Allegory Gallery Design Challenge: Dark Rainbow Reveal

It's been absolutely ages since I've participated in one of Allegory Gallery's Design Challenges, but when they premiered the Dark Rainbow kit I had to snag one and play along!  I couldn't resist the dark iridescence going on in all the goodies!

Each Allegory Gallery Design Kit has tons of great beads to play with and there's always a Mystery Component that's a surprise.  Here's an up close look at the Mystery Component for this kit and some of the beads I was playing with to go with it!  

For once I started with a necklace (instead of the low hanging fruit of a quick pair of earrings!) and immediately zeroed in on the three strands of matte plated hematite rondelles in different sizes.  The bronze tones in those beads was just perfect for the pendant!  The clear rounds with an AB finish were another early pick for the necklace.  The pearly look to them brought out some of the subtle sheen in the clouds.  (My picture doesn't do the color shifting pigments justice!)  All the beads are from the kit with the exception of a few seed beads at the very back.  I picked a brass plated toggle clasp that mimicked the design around the top of the pendant.

Of course the second thing I made WAS a pair of earrings, lol.  With kits like this I usually start by pouring all the beads out and seeing what I have... grouping like things together and thinking about what things might play best together.  I set aside some matching bead pairs that didn't seem like they would work for my necklace idea as well as some coordinating beads right away but then circled back to them once I finished my first design.  All the beads other than the crystal rondelles came from the kit... so shiny!

Last, but not least I made a bracelet to round out my little mini collection.  I got the idea and some of the supplies for this from the Dakota Stones/Goody Beads presentation during the Great Bead Extravaganza.  I mostly used beads from the luxury bead blend as well as the same matte rondelles I used in my necklace.  I added in some purple peanut seed beads and some braided black leather.  The bracelet is strung on heavy duty memory wire to handle the weight of the bigger beads.  

Thanks for stopping by to see what I've been up to.  There are still a bunch of beads that I haven't even cut off the strands so there's more jewelry to be made from this fun kit when I have the time.