August 2023 Honey Do List

2023 marks the eighth year that my husband Eric has been giving me a design challenge each month to get me out of my comfort zone and to help clear out my bead stash... The Honey Do List!  (Y'all, time really does fly!!)  I know that I'm not the only one who loves a good design challenge, so I'm hoping folks will continue to play along with us!

Here's this month's inspiration and what Eric had to say about it:

This month's picture is another of the many street art pieces we saw in Asheville, NC earlier this summer.  I thought the luna moth would be a cool inspiration for jewelry: either moth beads, or the colors in the art.  Next month I'll do something different!

As soon as I saw Eric's photo for us this month I knew I had a few luna moth art beads that just had to come out to play!  Beyond the true lunas, I do have a fondness for moths and butterflies in general... so there was plenty for me to choose from for this challenge.

The first thing that I unearthed from my stash were these sweet faux tin charms from Humblebeads.  I'm 99% sure that I'll keep these for myself, but we shall see.  I made some little floral dangles with some pale green and yellow toned Czech glass and green crystals.  A quick, cute design to kick things off!

Not quite ready to tackle my statement necklace, I turned first to another set of earring charms, this time by Cathleen Zaring of Blue Hare.  Clearly these aren't luna moths, but still fun and fluttery creatures.  I grabbed some little vintage metal teardrops to dangle from the enameled charms along with some Swarovski crystals.

Having stalled long enough, it was time to tackle my necklace!  I love the matte glazes that Sarah Kandell of Slate Studios Supply used on this lovely, large luna moth.  She's just dreamy!  I didn't want supporting beads to be so shiny as to overshadow or compete with the focal.  Luckily I had some nice matte options in both Czech glass and vintage German resin in my stash.  My one real concession to shine are the cranberry colored moon glow lucite rounds.  They are a perfect match to the red in the dress and add a nice pop of color to the design.  I snuck in a little bit of blue fluorite and a Swarovski pearl as well.

To my great sadness, when trying to determine the correct length of the necklace for the dress, I discovered what I had already suspected... the dress is a little bit too small for my current weight.  Hopefully having this delightful new necklace will inspire me to get back to my fighting weight!  I can't wait to wear this necklace!

I thought I was done, but then I uncovered a delightful teapot and teacup pendant set from Jade Scott.  Again, not actually a luna moth, but the colors of the moth were perfect!  It was super fun looking for a fun mix of beads that pulled the various colors out of the resin pieces.  I ended up with a mix of Czech glass, German resin, and a single prehnite round.

One last necklace here... I really was productive this month!  The Vintaj brass pendant that I painted is technically a butterfly, but I feel like the colors worked so I'll take some creative license.  Since the pendant is fairly dainty, I wanted to keep things pretty simple.  Also, I like to be able to offer designs at a variety of price points when I have sales (and I have a big one coming up next month!)  I alternated peridot and blue fluorite rounds with little metallic seed beads in between and delicate (but sturdy!) brass chain at the back.

Now it's your turn!  Please add links to/photos of your own creations below.  I love seeing what everyone else is making too.  Check back on September 1st (or maybe the 2nd since the 1st is our 22nd wedding anniversary!) to see what Eric dreams up for us next.

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Humblebeads Mood Board Challenge: Van Gogh Irises

 

It's been a hot minute since the last time I played along with one of Heather Powers' design challenges from her Humblebeads VIP Facebook group, but I couldn't resist this one!  As soon as I saw the post, I had an immediate idea so I got to work.  If you aren't familiar with her challenges, she just asks that you use some things from her website in your entries. 

I had gotten these fun little charms in a destash bundle from Heather a while back and I thought this was a good time to finally play with them.  Since the wire was black I paired them with some open ring Vintaj decorivets.  I added some coordinating seed beads to silver plated jump rings to jazz things up a bit and finished the design off with black niobium ear wires with silver decoration.

Next up, I grabbed a pair of Heather's disc beads in colors appropriate for her inspiration.  I had no doubt that I would have at least one set that would work... so it really came down to which ones went best with the Czech glass melon drops I had chosen.  (Full disclosure, it didn't hurt that the glass beads were part of the mess on my bead table already!)  Some more Vintaj arte metal components round out this design.  These are long but the materials keep them relatively lightweight.

