Getting Inspiration from Nature
written by: Marc Stevens: Jan 8, 2012

A lot Jewelry designers get their inspiration from nature and the things around them. Its no secret that designers like Torry Burch get their inspiration from nature and culture. She usually prepares a set of pictures and even post them in her blog as a reference for her seasons collection. You can see from her gallery of pictures how she came with certain beautiful pieces as part of her collection.

A patch work of photos or just a single photo can make a great reference guide to your creation. Even if your just choosing a pattern of colors for your new design its great to base your colors on something natural.

The colors from nature tend to flow smoothly and can be a great guide. Even if you are looking for clashing colors you will find an unless supply from the seasonal changes that happens every year.

Man made structures and color combinations tend to clash at times unless they were done properly to conform to particular set of tones. Old civilizations tend to get their jewelry designs from the simple things around them.

The pre-columbian jewelry for example have gotten their inspiration from birds and insects. When you look at them today you can see how timeless their designs have become that they look great even hundreds of years later.

Basic Guide to Natural Beads
written by: Sara Soretti Jan 5, 2012

In the history of bead making, one of the oldest form of beads found were multiple bone more like fragments with a holes in them to insert a vine or leather.

These early forms of beads have been found all over the world in different material varriations from shells in sea side communities, wood and even minerals from mountain communities.

These simple start of bead making has been the foundation to what bead making is today. Bellow are some of the basic beads made from natural materials. There are so many materials that can be made from natural materials that the bellow for sure will be incomplete.

Seeds and Nuts Beads

South American cultures and American Indians have used a lot of renewal forest materials for all kinds of applications. Seeds and nuts have been some of their favorite materials they use to create beautiful beads from small colorful seeds.

Some larger nuts were carved into beautiful shapes and colored with natural dyes found in their area. Different tribes use certain colors also to differentiate themeselves from their neighbors.

Shell Beads

Beads from shells has fueled the rise of bead making from South East Asia. Countries like Thailand, Philippiens and Malaysia have been creating thousand of shell beads from different species. The abundance of shells and even left over shells has made the industry one of the largest bead manufacturing.

Mother of Pearl a favorite inlay for middle eastern countries come from left over shells from Pearl farms all over Asia.

Wooden Beads

Beads from wood have been a great supply of beads. Wood from coconut trees have been used for making tribal necklaces and bracelets. In Africa and certain part of Asia, ebony wood that produces naturally black colored wood has been a prized material for all kinds of beads.

Coral Beads

Altough corals being used as beads is no longer permited in most parts of the world. Certain countries still use them to create unique pieces of beads and jewelry components. Coral can't easily be cultured and its destruction can cause dead zones under the ocean void of all living things.

Bone Beads

Bone which can be easily be found or salvaged from the food industry has been used all over the world to create beads from all shapes and sizes. Whats great about buying bone beads is because they are made fromleftover materials which would have been disposed unless we use to them.

Leather Beads

Skins from all kinds of animals have been used to create clothing and beads. Snake skins from abundantly farmed snakes species have been grown for their leather.

New kinds of skins have been expored to create beautiful beads. Certain species of fresh water fish from fish farms have been tanned to creat beutiful leather great for making beads.

Above are just the few beads that can be found in nature. All over the world people have been using whatever materials they can find in abundace. The combination of beads from natural material and metal also yield beautuful bead components.