Compare Pantone Fashion Color Fall 2015 with C-Lon Bead Cord Colors

Just for fun, lets find the C-Lon Bead Cord colors equivalent to the Pantone Fall of 2015 fashion colors. As you can see below the Pantone fall colors vary a bit in their rendition between pictures, so it is always an interpretation. Plus we all see colors a bit differently. Vive la difference, right!

C-Lon Bead Cord Colors to Pantone Fashion Color Fall 2015

OLVN Olivine —> Dried Herb

CEL Celadon —> Desert Sage

GR Grey, DEN Denim —> Stormy Weather

DKT Dark Tan —> Oak Bluff

SI Sienna —> Marsala

CER Cerulean —> Biscay Bay

N Navy, MA Marina, CHA Charcoal —> Reflecting Pond

TN Tangerine —> Cadmium Orange

AZ Azalea —> Cashmere Rose - Oops Azalea might a bit off, Petal might be better

AM Amethyst, O Orchid —> Amethyst Orchid

Azalea

Pantone Fashion Color Fall 2015 to C-Lon Bead Cord Colors

Dried Herb —> OLVN Olivine 

Desert Sage —> CEL Celadon

Stormy Weather —> GR Grey, DEN Denim

Oak Bluff —> DKT Dark Tan

Marsala —> SI Sienna - That's the color of the year. Another option is Black Currant...

--------------------------------------------

Biscay Bay —> CER Cerulean

Reflecting Pond —> N Navy, MA Marina, CHA Charcoal 

Cadmium Orange —> TN Tangerine

Cashmere Rose —> AZ Azalea - Oops Azalea might a bit off, Petal might be better

Amethyst Orchid —> AM Amethyst, O Orchid

As to the importance of these colors, who knows, but many fashion items will be available in stores in these colors. Then someone might be looking to accessorize these items and will be looking for something that will work with these colors, so being aware of the latest fashion colors promoted by industry is not such a bad idea. 

In California, I have found when I was doing lots of shows that there was a delay between the latest fashion and interest in a particular color. Plus some colors that were "promoted" never caught on… Others colors remained classics always in demand. 

—> C-Lon Bead Cord

Leather Wrap Bracelet with Madeira Silk

Silk is a fabulous fiber to work with lots of glamour. Silk adds a "je ne sais quoi" to any piece of jewelry.... So I decided to test leather wrap bracelets made with Madeira Silk.

Madeira Silk is a 4-strand floss, so it can be separated into 4 parts. Each strand is a soft 2-ply cord that can be used individually or as part of a group. Madeira is a spun silk, so it is made with pieces of filament that are spun together, so it has a fiber feel to it with a bit of fuzz sticking out.

The materials used to make this bracelet are 1.5 mm Greek leather, Madeira Silk Floss, Swarovski 6mm Bicones and Crystal Pearls, and Fresh Water Pearls.  Two strand of the Madeira Silk Floss were woven back and forth 4 times through each bead. Plus an old Italian button was used a the closure.

 I have been wearing this test bracelet almost everyday for several weeks to see how the Madeira silk will do over time. I just too the photos today. So far I have not noticed too much wear. The silk edges are a bit fuzzy, but no more than right after I finished the bracelet. 

After wearing for quite a while, I found the the silk thread moved laterally along the leather and after a while the bracelet was no longer flat so it did not wrap well around the wrist. 

I have since come up with a new double step process. I mount the beads with C-Lon Bead Thread Size D and afterwards wrap the silk around the leather. I will try to post the new way of doing this soon. 

Madeira comes in 108 colors > Madeira Silk Floss

Eclipse on the Solstice

On the solstice, December 20, we were treated to a spectacular show, a total lunar eclipse at midnight here on the Pacific Coast. We are in the midst of winter storms with lots of rain coming in succession from Hawaii or from the Gulf of Alaska. So our weather vacillates between warm and cool storms. That evening by some amazing coincidence the clouds parted to give us a glorious show. We were able to see the full moon with stars and the Orion constellation, and then through various cloud veils and at times complete clearings, we could see the moon as it eclipsed. At total eclipse the moon was in a clearing and as a bonus we saw an orange shooting star and it crossed right in front of Orion. I still can't believe it.


In anticipation of the eclipse, my husband, Nicolai set up his art supplies outside on a table under the clouds. The clouds parted from time to time to reveal the moon in the penumbral shadow. The drawings below are his recording of the event.


This is the first lunar eclipse to fall on the winter solstice since 1638. The next solstice eclipse will be in 2094. In the meantime there will be lunar eclipses at other times during the year.

To see more of Nicolai's work go to his website:
www.nicolailarsen.com or Facebook/Nicolai Larsen

Local Isn't Just about Vegetables

Shopping local isn't just for fruit and vegetables. Buying from local artists and artisans has many benefits for our communities and should be considered similarly as buying produce at our local farmers markets. And local isn't just about geography anymore. The web has also made it possible to connect with larger geographical communities tied by common special interests.

This year I have renewed my commitment to continue working locally and on the web. I have limited my 'brick and mortar' activities to shows within the San Francisco Greater Bay Area. I may also give up on hotels or at least parking in their lots for a while... my car was the only car stolen in 25 years out of a Hilton parking lot while I was doing a show...