While this last piece doesn't qualify for Heather's challenge, I had to share it here anyways!  As I was designing this necklace I really did try to work some Humblebeads into it, but I felt like I was just forcing it and it wasn't coming together.  The sweet little pewter iris pendant from Green Girl Studios was just too perfect for the challenge.  I'd had it sitting on my bead mat for months (gulp) along side a strand of multicolored pearls.  Heather's Van Gogh inspiration was the kick in the pants I needed to pull this simple necklace together... so thanks for that!!

Thanks for stopping by to see what Heather (and Van Gogh!) inspired me to make!

July 2023 Honey Do List

2023 marks the eighth year that my husband Eric has been giving me a design challenge each month to get me out of my comfort zone and to help clear out my bead stash... The Honey Do List!  (Y'all, time really does fly!!)  I know that I'm not the only one who loves a good design challenge, so I'm hoping folks will continue to play along with us!

Here's this month's inspiration and what Eric had to say about it:

Here is some inspiration from our trip to Asheville, NC earlier this summer. I took this picture of pink dogwood flowers right outside an art gallery, so I feel like bringing this around full circle.  Give us some flowers, some leaves, some pink stuff, whatever!

I just adore dogwoods... they are part of my childhood.  I spent many an hour as a kid climbing the one in my grandparents' house in Birmingham... although that one and the one at my house had white blossoms.  

I started out making a couple of simple pairs of earrings with sweet pink Czech glass dangles.  One pair from some cool copper plated filigree connectors.  It's tough to tell from this photo but they have a little bit of a dome to them.

My second pair uses some floral brass deco rivets that I've been hoarding for a while.  I need to break these out more often!    I sanded them down a bit to bring out the pattern.  

Next up, a necklace featuring a ceramic pendant by The Classic Bead that I had forgotten that I even had!  With the way its loop was situated, I decided that my best bet to attach it was to make a little beaded bail with some wire and a Czech glass bead.  I strung the front part of the necklace with more Czech glass beads and some rutilated quartz ovals.

Another little gem in my bead stash for this challenge was a sweet little rose gold colored dogwood pendant from Humblebeads.  I really wanted to do something to give it a little more visual oomph.  I played with a lot of different filigree type options to go behind it before landing on a sort of shield shaped one.  I made bead links with Czech glass and moonstone beads and finished the back with brass chain.

I managed to make one last necklace before my birthday trip to Denver.  I'm kind of shocked that I created as much as I did this month considering I was gone for a week.  For this design I used a vintage ceramic pendant that I had picked up in Asheville, NC a few years back.  I made links using Czech glass and Rose Quartz on brass findings.

Now it's your turn!  Please add links to/photos of your own creations below.  I love seeing what everyone else is making too.  Check back on August 1st to see what Eric dreams up for us next!

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June 2023 Honey Do List

 2023 marks the eighth year that my husband Eric has been giving me a design challenge each month to get me out of my comfort zone and to help clear out my bead stash... The Honey Do List!  (Y'all, time really does fly!!)  I know that I'm not the only one who loves a good design challenge, so I'm hoping folks will continue to play along with us!

Here's this month's inspiration and what Eric had to say about it:   

During our trip to the arty city of Asheville, NC recently, I took a ton of pictures of amazing graffiti.  Take a decrepit brick building and make it into a work of art? Check!  This month's challenge is to use either this graffiti/mural as inspiration...or take your own photo and use it as inspiration!  

I love both the cute little bird with his kind of sad expression and the colors and patterns in this photo!  The bird itself (himself?  males are usually the colorful ones) started off my creativity for this month as I started to grab beady possibilities from amongst my stash.  

What did I make first?  Earrings!  Who is surprised??  What, no one is?  That's fair.  First up, a pair of earrings highlighting a pair of winter bird porcelain charms from Artisticaos.  The colors were perfect even if they aren't exactly summery.  

