Where do you get the inspiration for most of your designs? By the jewelry componenets themselves, magazines, art work , nature, the salad you ate today ?

 What is your ususal source of creativity ? 

I love to get my color choices through nature. For example I'll pick a flower from my garden, and pick all the tomes and hues from that flower.

I'm inspired by the magazine's deadlines :-) Just kidding (sort of). My inspiration depends on the project.

Most of the jewelry I make outside of work is for gifts, and I usually draw a lot of inspiration from the person I'm making it for — their personal style, the colors they like, etc.

I'm also inspired by components. I'm always excited to see new products out there. We're working on our special earring issue right now, and I'm finding that a lot of my earrings are inspired by the components I found.

My favorite piece I've ever made was in our BeadStyle Around the World issue. I love Scotland, so doing a piece inspired by that country was a lot of fun. I enjoyed every minute of it, from designing the piece to writing the introduction.

Lindsay 

Hi!  I'm new to this site...

I like to roam around yard sales, flea markets, estate sales and find beads, broken jewelry, stuff that is just waiting for me... then I wait, I lay it on my workbench for awhile and let it tell me what it wants... some beads I've had for a couple of years.. and all of a sudden, it pops into my head what to design...   I'm only  a few years into this and already I know it's for life!

Hi, Lindsay!  I don't believe I've actually SEEN any of your designs...Have you posted them before?  I've love to see what you do...(smile--in lieu of a real smilie--hint, hint) 

elly

I love collecting freshwater pearls.  I have a great collection of them. 

 This might sound wired but I just like looking at them.

 If I make something for them I keep it for myself or give them away to family or friends.

Inspiration comes from any place, ie, Bathing kids in bubble bath, watering the garden and seeing rainbows, Looking at snow capped mountains, or staring into a warm log fire.

The beads themselves inspire me the most. A string of fancy jasper square tubes started me on a quest for beads to go with them. I've almost found what I need. Finding a string of faceted glass beads for a $1.00 in a local craft store will inspire me to starting thinking about new jewelry pieces. It's fun especially when you can get good-looking beads for $1.00 a strand. 

eljbabette:

Hi, Lindsay!  I don't believe I've actually SEEN any of your designs...Have you posted them before?  I've love to see what you do...(smile--in lieu of a real smilie--hint, hint) 

 

elly

 

Hi Elly,

I've never posted my personal jewelry on the forum, but I do have pieces in BeadStyle and the BeadStyle special issues. If you pop over to the BeadStyle blog, you can see the jewelry I made for the Harry Potter release last Friday. It was inspired by the character of Luna Lovegood. The pictures aren't the best (I don't usually photograph my own jewelry, so I don't have much practice), but you get the idea 

Lindsay
 

I get most of my ideas from nature, and I stick mostly to gemstones to create with.  Now and then I see a lovely piece of fabric that inspires me as well  

I have gotten inspired from various sources.  I started out by looking at what was being sold in stores or my daughters fashion magazines and then would make my version of what I liked.  Now I am branching off on my own....I set out various colors and mix and match them til I find a combo I like and "go to town". 

Well, I keep my eyes open for the newest fashion in jewelry and if I like what I see, then I will do my own version. I look at online jewelry sites like Nordstrom's and other stores just to see what they have that's trendy.  Honestly, women go into those stores and pay high dollar for mass produced items that are not worth what they are paying for the most part. That's not to say that they aren't lovely and nice pieces, but because it's Nordstrom's, etc., people will simply pay the price.  The beading store I shop at has a lot of nice ideas and they help you and have samples of different necklaces to look at. They aren't worried about you copying their style, because it helps them to sell.  But...I have to say that I am getting tired of seeing the same designs and ideas being used over and over. I think to myself, how far can this be stretched. I, myself don't like most heavy jewelry. I think less is more and the more classic looking the better. I appreciate all of the talent I see out here and everyone has their own preference and style.  That's the beauty of it. It simply takes new ideas....new energy, because SO many people are doing this.  It's competitive to say the least, and yet my most joy comes from selling items to my family and friends and having them enjoy looking and asking questions.  My cousin's wife went to Hawaii and bought a handmade piece from an artist there for 300.00. Granted the necklace was very long and all real stones and gold, but I could not see myself paying that amount for one piece. Again, everyone has their own ideas of beauty, priorities in spending, etc.  But, I also listen to what relatives and friends have to say when they offer ideas as well.  Keeping an open mind is the best thing for ideas to flow into your mind!

 I subscribe to B&B, BS, and Stringing and it's the best thing in the world to just flip through all the projects and ads to see what's going on, to be inspired by the colors I see there, and then I design pieces after I've soaked up everything that I could.  This week I've been finding a lot of awesome bead books that have just entered the market and I couldn't be happier with them.  Lots of new, fresh ideas to tweak the way I want to, then I have something that screams me.

 Some ideas come from bead and fashion magazines, sometimes Nordstrom, but the trendy stuff is getting really boring right now.  And, I've never noticed this before, but some high end designer will introduce something that's so totally great that everyone else in the fashion industry has to spread it out to the masses... circle necklaces anyone?  After I heard about it on the old forum, I went to the Nordstrom sale and it was nothing but circle pendants everywhere... ironically, my dad bought me one from Cartier for my birthday too, but that was before I discovered it in the masses... funny how fashion works huh?

 Yes, I rant... I'm inspired by everything around me.
 

I get my inspiration by looking at combnations of clothes that I see people wear.  I also look at the beads to see what I can make out of them.

 Greetings all,

 First time poster... somewhat medium-time lurker...

 What inspires me the most?  Hard to say, really.  I do beading/jewelry making as a side-hobby/way-to-relax-after-work (I work as an event coordinator for a university), so I kind of just let the creative side of me wash over me and putter around with my various boxes of shiny objects.

 
Once in a while, I do hit a dry spell, but I find that simply organizing my craft materials and taking apart half-completed, forgotten projects sometimes will spark an inspiration that wasn't there before.

-- macchen
 

When I am creating jewelry for myself I am inspired by beading books, magazines and oddly enough dreams. I see a piece in my dream that I absolutely love I wake up sketch it and make it when I get the chance. When I am creating for friend I usually draw my inspiration from their personality and likes and dislikes. When I creating for people I don't know I usually go with their wants they have communicated to me and go with that. When I create for Tony I usually an inspired by what he needs ( like if I just brought a blue shirt for him I will make a blue necklace to go with it.) As you see I am inspired by a lot of things.

nature....cultures....antiquesand vintage.... just about anything.i once had a dream about an earring design too.and i ended up making them of course! but i couldnt follow the design exactly because it was a set for somone whose ears are double pierced. i will have to post those sometime.

-laura

 I find various sources of inspiration. I made a bracelet for a birthday present recently. I had a plan for it when I went to my LBS. I found beads I adored and changed the whole thing on the spot. Came out beautiful. I look at the magazines and what other people are wearing.

The possibilities for creativity are what make this creative process so rewarding. Joanie

I think my most unusual source of inspiration would be the beautiful places Ive been to, like national parks. Yosemite national park inspires me most (i've been there twice)