Colour is on my mind a lot at the moment as I work with new colours, the seasons change and I try to be more adventurous, and also as I spend some time updating my Colour Challenge blog with extra photos and writing on my recent colour use.

Today is another day with another new project.

This time I am re-beading my first ever geometric piece: Geometric 1-1-1 but adding crystals to fit a request.

I have been told to use colours in my stash- and the only other guidance is the word "photogenic" and from my own limited experience I know this means nothing black, nothing too dark and nothing too white.

So my first step is to check what colours I have in the crystals I want to use- 2mm rounds.

Fortunately/ unfortunately I have a limited range and the black is out for photographic reasons and the clear crystal for personal preference.

That leaves me with red, orange, baby pink, light green, a brown and light purple.

The red seems far too strong for the others so that gets discarded too.

So I am left with soft, spring colours- but what to pair them with?

I don't like white anyway so that isn't even considered.

I briefly debate a green or yellow to fit with a bright scheme but realise that using any strong colour will side too much with any of the crystal colours or overpower them. Also if I want to keep them fresh and spring like I need to keep it simple.

So a bit of experimenting later and I soon have my first beaded bead, in a soft, spring, subtle palette- a first for me!