The added benefit by keeping shows more local, is a smaller carbon footprint. Other practices to be greener include: the reuse of packing materials, 100% recycled and post consumer paper for printing and ordering either locally in person or by mail whenever possible. This practice keeps me more productive in my studio.

Let me know about new practices you have started to keep your activities local and greener... Till later, Marion

TCO - True Cost or True Value?

America loves acronyms especially 3 letters ones, so I was not surprised when I was introduced to TCO - Total Cost of Ownership. Total Cost of Ownership or should it be True Cost of Ownership? I had heard of it and was reminded of it just before Christmas when discussing badly manufactured items. Often these items break right away and can't be fixed, creating hassles, loss of time, waste and pollution, plus adding the cost of having to replace them...

Contrast these items with objects made by local artisans. For example a pair of earrings designed and handmade by me. They transcend fads and current fashion so they will last. They are great conversation pieces as they are unique. They are recognizable. If you buy them and the post breaks, for example, I will fix them as I guarantee them. Or if you lose one earring, I will make a matching earring at half the price of a pair if the materials are available. Essentially you get some value for your purchase and service if needed after your purchase. I find this to be true from most of the items purchased from fellow artists.

Election Day

I do not usually write about politics in this forum but today for the first time I voted in a American Presidential election. I immigrated many years ago after falling in love with an American I met in Canada (my one and only husband, Nicolai Larsen). I remained a permanent resident green card holder even though I was eligible to become an American citizen years ago. During the first Bush term I got motivated to become a citizen, to vote him out of office. I became American in mid-November 2004 in a moving swearing-in ceremony but too late to vote in the 2004 election. New citizens from countries around the world were sworn in by country of origin in alphabetical order starting with Afghanistan and ending with Zimbabwe. As each country was called new Americans rose until the full auditorium was standing. The largest group were from China, Mexico, The Philippines and India. By the time Switzerland was called almost everyone was already standing.

I voted for the first time in 2006, than last June in the primary. Voting today was easy in my precinct, no lines at 9:30 am, a voting machine with a paper audit trail clearly seen when voting, 3 chances to double check before casting the vote, so all above board.

Political opinions aside, this run to election has been riveting. I have spent many hours knotting away in my studio listening to the news on my computer. My family and friends in Europe are also incredibly interested in the outcome of this election. Regardless we will get a new president who will restore some of our international standing. As to real change we will see as actual change is a lot harder than rhetorics and so many of the problems facing us have no easy solutions.

Regardless, goodbye imperial style swaggering, goodbye bad elocution and goodbye Bush kleptocracy...

Added on January 9, 2009 - just 11 days before the Inauguration: I just saw a photo of Chaney presiding over the Senate as the election was certified. Was he smirking as the administration he represents is handing out a plate of manure to Obama? I believe the Bush administration thought the economy was not going to fall into shamble until they were well out of office and they got caught by surprise by the timing, not the fact that it was occurring as they continued to plunder the dying beast until the very last minute. Had that occurred, they could even have blamed the whole debacle onto the upcoming administration and repeated it at nauseum until it became a 'truth'. It was the last stand of a dying breed of dinosaurs, a retroactive force - the old economy based purely on profit regardless on any costs to society at large or future generations. And now that all the old structures are collapsing, the need to create new ones is obvious. So we may have hope for the future with the return of actual civil servants to the White House to help us move toward a new economy that is sustainable and less toxic to the planet. Let's just hope the transition will not be too bumpy for each of us as individuals, and let's embrace the future of new possibilities as it is coming anyways.

For the Love of Jewels Interview

I get a lot of emails everyday and make an effort to respond as quickly as I can to questions and requests for information.
Sally Jewett-Bocato contacted me by email: 'I came across your website while looking for artisan jewelry galleries in the SF area....I was blown away by your beautiful work and would like to do a profile about you in my blog which focuses on "the best of the best" of jewelry designers, teachers and suppliers. If you are interested, I send questions via email and publish your responses.'
Her profile on published on the June 23 post at http://fortheloveofjewels.blogspot.com/2008/06/marion-hunziker-larsen-jewels-in-fiber.html

New Blog!

marion jewels in fiber has an official blog!!! It is just in its infancy... as I just set it up tonight. We will see how it evolves, tonight I posted some pictures, landscapes/cityscape mostly in a slide format from my trip to New England. I am waiting for additional pictures from the Lexington workshop before another posting regarding the workshop... More to come soon.

Rescheduling...

Somedays are meant to be rescheduled. Tuesday, I started out the day with the best laid plans. Work on Cabochon projects... Then a friend of mine calls me with news of a common friend in the hospital awaiting major surgery. We decide to go do some Reiki work in person (hands-on healing), so everything else got put aside, for a little while.

I reflect later on on how lucky I am to have a flexible schedule!
My Wednesday morning, for example, are dedicated to a yoga group practice, but by now most of the group is also doing Reiki, so it is intermingled at times during the meditation with yoga.

Namaste, ~ Marion (I started yoga 22 years ago as a restorative practice)