Honey Do List: December 2017

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've continued the Honey Do List all the way through 2017!  I've loved having folks play along with me the past two years and hope to keep it rolling through 2018.   

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

This month's challenge is kind of a strange one!  Tiring of flowers and such, I figured I'd get a little funky.  I took this picture in Virginia at Meadowlark Botanical Gardens.  It was cold, windy and sparse.  These tall skeletal trees were rattling and groaning in the wind, conjuring up moody images in my mind.  I superimposed a photo of clouds on this to give an even moodier mist effect on this to fit the mood I had when taking the shot.  This one should push you to try something unusual!

I find this photo quite magical and ethereal with the clouds stretching across the bare trees.  The colors aren't quite my thing with the pink and pale blue together, but those two colors together make purple!  So that's the direction I went in for most of my designs this month.  Artistic license?

First up, two pairs of earrings made with some gold dipped amethyst slices that I got from Lima Beads on a whim a while back.  The irony is that Eric really didn't like these too much when I got them, but I think (hope!) that he likes what I came up with using them!  I wire wrapped beads above both set of charms... both with Czech glass and one with Swarovski pearls added to the mix.  The darker ones on the left are probably more appropriate for the color palette, but I'm sharing both anyways!

Next up, I pulled a few gorgeous enameled oak leaves from Gardanne and made a set that I'm a little bit in love with!  I love the mottled colors along the leaves' edges and chose some copper colored Swarovski pearls to pull them out a bit.  For the earrings, I used some tiny Czech glass flowers and plated hematite with a mix of brass bead caps.

For the necklace, I chose a cool porcelain textured bead made by Andrew Thornton of Allegory Gallery to add to the pendant focal leaf.  In addition to the Swarovski pearls I used in the earrings, I made links with a several different purple Czech glass beads and used brass rollo chain at the back of this long design.

I had forgotten about a lovely jasper pendant that I bought at Bead and Button last year but it totally evokes a similar feeling to Eric's photo for me.  The hole in the pendant wasn't the right size for any jump rings in my stash so I decided to use waxed Irish linen for the center part of the design.  I used two different colors and sizes of plated druzy rounds, banded amethyst, and some brass beads along two colors of purple waxed linen.  For the transition to the back portion of the necklace I made use of some larger sari silk cocoons from Anna Pierson of Saga Hus in a nice cream color.

Finally, I did make one pair of earrings that went more to the blueish tones and the dark of the trees.  I used a pair of ceramic earring components that I bought from my friend Marsha Neal at the Bead and Button show this year.  This two holed half moon shape fascinated me although I was a bit nervous about being able to do them justice in my jewelry creations.  I felt like the swirls in the dark glaze would belong in the misty winter forest.  I made links of faceted Amazonite and bronze metallic Czech glass spacer beads.  Perhaps I should have gone for more dainty beads, but I quite like the end effect. 

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Art Bead Scene: December 2017

I can't believe how fast this year has flown by me.  Indeed, the month of December in particular seems to kind of escaped my grasp.  With an open house, my first show in St. Paul, and all the usual holiday shenanigans, it's somehow the day after Christmas!  Yikes!

This last Art Bead Scene challenge of the year is Still Life with Tulips and Fruit Bowl by Susan Valadon.  You can read more about the artist and the artwork over on the ABS blog HERE.  I love the rich colors in the painting... especially the textile draped beside the table.  Lots to be inspired by in this one!

                           Title: Still Life with Tulips and Fruit Bowl

                                              By: Susan Valadon

                                                     Date: 1924

                                           Medium: Oil on Canvas

I've been in a bit of a creative lull the last couple of weeks, but I managed to sneak in some beady play time over the Christmas holiday.  I actually whipped up two necklaces Christmas day!! 

The first thing I made this month was a pair of earrings with some of Heather Powers' amazing polymer clay charms.  Humblebeads are often a go to for me on these challenges!  I loved the green and gold in the charms and the leafy pattern seemed to fit the painting too.  I added some Czech glass beads in a complementary metallic as well as tiny metallic orange flowers with brass findings.  I almost went with a green and gold Swarovski pear for the top of the bead stack, but I liked the pop of metallic orange and how it pulled from the warmer colors of the artwork.

I have long loved the poppy flower designs from Golem Design Studio (and own them in several shapes and colors, beads and pendants) and this seemed like a good time to break out a green and red pendant from them.  I chose a fun mix of red and green Czech glass beads and mixed in some pops of silver with pewter and silver plated pewter beads along the strand.

