February 2017 Inspiration for the Honey Do List

Last year, my husband Eric has decided to issue me a design challenge each month to get me out of my comfort zone and to help clear out my bead stash... and we're continuing the Honey Do List for 2017!  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!  

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

I went minimalist on this month's photo which I took this last summer in the Japanese Gardens in Portland.  Walking up the trail to the garden proper, I spotted this single leaf sitting in a ray of sun filtered through tall trees and magnolias.  I'm dreaming of summer after too much winter here in Minnesota, so here you go!

The reveal date will be Monday, February 27th.  To make it super easy for you to participate and share your creations, I'll set up an Inlinkz link up so folks can add their blogs as they are ready.  Just stop by my blog starting on February 27th and join the fun!  I'll leave the link up open for a while... so you have plenty of time to add your links.  (Last month's is still open... check it out HERE.)  No blog?  No worries!  Feel free to send me a picture of your creation and some brief comments and I'll happily share in my blog post.  You can reach me at sjdesignsjewelry@gmail.com  The more the merrier, so I hope you'll play along with me this month!

November 2016 Inspiration for the Honey Do List

This year, my husband Eric has decided to issue me a design challenge each month to get me out of my comfort zone and to help clear out my bead stash... we're calling it the Honey Do List.  I know that I'm not the only one who loves a good design challenge, so I'm inviting folks to play along!  

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

This month's challenge piece is an amazing sunrise just outside of our housing development.  I did some crazy photoshop action to turn it into a tiny world surrounded by Saturn-like rings.  I thought the effect was fun and the colors should lend themselves well to a jewelry making challenge.  Good luck!

The reveal date will be Monday, November 21st.  To make it super easy for you to participate and share your creations, I'll set up an Inlinkz link up so folks can add their blogs as they are ready.  Just stop by my blog starting on November 21st and join the fun!  I'll leave the link up open for a while... so you have plenty of time to add your links.  (Last month's is still open... check it out HERE.)  No blog?  No worries!  Feel free to send me a picture of your creation and some brief comments and I'll happily share in my blog post.  You can reach me at sjdesignsjewelry@gmail.com  The more the merrier, so I hope you'll play along with me this month!

P.S. If you want to read more about Eric's experiments with Little Planets, you can check out his blog post all about it HERE.

September 2016 Inspiration for the Honey Do List

Happy September, everyone!  And welcome to the next installment of the Honey Do List challenge!  Let me start off by wishing my sweet husband a very happy 15th anniversary!  That's right folks, 15 years ago today Eric and I exchanged vows to love one another for better and for worse.  So far, 2016 seems to want to throw the worst our way, but we have each other to lean on, laugh and cry with, and generally be partners on this adventure called life... and I wouldn't want anyone else by my side!

Anyway, back to the issue at hand... This year, my husband Eric has decided to issue me a design challenge each month to get me out of my comfort zone and to help clear out my bead stash... we're calling it the Honey Do List.  I know that I'm not the only one who loves a good design challenge, so I'm inviting folks to play along!  

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

I struggled a bit this month to find something suitable.  I've been focused more on organic and nature shots for this challenge so I figured I'd go more urban and abstract for a change!  This shot comes from the outside "patio" area of a nightclub in Nordeast Minneapolis that I discovered on a recent trip out to Indeed Brewing.  I was struck by the rusted metal with faded and overlapped spray paint.  Good luck!

The reveal date will be Monday, September 26th.  To make it super easy for you to participate and share your creations, I'll set up an Inlinkz link up so folks can add their blogs as they are ready.  Just stop by my blog on Septbember 26th and join the fun!  I'll leave the link up open for a while... so you have plenty of time to add your links.  (Last month's is still open... check it out HERE.)  No blog?  No worries!  Feel free to send me a picture of your creation and some brief comments and I'll happily share in my blog post.  You can reach me at sjdesignsjewelry@gmail.com  The more the merrier, so I hope you'll play along with me this month!

I can't wait to see what everyone makes this time!

August 2016 Inspiration for the Honey Do List

Welcome to August!  (Seriously, where is the time going??)  It's been a busy summer with no signs of life calming down anytime soon... maybe October.  No matter how much I wish these summer days would slow down, time just keeps marching on and that means it's time for the newest Honey Do List challenge!

This year, my husband Eric has decided to issue me a design challenge each month to get me out of my comfort zone and to help clear out my bead stash... we're calling it the Honey Do List.  I know that I'm not the only one who loves a good design challenge, so I'm inviting folks to play along!  

