Pantone Persuasion

When Pantone announced its color(s) of the year for 2016, I'll admit I had a moment of "huh?"

Soft pink and baby blue? I was not thrilled (as though the folks at the Pantone Institute had been holding their collective breath until I decided whether or not I approve).  Then I read this:

"Huh" turned into "Hmm.."  So the other day, while excavating the piles of beads in the workroom poking around in my bead stash, I found some lovely Czech lentils in rose quartz, and decided to play with them. A tube of Serenity colored seed beads, some soft pink druks, and a while later, this turned out.

 The colors are tricky for me, or at least my photographic skills, to capture perfectly.

Here's a close up, showing a little more detail of the flat spiral.

These aren't going to be my primary go-to hues, I don't think. But they're nice and calm and spring-like, and who can't use as much warmth and calm as we can find?

And how about you? What do you think of Pantone's choice this year?

Hat Week Friday -- The Kentucky Oaks

Happy Friday, everyone!  While you're reading this, I will either be at Churchill Downs, enjoying the festivities of the Kentucky Oaks, or somewhere quiet, recuperating from the festivities of the Oaks and letting someone else cook dinner.

Today's hat inspiration is what I'll be wearing at the Oaks -- it's a beautiful fascinator I won at a silent auction last Derby season.  It's completely appropriate for the Oaks, which has pink as its signature color and is called the Run for the Lilies.

Now, you may wonder why the necklace is not pink on pink, with a little pink thrown in for good measure. The green is the exact color of my Oaks dress, the bronze pearls match a tiny stripe on the dress, and the rose quartz is a soft reflection of the lily. I decided to be somewhat subtle at my neck, since there's no way having big ol' fuchsia flowers on your head can be considered subtle!

I'll be at the track today with my camera at the ready, prepared to capture all the hat wonderfulness that's roaming around (at least until someone smacks me for taking their picture)!  Since the reveal for BSBP has been postponed, I hope to have some pictures to share with you tomorrow. And since we lucked into seats right on the rail of the track (!), I might even have some closeups of some jockey silks!