Wednesday 18 December 2013

Colour Schemes




Amidst the present buying /Christmas menu -planning / card writing /etc etc I am playing with wool and felt and threads and fabric. You have to have balance, after all!

I am taxing my brain at the moment selecting  colour schemes for my bangles. I originally came up with the ambitious idea of making them in seasonal shades. I thought I would give them cute names, thus:

Spring Blossoms, Summer Holiday, Autumn Woodland, Winter Solstice. I had a rough idea which colours would match each season - poor old Winter Solstice remains a tad boring being merely reds and greens, but there you are. Then I thought I needed to expand upon this because I made a bangle in greys to go with my "Fifty Shades" outfit (I do wear a lot of grey, 'tis true.) And I wear a lot of blue so I wanted bangles in blue shades.... so I combined them and came up with Blue Lakes and Rocky Shores (I bet all you Girl Guides are singing along now, aren't you?) Then my gaze fell upon a particularly scrumptious hand-dyed wool-felt  in purples/greens and I thought Heath and Moorland might be another nice colour way.

                     
                                                                     Spring Blossoms


                                                                   Summer Holiday


                                                                    Autumn Woodland

         
                                                                        Winter Solstice


                                                       Blue Lakes and Rocky Shores


                                                                Heath and Moorland
Excuse the poor colour, the light is bad, I'm a poor photographer and my camera also is very selective when it comes to accurate shade depiction. Also, I need to say that of course I will dip into other colours which pop up which seem to belong in a particular scheme; only I had about reached my toleration limit for faffing about sorting these out for you!

Then I was reading the deliciously colourful eye-candy blog Attic 24 and was gripped by Lucy's latest crochet project in her signature saturated colours and knew I had to make a bangle to match. The best match I could come up with in my colours was Summer Holiday, where I can indulge in all my brights, but somehow it begged to be called Carnival when I had made it.




I can't tell you how satisfying this one was to make. The wool felt is gorgeous - from Jean at Oliver Twists, really soft and wonderful to stitch. The perle 5 thread is 'confetti' from Weeks Dye works, and is an overdyed fibre which just SHOUTS carnival to me!

I think now I have dug a hole for myself - perhaps I should abandon the idea of colour schemes and just make bangles as the fancy takes me. But then, I do like the idea of being able to just gather felts/threads in specific colours when I start to work without all the deliberation each time. It is helpful. And to be honest, I just like giving things names. I love playing with words. What do you think? And what, apart from festive concerns, has been taxing your mind at the moment? Have you any spare time or mental capacity for anything else? See you soon -ish!

22 comments:

  1. I love them all and your names too! To me Winter Solstice might be in ice blue/white and silver shades as well as red and green. Just make them as the fancy takes you I'd say and then name them afterwards why be tied to all the same colours every time?!!

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    1. Do you know, Jane, you are right about the Solstice colours - I had considered them but wondered just how many white bangles I might make..... but yes, it would work. ANd the colours would vary, these were just some ideas to spark off a train of thought when planning the next bangle. Lxx

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  2. My mental capacity seems some what lacking at the mo....I really do feel brain dead, what's that saying 'my heads a shed!'.....say no more! I love the colours you've chosen, they look wonderful together :) x

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    1. Ada, ADA!!! Chill, dear, delegate, or cross things off that list. We were never meant to get into such a tizz over a celebration. Thanks for tasking the time to post your lovely comment. Now sit down and have a cuppa! Lxx

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  3. Your bangles look so artistic and the color schemes are fantastic. Sometimes it can get overwelming to deal with so many colors butyou've done a good job.

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    1. Hello Kelly, thanks for visiting! Yes, I think this helps with organising my thoughts when I start a new bangle.

