Inspiration for the June 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:  

While recently in Seattle, we visited the Chihuly Garden and Glass.  Sarajo is a serious glass-o-phile and has wanted to go see this place for ages.  Much of the glass in indoors in somewhat dark rooms so I had a hard time taking good photos.  However, this area, and the gardens outside were much better for my type of photography.  So this month's challenge is glass!

The reveal date will be Monday, June 27.  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 or links as they are ready.  Just stop by my blog starting on June 27 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 our 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 2022 Honey Do List

Good morning and happy Friday! Thanks for your patience with our slightly wonky schedule this time.  We had an amazing two week vacation filled with friends, family, fun, and food.  We got a deeper dive into Seattle, got to experience the Redwoods (including attending a wedding there!), and a good taste of the Oregon and California coasts.  Now it's back to real life and a return to routine.  Anyways... onto the business at hand... the May 2022 Honey Do List reveal!

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

I keep wanting to post Spring flowers or something, but Minnesota is still cold and rainy and not really green yet.  So here's one from our trip to the Inner Hebrides Islands: Iona.  This was a tiny and beautiful island with white sand and rocky beaches.  I figured you could use color, texture, or subject here in some interesting ways.  I know everyone will come up with something cool!  

This month it was all earrings all the time.  Who's shocked?  Anyone??  I thought not.  For me, this one was mostly about the gorgeous colors of the water and sky.  My first pair of earrings feature colored pewter charms by Inviciti paired with coordinating Czech glass beads on niobium ear wires.  

Next, I played with some wonderful ceramic beads from Marsha Neal Studio that I've been hoarding for quite a while.  The texture and glaze of these charms echo the rocky shore just a bit... the Picasso finish on the Czech glass too.  I really need to practice this type of wire wrapping more often and up my proficiency.  

Before we left for vacation I managed to whip up one more pair of earrings.  Regrettably, I don't know who made these charms (I picked them up in a destash.)  This time I found some cuprite and agate beads to coordinate.  

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 tomorrow to see what Eric has in store for us this month! 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

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.  

Inspiration for the May 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: 

I keep wanting to post Spring flowers or something, but Minnesota is still cold and rainy and not really green yet.  So here's one from our trip to the Inner Hebrides Islands: Iona.  This was a tiny and beautiful island with white sand and rocky beaches.  I figured you could use color, texture, or subject here in some interesting ways.  I know everyone will come up with something cool!  

The reveal date will be Friday, June 3.  (We'll be doing some traveling in May, so I want to make sure I've got time to get the reveal post up!)  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 or links as they are ready.  Just stop by my blog starting on June 3 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 our 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!

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!

April 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: 

Since we are finally getting close to actual Spring (yes we had rain, freezing rain, and snow yesterday in MN,) I decided to pick an optimistic sun for this month's challenge!  I took this on our trip to England a few years ago and am just now getting to go through my pictures of that amazing trip.  I bumped up the contrast and vibrance on this picture to accentuate the color and texture differences.  Good luck and good beading!

Apparently, Eric was a little apprehensive that I wouldn't have much that would work for this month's inspiration... but that couldn't have been further from the truth!  I found LOTS of good stuff that would possibly fit the colors and themes.  My bigger issue was pulling myself back in to focus on one project at a time.

Per my usual process, I started with some fun earrings.  I do this for two reasons... 1) I know I'll have something made come reveal day and 2) it helps get my creative juices flowing as my other pieces hang out at the edges of my bead mat.  

First up, I played with two different sets of ceramic charms from Jana at Happy Fish Things.  Both had the turquoise of the sun's patina but the first pair is much more rustic.  At first I was thinking to use these great charms with the narrow end down... in moving things around my mat, one got turned the other way and a light bulb went off in my brain!  I used some fun little metal beads and tiny Czech glass rondelles to dangle from the bottom of the tribal feeling charms.  

The second pair of charms are more glossy and refined feeling.  They have both the turquoise and the golden tones in there.  I paired some great verdigris acrylic melon beads with brass nuggets and Czech glass.  I did some mixed metal action combining brass, copper, and blackened tones.  

Next, another pair of earrings with pretty much the same top portion as the last pair, but with gorgeous enamel charms from Blue Hare Art Wear this time.  The golden color of the charms was just perfect for the rusty bits and lichen in Eric's photo.

But, wait.... there's more!  I "found" a lovely layered botanical pendant from Slate Studios Supply in my stash that hadn't yet been properly put away.  (Bonus, now I don't have to!)  Anyway, the rustic texture and patina of the center portion of the ceramic piece nicely reflected the colors in the sun of the inspiration photo.  This piece is really all about the patina color but I also give a nod to the rough background with some matte Czech glass and cuprite.    

I managed to eke out one more necklace before time ran out on my this month.  While not a sun, the face in the middle of this delightful polymer clay focal by Staci Louise Originals reminded me of the sun in the photo.  And it didn't hurt that the colors were right!  I went asymmetrical this time using a mix of bead links and stringing with a mix of Czech glass beads and copper plated accents.

  

I still have a bunch of partially thought out designs sitting on my bead table.  Who know, I may end up getting one or more of them done before we say goodbye to April.  Even though I do it more often than I'd like, I really don't want to shuffle these pretties into a box for (hopefully) another time.  I've got too many of those little boxes and bags of ufos!  Here's a tiny peak at one of the ideas I was having earlier in the month before I close.

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 soon to see what Eric has in store for us this month! 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Inspiration for the April 2022 Honey Do List

It's not an April Fool's joke... we're actually on time with the new Honey Do List inspiration this month!  

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: 

Since we are finally getting close to actual Spring (yes we had rain, freezing rain, and snow yesterday in MN,) I decided to pick an optimistic sun for this month's challenge!  I took this on our trip to England a few years ago and am just now getting to go through my pictures of that amazing trip.  I bumped up the contrast and vibrance on this picture to accentuate the color and texture differences.  Good luck and good beading!

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 or links as they are ready.  Just stop by my blog starting 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 our 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!