I haven’t been successful at making an Autumn bracelet in the past, which is too bad as I really do love the colours of Fall. Our lot is heavily treed, so we have a beautiful range of colours out our windows in September and October. We have one Japanese maple, in particular, that goes a brilliant red for just a few days before it drops all of its leaves. But I’ve never been able to capture that range of colours and dying-yet-blooming feeling in a bracelet.
Since I’ve managed to collect several reds over the last few months, I was hopeful that I could put something together this year. I started by pulling out all my yellows, oranges and reds – actually anything with a hint of Autumn colours – and then added a few browns to act as neutrals. I kept my silvers pretty simple and suddenly I had a Fall bracelet!
Except it still didn’t really feel right.
So it sat in my bead box for a week while I tried to figure out what was wrong with it. Finally fed up with being stumped, I wore it one day to see if I was just being too critical, but all my eyes noticed was what I didn’t like about it. The orange and brown python at the centre was too orange for the rest of the beads. The reds felt disjointed. It didn’t give me the warm but crisp Autumn feeling that I was trying to capture. After walking the neighbourhood for a few days I realized that the browns I had added because I thought I needed neutrals weren’t really reflecting the vibrant colours that I was seeing around me.
So I went with the “less is more” approach.
It’s still not perfect, but instead of my eyes picking out the ones that don’t work, they’re picking out what I love about the bracelet. The Scarlet Armadillo absolutely makes this bracelet for me. It’s the perfect shade of orangey-red to match the maple trees in our neighbourhood. I suspect that I may even pick up some of the complimentary scarlet beads at some point. My Ohm Sanur bead doesn’t match many of the other beads in my bead box, but I do like its bright yellow shade and I’m glad it’s going to get some wear this month. The Ohm Beads Maple Leaf that I got shortly after Canada Day has been waiting for the temperatures to cool and the leaves to change. And the This Too bead is a reminder that the weeks of raking will eventually end. ;)
But now I have something to wear while raking up all those leaves :D
Love your autumn bracelet. We just planted 2 red maples in our yard this year. They aren’t very big, but the colors have turned. Oh so pretty. I’ll admit to coveting your bracelet right now, especially since I have a necklace in those colors that would go so well with it. hehe.
Thanks! It has undergone a slight change as I was gifted the new Autumn Rays bead so it, of course, had to go on. And my Squirrel bead also made it back on with that change :)
Every year I’m surprised by how fiery red our maple goes. And it usually happens overnight so it’s always a pleasant surprise to wake up to. When we bought our house, our neighbour explained that the tree was somewhat the pride of the neighbourhood so we had to take good care of it :D
I’d love to see a picture of your necklace!