For my second pair of earrings I picked a cute set of birdie charms from Happy Fish Things.  The colors really worked for the inspiration and I feel like their little body decorations fit with the feeling of the mural too.  These really didn't need much from me... all I did was add some little Czech glass beads for legs and brass ear wires.  

  

I eked out a little more creative time this past weekend and managed to finish two more pieces for this challenge.  I had pulled a fabulous ceramic pendant from Golem Design Studio and am so happy I managed to complete a necklace with it.  I adore their fun and colorful designs and am in awe that each one is hand carved and glazed.  Anyway, I wanted to do something asymmetrical with some yellow Czech glass leaves.  to balance those leaves and a faceted yellow jade teardrop on the one side, I used a trio of Czech glass flowers on the other.  Pulling from the colors of the pendant, I selected some Swarovski pearls in Petrol and some aqua colored crystal.  

Last but not least, I whipped up a sweet little bracelet using a set of polymer clay beads from Humblebeads that have languished in my stash for a long time.  I kept the design fairly simple just adding some spacers between Heather's beads.  For the rest of the bracelet I used a mix of enameled link chain and a more plain gold plated oval chain.

I really had hoped to play with some lampwork glass from my stash that channeled some of the colors and patterns in the mural.  Sigh... so many ideas, so little time.  Maybe, just maybe something will come of those before I clean off my work space again.  

But enough of might of beens... it's time to see what YOU created! Please add links to/photos of your own creations below.  I love seeing what everyone else is making too.  Check back on July 1st to see what Eric dreams up for us next!

 

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February 2023 Honey Do List

2023 marks the eighth year that my husband Eric has been giving me a design challenge each month to get me out of my comfort zone and to help clear out my bead stash... The Honey Do List!  (Y'all, time really does fly!!)  I know that I'm not the only one who loves a good design challenge, so I'm hoping folks will continue to play along with us!

Here's this month's inspiration and what Eric had to say about it:   

Hey everyone!  I didn't have a single picture that really spoke to me this month.  Instead, I decided to try a mix of texture shots to test your muses!  Take these pictures as inspiration directly, or just make good use of textures in your work this month.  Good luck!  And next month I should have some pictures from our upcoming trip to warmer climes...

I really like this trio of textures that Eric chose for our inspiration this month!  I had some immediate ideas but not much time until pretty late in the month due to our travels.  I ended up focusing more on the idea of the textures than the actual colors that Eric captured.  Creative license!

While I know that the green and cream/yellow texture on the left is flaking paint, it made me think of some jasper pieces that Eric bought me for Christmas ages ago.  There was a fairly large pendant piece and a strand of puffed rectangles.  I wanted to add some extra oomph to the pendant (not that it really needed it with its size!) just to give a little more visual interest beyond the beauty of the stone itself.  I dug through my collection of Vintaj embellishments and came up with a copper ivy vine piece that fit the stone nicely.  It only has one hole in it (at the top) so I did a little wire wrapping at the bottom to keep it nice and secure.  I just don't love relying on glue.  Anyway, I strung a few of the smaller jasper beads interspersed with a mix of Czech glass and brass beads and used Vintaj natural brass chain at the back.

Next I made the pair of earrings that were actually my very first thought for the challenge.  When I saw the crater like texture in the upper right hand I thought of the ceramic moons that I got in my subscription box from Artisticaos a while back.  (I'm really bad about not just hoarding all her lovelies so I'm proud of myself for actually using these, lol.) The color is obviously more golden than the inspiration, but I still think it works.  I decided to dig deep in my Humblebeads stash for this and found some gorgeous headpins that I've had forever but have been too scared to use.  (Seriously, I have a thing about decorative headpins!)  Some Czech glass beads and brass bead caps round out this design.

I managed one last design... a pair of earrings that may be for me.  I've had this pair of wonky lampwork rings in my stash for quite a while that Eric and I picked out together at an art show.  I had originally planned on some sort of wire wrapping situation (which always gives me fits!) but decided on a simpler route with jump rings. It gives them a lot of movement!  Some faceted gemstones and creamy Czech glass with a little bit of an AB finish finish these up.