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

This month I chose a picture from our recent trip out to Ligonier, PA for the Allegory Gallery's Creative Camp.  Andrew Thornton directed us out to a nearby bog where the carnivorous plants were in full bloom.  An entire field of these pitcher plants and much smaller sundews stretched around us--beauty and savagery all wrapped up in one tiny leafy package.  The strange shape, as well as the striated deep red patterns against green really jumped out at me and I wanted to see what a bunch of jewelry designers could pull off with this inspiration!

The reveal date will be Monday, August 29th.  To make it super easy for you to participate and share your creations, I'll set up an Inlinkz link up so folks can add their blogs as they are ready.  Just stop by my blog on August 29th and join the fun!  I'll leave the link up open for a while... so you have plenty of time to add your links.  (Last month's is still open... check it out HERE.)  No blog?  No worries!  Feel free to send me a picture of your creation and some brief comments and I'll happily share in my blog post.  You can reach me at sjdesignsjewelry@gmail.com  The more the merrier, so I hope you'll play along with me this month!

I can't wait to see what everyone makes this time!

July 2016 Inspiration for the Honey Do List

Happy Fourth of July, everyone!!  Sorry I'm running later than usual with this, but it's finally time to announce this month's Honey Do List Challenge! 

This year, my husband Eric has decided to issue me a design challenge each month to get me out of my comfort zone and to help clear out my bead stash... we're calling it the Honey Do List.  I know that I'm not the only one who loves a good design challenge, so I'm inviting folks to play along!  

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

Close ups of some of the gemstone pendants that Eric helped pick out at Bead & Button!

I'm a huge fan of the beauty to be found in nature, especially that hidden within the depths of the earth.  The random patterns of these stone pendants are a work of art unto themselves--some abstract, others more defined.  The challenge this month is to incorporate such a patterned natural stone into your jewelry!

The reveal date will be Monday, July 25th.  To make it super easy for you to participate and share your creations, I'll set up an Inlinkz link up so folks can add their blogs as they are ready.  Just stop by my blog on July 25th and join the fun!  I'll leave the link up open for a while... so you have plenty of time to add your links.  (Last month's is still open... check it out HERE.)  No blog?  No worries!  Feel free to send me a picture of your creation and some brief comments and I'll happily share in my blog post.  You can reach me at sjdesignsjewelry@gmail.com  The more the merrier, so I hope you'll play along with me this month!

 I hope that you all have a happy and safe holiday!  I'm going to go get back to work!

June 2016 Inspiration for the Honey Do List

Happy June, everyone!!  It's time to announce this month's Honey Do List Challenge!  I hope that you all had a happy and safe Memorial Day weekend and are ready for summer to really get started.   

This year, my husband Eric has decided to issue me a design challenge each month to get me out of my comfort zone and to help clear out my bead stash... we're calling it the Honey Do List.  I know that I'm not the only one who loves a good design challenge, so I'm inviting folks to play along!  

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

I wanted to use a shot from our recent trip to Oregon for this month's challenge.  I took this picture at the Japanese Gardens in Portland, where I noticed the reflection of the ferns on the top of the rippling reflecting pool.  I waited several minutes, dodging small children, until a koi happened by--making the shot even more interesting.  Take inspiration from the color palette, the fish, the ferns, the water, the clouds--whatever strikes your fancy!  

For me this is the point in the year that it always feels like someone pushes the fast forward button... in a blink of an eye it will be fall.  I want to do all I can to combat that feeling this year... to be in the moment as much as possible and enjoy the long summer days.  I love that this picture transports me back to the tranquil Portland Japanese Garden.  I could have stood there watching the koi swim for hours!  My gears are already turning...  

The reveal date will be Monday, June 27th.  To make it super easy for you to participate and share your creations, I'll set up an Inlinkz link up so folks can add their blogs as they are ready.  Just stop by my blog on June 27th and join the fun!  I'll leave the link up open for a while... so you have plenty of time to add your links.  (Last month's is still open... check it out HERE.)  No blog?  No worries!  Feel free to send me a picture of your creation and some brief comments and I'll happily share in my blog post.  You can reach me at sjdesignsjewelry@gmail.com  The more the merrier, so I hope you'll play along with me this month!

May 2016 Inspiration for the Honey Do List

Happy May Day, everyone!  Spring can be an oh so fickle thing in Minnesota, but it's finally looking like the new season is really here to stay.  Today brings some much needed sunshine and warmer temperatures and I am so happy for both!

