Bohemian Inspired Everything

Well, Lorelei and Erin's new book Bohemian Inspired Jewelry is taking the beading world by storm. I don't think it could have come at a better time. With fabrics and textiles making their way into the beading world this past year, its a perfect time for a book with such great projects, rich in fabrics, colors and earthy beads, to launch this bohemian style into full gear.

What is Bohemian -Inspired Jewelry? 

"It's an artistic, nature inspired, and playful combination of materials and textures."  Lorelei and Erin

I myself, being a hippie girl, was smitten when Lorelei and Erin first launched their blog all about cords and ribbons.  I fell in love with the additon of fabrics and cords to jewelry and have added recycled sari silk to most of my designs.  I have always loved fabrics, mostly tye dye, batik, and rich old paisley patterns that make you think of far off lands full of color and spice.  I love all thing natural with an organic feel, and texture is my thing!  How exciting that now...................

Bohemian is in.

Pictures taken from the Inspire Bohemia blog- love the pics she digs up- rings rings rings- fabrics, bracelets

 

This book is so well done.   It has details that tell you about the cords you can use, the variety of cord ends out there, and they even tell you how to care for your cords and ribbons.  The drawing well done, and easy to follow.  I definitley think the little details like that set this book apart.

So, I decided to try some of the projects from the book, with my own spin on them. 

I used a donut bead from Kristi Bowman of Dream Some.  I immediately thought of this challenge when I saw it.  I love the flower on it, it reminds me of a textile block print. 

For my first piece, I used the method from Erin's project, Delicate Things, though my version is not too delicate, thats not my style.  But it is fun to take  something new and run with it. 

picture from Bohemian Inspired Jewelry

Instead of using silk beading cord on the donut, I used one of Marsha Neal's hand dyed silk ribbons.  And instead of making one bail on top, I made two, to make the donut become a connector.  And instead of adding symetrical even spaced gemstones, I added chunky gemtones of different colors and sizes to create added texture. I also used one of my Loop T Loops beside the donut for balance in the design.

 I love this piece, and though it is nothing like Erin's project, she inspired me to use fabric as a bail, which I wouldn't have thought of.  I love adding cording to my jewlery, just to give it that added texture.  It softens it up.  I really like the process of knotting, and binding different materials together.  It feels ancient, and primal and meaningful.

I also made a bunch of earrings in the style of Erin's project Copper Antiquity.

picture from Bohemian Inspired Jewelry

I actually had the pleasure of meeting Erin and taking a small class to learn this knotting technique and just fell in love with it.  Here are some of the earrings I made.

I think ceramic beads are such a great additon to any BOHO style piece.  The earrings above almost all have some in them.

(earrings feature beads from top to bottom- Artisan Beads Plus, Marsha Neal Studio, natural sea urchins, Marsha Neal Studio and Starry Road Studio)

All in all, I cannot reccomend this book enough. Its full of great projects, useful information and lots of lots of eye candy for bead lovers!

Thanks for letting be a part of this blog event.  I was happy to have the chance to share how I have been Bohemian Inspired.

Follow this link for a list of all the blog participating in this Bohemian Inspired event!
http://www.beadingdaily.com/blogs/daily/archive/2012/06/22/polyvore-challenge-and-bohemian-inspired-jewelry-blog-celebration-weekend.aspx