Now it's your turn!  Please add links to/photos of your own creations below.  I love seeing what everyone else is making too.  Check back on March 1st to see what Eric dreams up for us next!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

August 2022 Honey Do List

2022 marks the seventh year that my husband Eric has been giving me a design challenge each month to get me out of my comfort zone and to help clear out my bead stash... The Honey Do List!  (Y'all, time really does fly!!)  I know that I'm not the only one who loves a good design challenge, so I'm hoping folks will continue to play along with us!

Here's this month's inspiration and what Eric had to say about it:   

Within the dwarfing enormity of the redwood forest, one can find the tiniest of life.  I discovered this little mushroom nestled in the moss below these ancient giants and felt it deserved some screen time.  Good luck with the inspiration this month!

As much as I wanted to play with mushrooms for this challenge, everything I had in my stash was more of the red and white variety.  I just wasn't feeling that was where I wanted to go.  Instead I focused on the mossy greens of the moss and the cream of the mushroom in the photo.

First up, I pulled out the heavy duty memory wire, leather, and some Burma Jade gemstone rounds.  To pull out the darker tones of the moss, I looked to my Czech glass melons, with some Picasso finished Czech glass rounds that fell in between the two in color.  I happened to have a little polymer clay charm from Humblebeads to decorate one of the bracelet ends.

Gemstones really felt like a no brainer for this month's photo inspiration!  What better to represent the beauty of the natural world, than a gorgeous pair of matched gemstones??  I had these rainforest rhyolite in my stash for a while... I even think Eric helped me pick them out once upon a time.  I paired them with some Humblebeads polymer clay wobble beads and creamy Mercury finish Czech glass beads.  

Now it's your turn!  Please add links to/photos of your own creations below.  I love seeing what everyone else is making too.  We'll be taking September off since I've got two three day studio tours back to back.  Check back in early October to see what Eric has in store for us next!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

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Humblebeads July 2022 Color Challenge

Oops!  Due to some travel, I didn't get around to posting this before the end of July.  Better late than never!  

Each month, Heather Powers of Humblebeads hosts a color challenge.  She provides a color palette and to inspire our creations... the one rule is that you have to use beads she made or something from her shop.  (She has tons of lovely Czech glass and cool metal findings.)

Lucky for me, I had two Humblebeads focals in my stash that felt like a fit for this challenge.  I've been hoarding them so long that Heather said she'd forgotten about this shape, LOL!  (I'm pretty sure I got them from the 2015 Bead Cruise.)  My first design used the unique "guitar pick" shaped polymer clay piece as a necklace pendant.  I had to gently enlarge the top hole of the pendant to accommodate a jump ring.  Czech glass bead links make up the yoke of the necklace and the dangle from the pendant.  I added a little brass flying bird charm off the back of the chain.

I've been trying to make more bracelets in advance of back to back early fall shows so I figured I'd try one with this unique focal.  I had a tough time deciding between a more symmetrical design and what I ultimately ended up with.  The colors of the purple Czech glass beads was super hard to capture for some reason, but it's truly lovely in person!

 Thanks for stopping by to see what I was inspired to make last month.  Now I'd better buckle down and start on the August challenge!

Humblebeads June 2022 Color Challege

I've really been enjoying the color challenges that Heather Powers has been hosting in her Humblebeads VIP group on Facebook.  The added element for her challenge is that you must use beads (art or otherwise) that you've gotten from her.  That certainly narrows the focus when I'm pulling beads to play with each month and helps me really hone in on things quickly.

The peachy pinks of the inspiration photo aren't really in my wheelhouse design wise so I didn't have a ton of Humblebeads purchases to choose from this month.  What I did have was a bon-bon bead from forever ago (I don't even know if Heather still makes these) and some larger disc beads from a set.  

I started with a bracelet... I had the bon-bon bead out on my mat when I saw Heather's photos for her June Create a Long.  While this bracelet isn't a copy of that project by any means, they share a little DNA.  Here that is if you missed it.  She may still have kits available.  