This year, my husband Eric has decided to issue me a design challenge each month to get me out of my comfort zone and to help clear out my bead stash... we're calling it the Honey Do List.  I know that I'm not the only one who loves a good design challenge, so I'm inviting folks to play along!

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

This month's challenge was going to be some kind of spring flower action, but I was lucky enough to take a class on raptor photography at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum this past weekend and found a new muse!  This is Samantha the white morph great horned owl sitting in a flowering crab apple tree.  Our photogenic raptors were brought out by the Minnesota Raptor Center who rescue injured birds and release those who can survive back into the wilds, while keeping the birds like Sam (who has a broken wing) for demonstrations and education opportunities.  So, this month take inspiration from the bird itself, the colors, whatever strikes your fancy!

The reveal date will be Monday, May 23rd.  To make it super easy for you to participate and share your creations, I'll set up an Inlinkz link up so folks can add their blogs as they are ready.  Just stop by my blog on May 23rd and join the fun!  I'll leave the link up open for a while... so you have plenty of time to add your links.  (Last month's is still open... check it out HERE.)  No blog?  No worries!  Feel free to send me a picture of your creation and some brief comments and I'll happily share in my blog post.  You can reach me at sjdesignsjewelry@gmail.com  The more the merrier, so I hope you'll play along with me this month!

April 2016 Inspiration for the Honey Do List

This year, my husband Eric has decided to issue me a design challenge each month to get me out of my comfort zone and to help clear out my bead stash... we're calling it the Honey Do List.  I know that I'm not the only one who loves a good design challenge, so I'm inviting folks to play along!

Eric's two biggest interests are beer and photography (you can see what he's up to over on his blog HERE).  He's given us photography challenges twice now... so this month it's time to bring beer into the mix!  Sound crazy to you?  Read on and see what I mean!

Here's what Eric has to say about this month's challenge and some examples to get your creative juices going:

This month we're doing the Beer Challenge!  I'm a huge fan of craft beer and the recent boom of great beers has led to a lot of fantastic label art.  Your challenge (should you choose to accept it) is to take label art as an inspiration for jewelry.  I've posted a couple of examples of cool bottle art as well as corresponding art beads.  You can use these particular examples or use your own beer, wine, or even soda labels as a starting point.  Good luck!

Art Beads from left to right:  Kylie Parry, Golem Design Studio, Gaea, Unknown, Unknown, Staci Louise Smith

I hope that this unique challenge sparks your interest and you play along with me this month!  You may be taking a look at beverage containers in a whole new light!

The reveal date will be Monday, April 25th.  To make it super easy for you to participate and share your creations, I'll set up an Inlinkz link up so folks can add their blogs as they are ready.  Just stop by my blog on April 25th and join the fun!  I'll leave the link up open for a while... so you have plenty of time to add your links.  (Last month's is still open... check it out HERE.)  No blog?  No worries!  Feel free to send me a picture of your creation and some brief comments and I'll happily share in my blog post.  You can reach me at sjdesignsjewelry@gmail.com  The more the merrier, so I hope you'll play along with me this month!

March 2016 Inspiration for the Honey Do List

Welcome to March!  I don't know how you're feeling, but this new year is already flying by for me!  This year, my husband Eric has decided to issue me a design challenge each month to get me out of my comfort zone and to help clear out my bead stash... we're calling it the Honey Do List.

Eric and I were so inspired by the response to last month's Honey Do List challenge that we decided to do a blog post to announce the inspiration for the March challenge in hopes of getting folks excited about playing along!  Once again, Eric has offered up some of his photography as a jumping off place.

Without further ado, here are his photos and what he has to say about this month's challenge:

Something I've discovered as I take more pictures is that some are all about the colors, while others are about structure or shadow and light.  As I watched Sarajo creating colorful jewelry with glass, crystals, stones, and textiles, I decided to make this month a little more challenging.  This month I want you to create a piece in black and white (including shades of grey)!  Feel free to take inspiration from the photos, or ignore them completely and just work with monochrome.  Good luck!  

The reveal date will be Monday, March 21.  To make it super easy for you to participate and share your blog links, I'll set up an Inlinkz link up so folks can add their blogs as they are ready.  Just stop by my blog on March 21st and join the fun!  No blog?  No worries!  Feel free to send me a picture of your creation and some brief comments and I'll happily share in my blog post.  You can reach me at sjdesignsjewelry@gmail.com  The more the merrier, so I hope you'll play along with me this month!

