Jewelry Design: Autumn Browns And Chocolate Truffle with Margie Deeb

Autumn will be here before you know it. Time to switch up your breezy summer fashion for lovely brown earth tones. If you enjoy making jewelry, now is a great time to plan your color selections. An overabundance of autumn browns can look muddy and unremarkable. You need to offset the heavy weight of the brown with some warmth and light. If you want to master your fall jewelry, you will want to read Margie Deeb's look at autumn color.

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We love Margie Deeb's intimate knowledge of colors and we wanted to re-share some of our archive articles she has written for us. Margie is an incredibly talented artist, designer, and author. Follow along on her color journey. Let's all become students of color!

Make sure you visit our colorful beads and gemstones. You can purchase your favorite stone or glass bead. You can also shop by colorstrand size, and shape. Shopping for autumn color jewelry has never been easier. Simply find your color choice and browse the options in our shop. Color makes it easy to design with a theme in mind. Live colorfully!

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Below, Margie discusses fall colors. She cites her Fall/Winter 2010 Color Report for Bead & Jewelry Designers book. She fell in love with the fall color Pantone selected. At the bottom of the article, we also provide the Pantone fall colors for 2019.

Autumn Browns And Chocolate Truffle by Margie Deeb

Autumn is here, and this is the time of year for those who love browns and earth tones. Organic, earthy colors (especially camels and browns) are the basis of fall fashion, on and off the runway. These tones ground us and keep us warm as we head into winter.

In The Beader's Guide to Color I write "We count on the colors of the earth to convey substance and realness. In raw or refined materials, shapes, and finishes, these colors are never pretentious.

If an assembly of earth toned beads is too dull, lacking texture or shine, the effect is predictably uninspiring-like sluggish mud. Earth tones often need lighter notes of cream and ivory to balance their substance. Add the sparkle of metals, especially warm golds, to lift the heaviness. Brown glass beads with a metallic iris finish are sumptuous."

When working with browns, be aware of their undertones. Most began as a red or orange, to which other colors were added that muted and darkened them. Being from that side of the colors wheel, they are naturally warm. Watch for greenish undertones in some browns. These are usually the most unappealing tones.

In the  Fall/Winter 2010 Color Report for Bead & Jewelry Designers I write about the fabulous fall color Pantone selected for the season called CHOCOLATE TRUFFLE, which is one of the most luxurious browns I've ever seen.

Quite often, browns tend to be muted or flat. Not our CHOCOLATE TRUFFLE! With a strong red base, in certain light it could be mistaken for a deep maroon. And OH! the elegance it can create with rich reds and purples.

Along with its name, this color transmits more than a subliminal message: I could taste it the entire time I worked with it. Be warned: it's dangerous to work with on an empty stomach.

Autumn Browns And Chocolate Truffle by Margie Deeb

Try this palette from the  Fall/Winter 2010 Color Report for Bead & Jewelry Designers. This color scheme conveys luxury, elegance, and chic style all at the same time. CHOCOLATE TRUFFLE, PURPLE ORCHID, LIPSTICK RED, ROYAL LILAC (from Fall 2008).

Here it is in context:

Autumn Browns And Chocolate Truffle by Margie Deeb

Illustration by Dale Taylor, iStock photo

Chocolate Truffle Necklace by Jamie Cloud Eakin

Inspired by the rich depth of this season's CHOCOLATE TRUFFLE, Jamie Cloud Eakin combined Crazy Horse Stone with garnet, purple quartz, and seed beads to create a tasseled pendant necklace.

The 10 Fall 2010 colors from Pantone, as described in the Fall/Winter 2010 Color Report for Bead & Jewelry Designers:

Autumn Browns And Chocolate Truffle by Margie Deeb

The 12 Autumn/Winter 2019-2020 colors from Pantone:

Autumn Browns And Chocolate Truffle by Margie Deeb

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Margie Deeb

Artist and color expert Margie Deeb is the author of The Beader's Color Palette, The Beader's Guide to Color, The Beader's Guide to Jewelry Design and numerous beading and color publications. She teaches color and beading across the country and her free monthly color column, Margie's Muse, is available on her website. She writes regularly for Beadwork, Bead & Button, and Step-by-Step Beads magazines.

Visit Margie's website for her books, kits, patterns, jewelry, inspiration, and more: www.MargieDeeb.com