Summer Color: DIY Style

From Left: 1) Chan Luu's leather + semi-precious bracelet, 2) Aurelie Bidermann's woven chain + shell bracelet, 3) Missoni's fabric + chain plait bracelet, 4) Marni's Wool woven chain necklace

Summer has burst open the seasonal door and out has sprung a melange of colorful accessories!  Heavy hitting jewelry designers from Aurelie Bidermann and Chan Luu to fashion powerhouses like Marni and Missoni are all on board with a mixed-media color infusion for this Summer's bijoux selection.  Take a look at some of the stand-outs and get inspired to make some of your own! 

Left: Marni Cuff, Right: Missoni Cuff Photos: Net-A-PorterMany of Summer's hottest designs involve both mixed media --primarily the inclusion of fabric, yarn or leather mixed in with more traditional jewelry materials, like faceted semi-precious beads and chain --- and an intense POP of color.  The resulting combination of soft with urban or bright with earthy not only looks fresh, but serves as an exciting starting point for exploration.  That's right...please DO try this at home! 

Venesa Arizaga Bracelet Photo: Net-A-Porter

Granted working with both hard and soft materials is not for everyone, but you may surprise yourself if you give it a try and end up making something inventive, colorful and fresh.  

It's easy to get started. Pull out some chain and use this as your foundation.  Build up color or pattern in layers, adding leather, ribbon, strips of fabric etc.  If you don't like your first round then pull it out and start again! Maybe try adding in charms or beads as you go. Experiment.  Try lots of different combinations.  As this approach can easy slip into the realm of the disorderly, keep a close eye on technique and utilize a specific braid, crochet, weave or knotting technique to give soft elements some structure.

If color and mixing it up are your thing, I think you will find the results quite rewarding!

Links to the fab 4 at the top:

1) Chan Luu's leather + semi-precious stone bracelet

2) Aurelie Bidermann's woven chain + shell bracelet

3) Missoni's fabric + chain plait bracelet

4) Marni's Wool Woven Chain Bib Necklace

Interested in making some of your own smashing jewelry? As a jewelry design instructor at the Sheffield School in New York, I encourage you to take the matter of making into your own hands! Check out the newly launched Jewelry Design Course offered at the Sheffield School.  With thousands of active students and more than 50,000 graduates, Sheffield has trained more design professionals than any other school in the world.

• Request a free Sheffield School catalog describing our distance education courses.
• Subscribe to the Sheffield Designer newsletter.

Comments

[Goog]

interesting... found you on google btw

[Artik]

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[Sharon Itzhaki]

Thanks for this post.
These are amazing , and I really like the jewelry designs.
DIY items are really cool, and has beautiful style.

[Caroline Sound]

I love this style, I run an art club in school and I'm going to try this with them, I am now inspired thank you!!!

[žogi]

Lovely jewelry :)

[Private Investigator]

It obviously all depends on the type of job you are looking to get and of course it also depends on who plans to review the resume -- some just might look at things different ways than others. But overall, this is definitely an interesting discussion and one most don't look into much detail about. Thanks for the good read.

[John Lindsey]

My granddaughters are into the whole beaded jewelry thing. I didn't realize how much money you can spend on it considering they do it as a hobby. My wife found a couple places nearby that sell Chamilia, Pandora, Troll, etc. We spent about $300 in no time.

John Lindsey
Webmaster of wheretobuybeadsonline.net

[Jonathan]

I think making your own jewelry using different kinds of beads is more satisfying than buying cheap necklaces or bracelets. I love the 4 styles you have listed above. Very colorful indeed. I make my own waistbeads and sell them at markets in our area. They sell very well. I think waist beads are back in style. Thanks for a great (and colorful) overview

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[Notary Supplies]

i love this style its very stylish and different..

[darek]

absolutely stunning

[R. Elliot]

Hello Nova,

Glad I found this piece! Love the way that the designers' used color and texture to communicate a mood of exploration; as you put it. So this is a great example of summer fashion/colors. My favorite is Aurelie's cowrie shell bracelet. Interestingly, I find it somehow reminiscent of contemporary camouflage fashion.

Thanks for sharing!

[Mario Bianchi]

Very good info here. I would like to thank you for sharing your knowledge and time into the stuff you post! Stopping by your blog helped me to get what I was looking for. You are on my RSS reader now so I can read more from you down the road…

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Its traditional jewelry. Just loved it.
Perfect for Indian festival Garba.

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Unique jewelry. I like it.

[Wristband]

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Thanks for sharing!

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