Article from guest blogger and beader Zuzi Hake for Erika Sandor – The Storytelling Jeweller.
“For over 20 years, Pantone’s Color of the Year has influenced product development and purchasing decisions in multiple industries, including fashion, home furnishings, and industrial design, as well as product packaging and graphic design.” It influences also bead and crystal producers and us, beaders who love to create.
About Pantone Color of the Year
“A marriage of color conveying a message of strength and hopefulness that is both enduring and uplifting.”
PANTONE 17-5104 Ultimate Gray + PANTONE 13-0647 Illuminating.
Two independent colors that highlight how different elements come together to support one another. Practical and rock-solid but at the same time warming and optimistic, the union is one of strength and positivity. (Pantone)
Holiday Challenge with Erika
Erika set Pantone Challenge for holiday season in Storytelling Beading Club just before Christmas. Everyone who wanted to join was supposed to follow these steps:
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Choose your favorite Storytelling design.
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Bead it in yellow and grey.
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Post it in the Storytelling Beading Club!
The fun began and it didn’t take long to see the first results. Earrings, bracelets, pendants, brooches… Or do you need inspiration for a set? Here it comes!
What did we bead in the challenge?
More than 30 pictures were posted in The Storytelling Beading Club and you can see them all in Erika’s album on her Facebook page! I picked just a few examples to tease you a little bit.
These are our Storytelling jewels in 2021’s “Gray and Yellow”.
The timeless design of Sophia earrings from bezelled rivoli and oval cabochons, decorated with Preciosa rhinestone cupchains. Beaded by Nora Toth – Norie Beads.
Dance of the Peacock originally designed as pendant, but our fellow club-member and beader Tajna Qintelier decided to make a pair of earrings decorated with filigree components. Aren’t they lovely?
Another beautiful and special set of earrings and a bracelet made by Aniko Hesz – ANNIE & The Beads. She created earrings inspired by the Colorful raindrops tutorial and Mirror of Maharaja bracelet tutorial with L2Studio art quality cabochon. Both tutorials are free and available on the Storytelling blog.
I really like how Katalin Dudas works with yellow, it’s like seeing Erika in her turquoise kingdom 😉 Kata chose Amore Mio for one of her jewels in the challenge. Yes, there are more!
Vania Stabnov Jacobs’ interpretation of Mallarme – bracelet is decorated with extra bezelled rivoli attached to a filigree. It is designed also for earrings, so you can make a nice set.
If there is a design that resonated in 2020 really often, then it’s The Traveller. Erika taught it in the Seed beads and more Facebook group and we were beading, having fun and traveling in our memories to places we love or mean something to us. I made one Traveller too, but Ulla Edenmark made it in 2021 Pantone colors!
Edmee is originally designed as a brooch, but many of our club members and fellow beaders used this design in earrings or pendants. This necklace was made by Mehtap Ucar Spafford.
Annelien Willems created a Tuschinski set of bracelet, earrings, and pendant. It is beautiful to mix and match depending on your mood.
I don’t have many yellow beads in my stash, but I love this color combination. I chose the Lea pendant tutorial and attached the motif to a filigree brooch base finished with a glass drop pendant – of course!
Are you going to join and bead some Storytelling design in Pantone colors of 2021 too?
Show it to us in the Storytelling Beading Club!
Thank you Zuzi for writing this article. I am proud that my Dance of the Peacock Earrings were choosen to be part of it. It was a great challenge to use these Pantone colors. But Kata showed us already in many of her beadings that yellow can add that sparkle a jewel needs…It’s one of the nicest things in the Club that we inspire eachother
Dear Zuzi, you made a wonderful collection of the Pantone 2021 challange jewelries, and I feel so honoured to be included and put on the cover 🙂 Thank you!