LadyGypsy.net – the blog of Kimberly Dowd of New Jersey

I love doing things that include color, but I’m not always great at choosing color palettes. Via Pinterest, I found a site called Design Seeds that is going to be a very close friend of mine from here on out. Not only does it have palettes based on yummy photos…

But it will also let you search for a specific color — I use the sliders to match up with beads:

And it’ll offer up a palette that matches your chosen color!

Your palette also has a Pin It button that’ll let you pin some pretty color in the hopes that we can drive out the usual denizens of Pinterest…pictures of impossibly fit/skinny people tagged “inspiration” and pictures of poor newborns smushed into unnatural positions or shoved into cowboy boots.

While I was waiting for TNP to give me the big “YES!” answer, I kept busy by making jewelry.

For these, I felt like experimenting with hoops and drops instead of the usual “tight” earrings I come up with.

And then I realized that all of the super-cool jewelry designers on Etsy slap their pieces on an old book for photos. Luckily I live with a guy who has filled up our shelves with old books. Unfortunately, these pages feature an apparent peasant riot in France. MOVING ON…

These earrings have a 70′s color vibe to them.

I had these teal ceramic beads for 2 years. I finally figured out something to do with them. I’m also REALLY starting to like copper findings.





A while back I was into bead crochet. Over the course of two nights, I crocheted a large string of my unmatched beads (bought by the scoop at some bead show) onto wire and twisted it up. I finally put it on a chain and wore it out. I got 3 compliments that day. I might make a bracelet or maybe some dangle earrings to match.

I decided to start making my own rings out of the wire and countless beads I own until I decide what I want. Here is this week’s version…

Gold-tone copper wire and a group of Swarovski crystals = tacky holiday ring bling! The crystals move around as my hand moves.