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  4. oooh - I love all these colour combos. And the lovely names you have given them are so appropriate. I am all in favour of giving things evocative names. I think I am a Heath and Moorland kind of person. Have a lovely Christmas Lynne! xCathy

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    1. Hi Cathy, mmmm, Heath and Moorland, I'd have said maybe Spring Blossoms too? Hope you have a great time - I expect you will have a full house - we are going to someone elses full house for a change!!Lx

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  5. Mental capacity - hmmm - that's a tricky one - I know I put it somewhere but ..... I think the idea of the colour schemes is great - after all no one is saying you have to stick to them, just use them as a springboard to get yourself started and see where the colours take you. My favourite is definitely Autumn Woodland but I can see it with some jewel red berries too - oh no I've strolled into a Winter forest ;) Your bangles look absolutely fab all stacked together like that - very inspiring x Jane

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    1. Hi Jane, thank you. And you have hit on exactly the problem- you think oh, I could put a bit of that in there ...and find, as you say, that you have strayed into another colour way! (As if it mattered really.) Lx

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  6. What a happy array of gorgeous colors and textures. I think your naming things is lovely and expressive. I finished the star-shaped batik table topper yesterday, wrapped it and immediately mailed it to my daughter in California so it would get there before Christmas. I completely forgot to get a photo of it. A senior moment.

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    1. Hi Andrea, thanks for commenting, and I am tickled pink you have been reading my blog - good luck with your foray into Blogworld! I am always forgetting to take photos of things that leave for other destinations - never mind, you could get your daughter to take one for you. Lx

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  7. blimey what a lovely lot of names and colours!!!! you really do put me to shame - i've wasted most of this week messing around - a bit of this and a bit of that - and getting nothing much done so once again i am in awe of you!!! we are going away for christmas this year - the first time in 30 years we have been away from home in fact!!!! since the boys left home - never to return - we have kind of liked our quiet christmas' so i'm a little nervous - on the plus side i will be seeing my little grandaughter's smiling face for 4 days - bliss....... hope you have a wonderful time - any news re hospital appointment? xxx

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    1. I know what you mean, Lynne - I do my fair share of faffing around and finding myself at the end of the day having accomplished nothing. But I usually find those days do give me food for thought, or even just a tidy up.Was told it would be 10 weeks (3 weeks ago) before I hear from the hospital! Oh you are going to have a lovely time - Christmas with children in the house is just so different, I miss that. Have a lovely time, sit back and enoy it- you deserve it! Lx

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    2. thanks for your kind words lynne - sorry to have forgotten about your appointment wait!!! take care xx

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    3. Don't be daft - why would you even want to remember it! We can't hold every little detail in our heads - I find these days I have to write stuff down that doesn't affect me directly. Close friends who have a globe trotting habit are continually surprising me because I forget what they have told me! W wall carry too much information about these days, don't we? Lxx

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  8. Good Morning Lynne, As always, I am amazed at your needle work. You must have people asking about your bangles everywhere you go. They are so stunning. Your color schemes and layout photos are awesome. They look like a professional design studio layout and the names are grand. I think giving them names is quite unique and adds a little more whimsey to these fun accessories. It also shows your fun loving personality . . . great post!
    Keep smiling and have a fabulous Christmas.
    Your blogging sister, Connie :)

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    1. Thank you Connie. The bangles do get noticed, t'is try, and I seem to be making ever such a lot of them .... and the pile keeps going down! I'm sure Christmas will be lovely, especially as I don't have to do much this year! Whoopie! Have a lovely one yourself.Lxx

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  9. Just to wish you and the fisherman a Merry Christmas and all the best for 2014. I have enjoyed reading your blog, enjoyed being inspired by your creations and made one of my own. I look forward to more of the same in 2014, though as arthritis is now a problem in my hands, sadly there will have to be a lot less making and creating.

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    1. Hello Edwina, thanks for your kind wishes and I shall of course pass them on to Himself, the Fishing Elf! I'm so pleased you enjoy the blog, though sorry to hear you are finding it difficult to carry on stitching, what an awful blow. Looking forward to hearing from you in 2014 - which I wish you all the very best for. Lxx

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  10. I think you have such a natural eye for colour that whatever shades you decide to put together will work :)

    My head is full of WW1 knitting patterns and finally tackling the blog revamp I've been hinting at since the autumn.]

    Here's hoping you and yours find much peace and joy in the year ahead x

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    1. Hi Annie! Thank you for that - I can't draw but I can do colour - my art teacher used to say she could teach me to draw I already had the most important attribute - but I never had the confidence to take it further and go to Art College as she suggested. How different might my life have been? Who knows! Your blog-revamp sounds fascinating - it is so long since I did anything with mine I'm not sure I would know how to go about it now! Good luck, and here's to a great 2014 for all of us! xx

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