Heather's June Create a Long project

I loved her use of the copper Woodland Leaf from Vintaj and worked that into my bracelet design.  I added a hole in its tip and used bracelet bending pliers to give it a curve to sit nicely on the wrist.  From there I made some coordinating Czech glass links and added some tiny flower dangles to a medium sized jump ring for added interest and movement.  I'm pretty happy with the end result here!

Next I decided to make a couple of pairs of earrings with some of the beads from an oversized disc bead set in my stash.  This was a harder size/shape to work with than Heather's normal discs, but I was determined to pull something together and get them out of bead purgatory!  The colors are varied, but the design idea was similar... I paired the discs up with some Czech glass beads and copper plated beads and bead caps. I added some niobium ear wires and called it good.

Before wrapping up my efforts for this month, I wanted to try to make one more piece with the remaining oversized discs.  Really, I just didn't want to have to put them away, lol.  If I use something up then that's one problem solved!  Since I was still surrounded with beads in this color palette and the things I used for the other three designs, I just kept playing around.  I ended up choosing some warm wood beads and some coordinating square pillow Czech glass beads to round out the design.  

Considering how little I had to play with this month, I'm pretty happy with this little mini-collection.  Thanks, Heather for continuing to inspire us and challenge us to create with our Humblebeads stash!

Humblebeads May 2022 Color Challenge

If you know me at all, you know that I always appreciate a good design challenge to keep me going and creating!  I've really been enjoying the color challenges that Heather Powers has been hosting in her Humblebeads VIP group on Facebook.  The added element for her challenge is that you must use beads (art or otherwise) that you've gotten from her.  That certainly narrows the focus when I'm pulling beads to play with each month and helps me really hone in on things quickly.

As is often the case, I had a lot of fun with earrings for this challenge!  I started with a pair of faux tin charms that I had actually "lost" for a couple of years in my Bead Cruise folder.  Oops!  But what a perfect time to find them.  :)  The colors worked great and the little flowers remind me of the phlox we used to have in one of our garden beds before it all died.  I paired them with some fun polymer clay rounds from Heather that I've had forever and a day as well as some Czech glass and copper elements for a fun pair of earrings to ring in Spring.

Next up, I grabbed a set of polymer clay discs that I had considered for the first pair of earrings and whipped up another, more monochromatic pair of earrings instead of having to put them away!  I added in some faceted Angelite rounds and funky Czech glass leaves this time.

Last, but not least, I also made a few more birdie earrings.  Technically these don't count as I didn't buy the birds from Heather, but she does sell them!  They were too fun not to share anyway.  

I hope you enjoyed seeing a few new Spring designs as we head into the start of summer this weekend!  I'll be back soon with our Honey Do List reveal and the new challenge as soon as Eric gets his photos off his memory cards.  

Humblebeads April 2022 Color Challenge

 

This year Heather Powers of Humblebeads has started doing a monthly color challenge in her Humblebeads VIP Party Facebook Group.  With everything else that's been on my plate it's been hit or miss if I manage to get anything made, but this was a good month for me!  Maybe it was just coming off the Bead Cruise, or really being ready for spring while Minnesota is still having snow, but, either way I was absolutely feeling the tropical palette this month!

With the greens in the palette, I immediately grabbed some enameled leaf charms from Blue Hare Art Wear and started playing with different Humblebeads discs.  I'm really happy with how both of these came together with a mix of Czech glass flowers and some fun flower shaped sequins that I picked up on the cruise.  Photos really do NOT do these leaves justice.  

I had big, big plans to make a few other things, but sadly, time got away from me.  I'm glad that I made these earrings so quickly or I may not have done anything at all.  Maybe I'll do better this month.  Fingers crossed!

Muffin Tin Design Inspiration: Holiday 2021 Edition

 

From time to time I've participated in a muffin tin challenge or, in this case, a create along.  The idea is basically to get those creative juices going by taking a muffin tin or other container, and putting the elements for a jewelry piece in each cup so that you can easily grab and create!  Above you'll find my muffin tin the way it looked when I started.  I have to admit that in several cases working on one of my legitimate muffin tin projects took me off on tangential projects, but I'm going to keep this post to just what came out of my muffin cups!

