One blog that I’ve enjoyed reading is written by Lynn Davis, a.k.a. LLYYNN.
(I’ve posted comments there a couple of times.) In one of her recent posts about making her splendid
Earth and Fire heart pendants, she muses,
“I made pairs, so they could be used together as earrings. It’s tricky, to make them match. Even though they’re unique, because they’re hand colored.”
This reminded me of some sensible advice from Kate Drew-Wilkinson. It’s from a little bit older book (I don’t have the exact date). But her point is always a good one:
“The natural differences between…beads make it impossible to get a perfect pair, but they harmonize well…the design device to overcome this is to accept the differences and allow the beads to speak for themselves. Their slightly different voices need not be discordant together, but achieve a pleasing and natural harmony in design.”
(Kate Drew-Wilkinson, “How to Be Successful in the Bead Jewelry Business”, pages 56-57.)
When you’re making or buying unique beads, keep in mind that “close enough” is often better than identical! Check out LLYYNN’s blog post for a wonderful example of this. Another illustration that came to my mind is the Deep Blue SEE / As Young As You Feel bracelet in our own
Design Gallery:
Not enough stuff lying around your workspace yet? Get a random mix of beads to kick things off at a great price with a bag o’ beads from Rings & Things.
Have your own examples of near-matches that work great? Leave a Reply!??
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