all beautiful choices. Some of the colors just look so juicy and sweet that you almost want to taste them.

Sometimes the texture of a bead comes from the bead's appearance, rather than the way it feels to the touch. The rich hues in a dichroic bead give it a facetted appearance, when it is actually very smooth.

This flat heart midnight rainbow dichroic bead combines many lovely jewel tones all in one. Amber and rich dark ruby, topaz and sapphire, and even hints of emerald are all found in this glowing bead. Remember that it needs a thicker gold chain to balance its weight. This heart will match many of the jewel tones you wear, but will look equally nice with black, and will bring a deep glow of color to a black turtleneck.

Fashion forecasts have predicted that plaid is back and is considered to be the print of the season. Plaid is great for making custom designs. Try making bracelets with a sparkling bead for each color represented in the plaid, separated by gold or silver accent beads, or have the beads dangling from a playful charm bracelet. You can use gemstone beads, Czech firepolished beads, or smooth rounds to create this look. There are so many types of beads, you can easily find many pretty textures for a design like this.

Another color in this year's fashion rainbow is burnt orange. Take this rich color and pair it with thick gold. This hue reminds me of my very favorite color of autumn leaves. This "charming" bracelet will match this color perfectly or provide the perfect contrast for sapphire blue or deep amethyst clothing. Charms in an array of this shade will be eye-catching with any shade of orange you choose. Two-toned beads are some of my favorites for charms. They give you twice the options in both color and shape.

Flat Heart Midnight Rainbow bead courtesy of the Bead Peddler.

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