Exploring Color Palettes

Mixing colors doesn't come all that easily to me as a jewelry designer and it's something that I want to learn more about this year.  I don't come from a fine arts background, so my understanding of color theory is at a pretty basic level.  When I start looking at colors, I have a strong tendency to want to keep to shades of one hue instead of branching out with pops of contrasting color.  I think playing with diverse colors must be controlled by the same part of the brain that deals with asymmetry... and for me, that area of my brain just needs an extra work out!

The Spring 2013 issue of Jewelry Stringing magazine had a great article called "Colorize Your Jewelry: Top Spots for Color Inspiration."  I skimmed the article when the issue first arrived, but it took me a little while to get around to checking out the websites and blogs that were highlighted by the author.  The other day I finally circled back to the article and then spent the better part of the afternoon in pursuit of amazing color combinations.  The article was a great jumping off point, but I found some great sites and palettes by looking around on Pinterest and other places too!

Color Palette from the Oh the Color website

Perhaps I am just craving some color after what feels like an endless, grey Minnesotan winter, but I'm ready to celebrate COLOR!  Maybe some of you are feeling the same way, so I thought I'd share some of my favorites that I discovered in my color explorations with my readers.

Design Seeds
This website is pretty much all about showing people gorgeous color palettes.  Each day, Jessica Colaluca posts one or two photos along with a color palette that she pulled from it.  I love how you can click on a color in a given palette and it will take you to other photos/palettes that include that color.  There are some more advanced search functions as well.  Since she's been at this since 2009, it's nice to be able to search through the wealth of rich color on her site!

Tulip Color from Design Seeds blog

Brandi Girl Blog
Each month as part of the monthly art challenge, the Art Bead Scene blog shares a color palette for the artwork that is created by Brandi Hussey.  I have long been impressed by the beauty of these palettes but hadn't looked any further until now.  I finally made the leap to look at Brandi's blog, and, WOW, what a wealth of information she shares there!  Brandi is an artist who was formerly a jewelry designer so, in addition to sharing her gorgeous photography and color palettes, she also talks a lot about color theory and design and shares a ton of tips for working with color and beyond.  I want (and need) to go back and explore her blog further... I can tell that I will learn a great deal from this talented lady!

Spring Trees color Palette from Brandi Girl Blog

Here are links to a few more spots on the interwebs that had some serious color inspiration:

• Photo Card Boutique has a section for what they call Color Crush Palettes.
• Decor Hacks is a DIY home and craft projects site that has a great section of palettes as well as design ideas. 
• Oh the Color strives to be a digital sketchbook for color inspiration and to highlight artwork.  They have been posting a palette each Saturday (by Brandi Hussey) that pulls from the previous week's colors. 
• Color Collective creator Lauren Willhite showcases color palettes "pulled from the work of various designers, artists, and photographers that I am inspired by."  Many are drawn from fashion photography.

All this online exploring inspired me to start a new Pinterest board, Pretty Palettes!, to save some of my favorite color combinations.  My hope is that I can use this as a place to go for color inspiration if I ever get stuck on color.

Overall, my favorite sites were those where they show a color palette along side a photo (or photos) that the colors were drawn from.  I like seeing an image where the colors are mixed together a bit more than just chunks of color side by side.  I think seeing a picture also helps me in thinking about how to best balance the mix of colors in a design too.  As I said, I'm color-challenged so I need all the help I can get!

All that being said, there are plenty of interesting web sites out there that are mostly just groupings of color.  My favorite of these was Adobe's Kuler website that allows you search, create, and share color palettes (they call them themes).  My favorite feature is the ability to create a palette from an uploaded a photo (or one from flickr) and then save it if you have registered with them (it's free!).  Of course, you can just browse the thousands of themes that other people have created and shared.

A color theme I created with one of my jewelry photos.  Pretty cool!

What puzzles me the most about my inability to effortlessly mix colors in my designs is the fact that I'm so drawn to things that have a variety of colors in them.  I'm drawn like a moth to flame by pre-made seed bead mixes, colorful scrap-booking paper, and fun fabric prints so why doesn't my mind naturally turn to those types of color combos?  Looking at all of these great resources has really re-energized me when it comes to adding color to my designs in interesting ways.  I'm smitten with color and I hope my designs will show it!

Some of my favorite seed bead mixes from Glass Garden Beads.

Is anyone else fascinated by color palettes?  or just color in general?  What are your favorite web sites or other sources of inspiring colors?  Let me know in the comments of this blog post... I'm always looking for new ideas and sources of inspiration!