I haven't been great about playing along with the design prompts that my friends Andrew and William have been putting out in their Allegory Gallery Design Challenge Facebook group. Life's just been too busy to keep up with any extra projects. I finally got back in the swing of things the last couple of weeks! I actually managed to create something for four of the five prompts... not too shabby if you ask me! Here we go....
Week 1: Use an artisan bead in a design
For some reason I've had bracelets on the brain. I made a piece for this month's Honey Do List featuring a bead by Summer Wind Art and while digging for that I rediscovered a cute and colorful marigold bead by her that captured my imagination. I paired the wood burned and hand painted bead with some bright Czech glass flowers on each side along with some glass and plated hematite rondelles. The colors in this piece just make me happy! I'm clearly not ready to let go of summery colors.
Week 2: Draw inspiration from an historic piece of jewelry
Ok, this may be stretching things a teeny tiny bit, but what the heck. It's the closest thing that I've got and I made it this month. At the Adornments Retreat in 2018 I stamped the word "dreamer" onto this cool, vintage feel bracelet bar. The patina elements were already there but I did highlight the stamped message with additional patina paint. The elaborate edges to the brass bracelet focal just make me think of something Victorian or something (I really don't know my period pieces very well) and had some fancy beads to pair with it! I had some black and gold vintage German glass butterfly beads that were just perfect for gold tone of the metal with the black "antiquing." I also had some cute little flower beads in the same black and gold finish.
Week 3: Celebrate Fall with an Autumn-inspired creation.
I bought a whole bunch of enameled leaves from Gardanne Beads last year and have just been hoarding them... you know, like I do. Inspired by some necklaces that my friend Erin Prais-Hintz made last fall, I broke them out and managed to finish two necklaces. The one on the left also has a fun round ceramic bead from Golem Design Studio, Czech glass, and brass. The right side has an owl bead by Green Girl Studios, lampwork by Jeff Barber, and Czech glass on a mix of silver plated chain.
Week 4: Let's get spooky! Design some Halloween jewelry.
I bought a skully ceramic set from Michelle McCarthy of Firefly Design Studio at Bead & Button this summer and now seemed like the perfect time to design with them. I've only completed the earrings so far, but the pendant is still hanging out on my bead mat. I paired the black and white skull charms with some vintage lucite from Allegory Gallery, pewter, and Czech glass. These wouldn't play nice on a flat background so I used a Halloween decoration to hang them from!
Thanks for stopping by to see what I've been up to lately! I hope you have a fun and spooky Halloween! I think I'll be wearing my new skull earrings tomorrow!!