i thought it might be interesting to see what traits and style types people put into their work.We each have a different style. And each of those styles is made up of many things, like your favorite color, time era, culture, and just your personal preferences for the things you make and wear.  It’s a big mix of all the things you love, dream of, and wish for. My style is a mix of Victorian, fantasy, nature, my favorite colors (anything with blue), and anything that has to do with the royalty of ancient cultures (Egyptian and Indian princesses, Greek goddesses .you get the point). Those are all the things I try and put into most of my creations.

even if its just a list of words to describe how you feel about your work, whats your style?

-laura

Good question, blue_girl!

I think my style stems from my need for flexibilty. I don't want to spend $60 making a necklace that will only go with one outfit I own, so I tend to make jewelry that will go with multiple ensembles. That pushes my style toward the simple and classic. Regarding color, I use a lot of black because that goes with everything.

I hope more people answer — this is a fun question.

Lindsay
 

 I was thinking about this during the summer and figured out that my style is distinctly "elegant and sometimes whimsical."

The whimsical part comes from growing up in a fantasy world of Hercules and Xena with the elaborate beaded costumes and my love of crystal.  Stalking the Nordstrom jewelry counters is also part it as well.  

But the elegance comes from the engineer in me... must have order and logic somewhere!  So working with chain, wire and chainmaille keeps the engineer happy.  Chainmaille has become an engineer's art form for me because there's no creativity involved with my patterns, so the left-side of the brain is content and letting the right side rest.

My latest influence has definitely been from tribal style bellydance costumes.  Think old, antiqued and elaborate pieces of jewelry from the Middle East that have probably been sandblasted by the sand and baked by the heat...

oh my gosh! i forgot about this post! thank you ladies for replying. its so interesting to see what sorts of things affect peoples creativity.whether it be to match clothing or be inspired by things youve spent alot of time around. again, thank you for your replies. sometimes i get stuck in a rut where i only visit one part of the forum.

-laura

My style is really a mix of a lot of stuff. I pretty much make and wear what I like, regardless, but I do have some major influences:

Anything vintage (particularly 1940's), Asian cultures, nature (especially mountains and forests), ancient Rome, the ocean, and random things like tarot cards.

I've no idea what to call my style. I get alot of design ideas from stories that I've read, I especially love old myths and folklore. Sometimes just a phrase or a bit of poetry will inspire me. When I was younger, my Mom and Grandparents told the most wonderful bedtime stories. I often find myself remembering a story or making one up when working on a piece. Nature is also a big factor, I live in the Pacific Northwest so I am surrounded by water and trees.

Even though I have been beading on and off since 1968 I am still sort of backward. At present I am looking for my style. What I do now sometimes seems sort of pedestrian, though people (friends and family, mostly) seem to enjoy wearing my stuff.

I am very creative in many ways, but I have trouble being original. I can copy a still life or a portrait quite nicely, for instance, but I can't just come up with color and composition on my own.

For now I subscribe to beading magazines and that's often where my ideas come from. I am partial to pearls, gemstones and metal (esp. silver and copper), and I am trying to create a necklace that is not symmetrical. I see them and marvel at how such an idea came to the crafts-person, but my eye is just not good enough yet. I think that what I need are some classes so that the basics will be cemented in my brain--as people like to say, muscle memory.

What do I want to be when I grow up? Someone that the experts describe as imaginative and daring. Someone who puts things together that seem impossible, but it works in spades and other beaders are inspired by it.

Twisted and textured. I started out with basic beading, but found the more strands and texture I could twist around, the better!

I almost named by business/site 'The Pearl Girl". It seems like all my designs have a pearl of some kind in them. I chose Beauty and the Bead and designed my "Beauty" logo after my niece, Katie.

I have definitely found my signature-style in multi-strand necklaces and I love to bead "around" pendants. I have fun picking out unique pendants or even antique pins, then choosing beads, pearls, etc. to go with them.

I also think my style is very elegant. I love to use semi-precious stones and high-quality beads and components. It really makes a difference. I read somewhere that "gem-quality beads make jewelry and craft-quality beads make crafts"!

I just read this post now and had to answer!

Color Color Color!!! I am having fun with chips of mixed gemstones or anything with mixed colors- Fancy Jasper, Rainbow Flourite, Tourmaline. You can find the best color combinations straight out of nature.

Thanks for the great question!

I dont' know what to call my style, I just know that I love things to sparkle a lot and I love the jewlery I see on star trek the odder the jewlrey the better my friends say I'm odd but I love odd things so I make them myself and Ifind that other women feel the same becase I have been getting a lot of good coments on what I make and wear.  If you have any idea what my style is please let me know!!!!  Just remember sparkle lots of it and odd.

It's an overused word, but I would have to say eclectic or elegant eclectic!  I love asymmetry, color, texture, and complexity.

 Very, very interesting thread!

Hugs,

Cluny