Artisans Create Together Inspiration Challenge: October 2016

There's a new group on Facebook called Artisans Create Together that I just learned about and I was thrilled to discover that they do a monthly inspiration challenge (actually they do two, as you'll see below!)  And you know how I adore a challenge!

Fall is without a doubt my favorite season and I enjoy all the luscious colors that come with it.  While I enjoyed both of the October Inspiration color palettes, I found this group too late to get much completed by their deadline.  The combination of turquoise (or teal) with orange has long been a favorite for fall... or anytime really... so I had to start there.  In fact, I had so little time for this challenge that despite pulling tons of turquoise and orange beads and focals onto my bead mat, I only managed to complete and photograph one set of earrings before the deadline.  Here is that first pair:

Enameled leaves by Gardanne, Carnelian, & Czech Glass

As you can see below, my table was still covered in an embarrassment of beady riches arranged into half thought out projects.  I couldn't just walk away and waste all that effort... and I certainly didn't want to have to put all those beads away!  What choice did I have but to keep on creating with one of my favorite color combinations??  I had to share with you the rest of the goodies that I made.

Yup, this is pretty much how I always work.  I'm incapable of working on just one thing at a time!

It made sense to start by continuing with the little earrings that I had started (but not finished) for the challenge.  Once I added my favorite Czech glass flowers above an orange pair of Gardanne enameled oak leaves, I knew that it was a design that had potential without the charms too!  Before I knew it I had whipped up these three pairs of earrings:

With some things cleared off my mat, it was time to move on to some necklaces!  First up, a necklace featuring one of the polymer clay pendants that I made from my very own mold at the Inspired by Nature Retreat.  (You can read more about my exploits at the retreat HERE.)  Lots of Czech glass and a little bit of copper make up this little number!  I'm looking forward to using the rest of my creations from this project at the retreat!

Next up, I moved onto a gorgeous birch leaf pendant by the talented Mary Harding that I've had squirreled away for a while.  This piece had a brighter, more yellow-toned orange that just made me happy.  For this necklace, my brain wanted to go asymmetrical and I went along with it!  Once again I used a variety of Czech glass beads in turquoise and orange tones but added in some carnelian and vintage plastic as well.  I had fun playing with the leaf motif from the pendant... adding in some Czech glass maple leaf beads and a brass beech leaf charm.  This one is hard to let go of... I adore the finished product!

Lastly, I wanted to make something with a Vintaj brass pendant that I had painted a little while ago.  When I started adding color I was planning to stick to shades of orange but on a whim I dabbed on a bit of turquoise making it perfect for this challenge!  Since I had been doing a lot of stringing, I decided to switch things up and make beaded links for this one in a collection of Czech beads.

Thanks for stopping by and checking out my little collection of turquoise and orange jewelry!  I'll be taking most of these designs into Unearthed Arts this week so there will be some pops of orange in my display just in time for the annual D.E.A.R. Hunting event this Saturday!