Jewelry Mojo Challenge Week 10: Fashion and Beads

It's week 10 in Heather Powers' Jewelry Making Mojo Challenge!  (I'm feeling kind of sad that there are only two weeks left after this.)  This week's challenge is to create a piece of jewelry inspired by your favorite clothing catalog or online store.  I know part of the idea of this challenge is to think about connecting with your customer but, even though I am selling my jewelry more now, I still think of myself as my biggest customer in some ways.  (I'm not entirely sure why that is since I don't keep a ton for myself... but maybe because I try to only make things that I would want to wear.  That may not be the best tactic for a thriving business, but it's where I am right now.

I enjoy dressing up sometimes and all, but at my heart I'm a jeans and t-shirt kind of girl.  Clinton and Stacey from What Not to Wear wouldn't want to hear this but I just like to be comfortable.  Now I try to be cute and comfortable, but still... it's all about knits and low maintenance clothing for the bulk of my wardrobe.  Oh and sandals... we can't forget my endless collection of Teva and Chaco sandals!

Anyway, as a cute and comfortable goes, my go-to shopping destination lately is Eddie Bauer.  I just bought the t-shirt and skirt below (deciding only after I got them home that they worked together) and had no jewelry to go with them.  Full disclosure, the t-shirt looks much looser in the picture than it really is... I promise it works.  My husband wouldn't give his blessing to something that wasn't flattering!  The skirt also works with a plain tank top.

I decided to make an etched and painted set to go with this outfit using a variety of blue beads.  This isn't the best picture of my jewelry but I've been having some lighting challenges... it is what it is!  The paint is a nice cornflower blue in person.

I'm cheating a little bit on my second look which is a variation on a theme.  The photo from this year's collection isn't really the same color as the one I have in my wardrobe from last summer which is more turquoise like my necklace.  While not a perfect color match, I think it still could go.  It would look nice with the same top in citrus or spring mango too.  I really like the design I used to etch the leaf blank... I think I'll be doing more like this to go to the gallery this summer.

Well, I hope you enjoyed my attempt to match up my designs with casual fashion!