As the timing for this was perfect for a holiday gift show that I'm about to do this coming weekend at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, a lot of what I put in my tin have a Christmas-y feel to them... or at least a festive winter theme.  (You can find out more about this December Gift Market HERE.)  This was great to get a nice chunk of new designs ready to go!  If these designs don't find new owners next weekend I'll add them to either Unearthed Arts or the Carver County Arts Consortium gift shop the following week.

This first chunk of designs is clearly all about the upcoming Christmas holiday!  The top three pairs all feature upcycled tin discs from my friend Anna Pierson of SagaHus.  The red and white striped acrylic beads in several of the designs are so much fun and make me think of peppermint candies... and now I want a candy cane!  On the bottom I have some fun holly leaves from Gardanne Beads that I paired with Czech glass "berries."  And then there are some holly leaf and berry ceramic charms from Golem Design Studio with red Italian glitter resin and Czech glass.  I hope that these help make a holly jolly Christmas for someone!

Next up a fun little pin with a gingerbread man charm by Blue Hare with acrylic and Czech glass dangles.  I had two of these little guys so when this first one sold I made a second that I haven't taken a picture of yet... he'll go with me this weekend.  The earrings are made with links from a broken bracelet a friend gave me a while back.  A fun way to repurpose!

This last set is more of a random assortment of earrings.  Half of them had been sitting in my muffin tin since the last time I attempted a muffin tin challenge.  Yay for finally getting something made with languishing components!  The top left pair are more charms from Blue Hare with luscious Czech glass and moon glow lucite.  On the right I've got some lovely moon and star charms from Soul Relica that I paired with faceted labradorite and crystal.  On the bottom I've got some ceramic peacock charms with polymer clay discs from Humblebeads, painted brass bead caps, and Czech glass.  And last but not least my very favorite pair from the whole inspiration challenge.... fabulous enameled charms from Gardanne paired with some amazing corrugated vintage brass beads.

Thanks for stopping by to see what I've been up to the last few weeks!  If you're local, maybe I'll see you Friday or Saturday at the Arboretuem!

Honey Do List May 2021

 2021 marks the sixth year that my husband Eric has been giving me a design challenge each month to get me out of my comfort zone and to help clear out my bead stash... The Honey Do List!  I know that I'm not the only one who loves a good design challenge, so I'm hoping folks will continue to play along with us!

Here's this month's inspiration and what Eric had to say about it:

This month I went back in time to an amazing trip Sarajo and I took to Portland.  This enormous thistle (or artichoke) was in the beautiful yard of our temporary home.  I had no idea that artichokes could be so amazing, spiky, and downright ancient looking!  So here is a fun challenge for you: colors, shapes, flowers...

These artichoke flowers were truly amazing... and really prehistoric looking.  The AirB&B had a cool garden that was so private.  I kept wanting to look for the dinosaurs hanging out with these crazy plants!  

The colors in Eric's photo were really inspiring for me and were the main focus of this pair of earrings.  The green of these polymer clay matchstick charms from Humblebeads as well as their leafy pattern was pretty perfect for this challenge.  For the flowers on top of the charms I went with the lightest colors from the bloom... the cream and palest pinks.  Copper wire and copper colored niobium ear wires complete the look.

Next up I made a gemstone filled bracelet featuring a lovely flower link in fine pewter by Green Girl Studios.  While I know that the link isn't meant to be an artichoke or thistle, it has a similar spiky shape to the petals.  I took some liberties with the colors here, going with paler more muted shades.  I strung faceted Ametrine, rose quartz, aventurine, and cool prehnite barrels on one side of the focal and amethyst and rose quartz nugget links on the other.  I'm pretty happy with the overall effect of this one!

I had a couple of other designs partially thought out but I ran out of time.  We'll see if I circle back to them or not, lol.  

Now it's your turn!  Please add links to/photos of your own creations below.  I love seeing what everyone else is making too!  Check back in early June to see what Eric has in store for us next month!  (I'm pretty sure we'll be late because we're going up North for a few days... but hopefully that will get Eric super inspired!)

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