I was in a stringing mood today apparently, and also whipped up another necklace using a long-hoarded porcelain pendant from Round Rabbit.  (I'm slowly working through my collection of her pieces... sad that I may never have another chance to buy more.)  This time I went asymmetrical but more subdued in color with my design that uses a mix of jade rounds and rondelles, Czech glass, and brass.

Thanks for stopping by to check out this final ABS challenge of the year!  I hope you all had the happiest of holidays and are getting to enjoy some family time as the year comes to a close.  

As a P.S. to the ABS editors and contributors... I really enjoyed having the booklet with the entire year's artwork for 2017.  I hope you'll do that again for 2018.  It was great to be able to start thinking about things a little early and to have future challenges in mind when doing my bead shopping at shows and such.  

Art Elements Ornament Blog Hop!

This is my second ornament blog hop of the month... I participated in on hosted by the Art Bead Scene blog earlier in the month and you can see all the entries HERE.  Now with the Art Elements challenge, I'm continuing with variations on a theme from what I made for the ABS hop and sharing more of my adventures in needle felting and bead embroidering Christmas Ornaments!

This year I decided to try my hand at making some needle felted Christmas ornaments.  I got inspired last year when I saw a blog post by my friend Diana Ptaszynski over on the Art Elements blog.  (You can see her tutorial HERE.)  I was intrigued by the idea and already had some wool roving that I had bought to felt some beads and focals...  now I just needed to collect some cookie cutters and better needles.  I gathered my supplies this fall and got busy once everything had arrived!

Here are a couple of process pictures... 

Me getting all stabby on a Christmas tree.

Some shapes felted but not embellished.

I did a little more bead embroidery on this second batch of ornaments than on the first round.  (You can see my first three attempts HERE if you missed them.)  I think my favorite might be the star!  I lucked out when I went to buy sequins that Michael's had a great multi pack of different colors and sizes as well as a package of little gold stars.  Initially I had thought that I would just needle felt the white stripes onto the candy cane, but I was worried that I wouldn't be able to achieve consistent, straight lines that way.  I decided to do sequin and seed bead stripes instead which adds more sparkle to the mix for sure!  

The only one that I'm not totally thrilled with is my little gingerbread man.  The brown that I was able to find makes him look a bit burnt and I think his expression is sort of demented.  Part of the problem is that the way I did his smile makes it look like a really toothy grin... Maybe I should have tried needle felting a little bit of white to make his eyes and smile.  Thoughts?  Suggestions? 

Thanks for stopping by to check out my second round of needle felted ornaments.  I got a big ol' tub of fun cookie cutters and I hope to make more of these guys in the future... maybe in time for next Christmas!!    This is a blog hop... you can see what everyone else created by using the links below.  

Guest Designers

Kathy Lindemer

Hope Smitheran

Denise McCabe

Paisley Lizard

Samantha Wescott

Sarajo Wentling

Divya N

Linda Newnham

Melissa Trudinger

Art Elements Team

Susan Kennedy

 Caroline Dewison

Laney Mead

Cathy Mendola

Jenny Davies-Reazor

Lesley Watt

Lindsay Starr

Claire Fabian

Niky Sayers

Wishing you all a very happy holiday season!  May it bring you peace and joy!  It will be quiet around here for a bit as I celebrate Christmas with family and friends over the long weekend.  I hope to sneak in some creative time to make new jewelry to share with you before the year is over.



We're All Ears: December 2017, Use Your Leftovers

It's time for the Third Annual Use Your Leftovers challenge over on the Earrings Everyday blog!  The idea behind this challenge is to use up some of the bits and bobs that get left behind after your crazy beading sessions... your "craftermath!"  As I explained a bit last year, I don't really have true "craftermath" per se.  While I usually have 3 (or 4 or 5 or 6!) projects mulling around on my bead board at any given time, I'm pretty good at putting away the excess beads from those projects as soon as they are finished.  My problem is all of the piles of half thought out or abandoned projects that got left behind when some other deadline loomed larger.  So once again, I'm taking a stab at getting some of those orphaned earring projects completed!

Here's my new to me old muffin tin that I acquired this summer filled with a variety of earring projects in various stages of thought-out-edness.  (Is that a word?  It's a word now!)  I think some of these were in my queue last year when I did this challenge and I ran out of time and/or energy.  Yikes!!

First up a couple of fairly simple pairs that were special orders that I haven't gotten around to making yet.  (Seriously, people... if you ever need something from me, give me a deadline!  I don't function without due dates.)  One pair is a replacement for a cherished pair of acorn earrings that got left behind by a friend at airport security and the other is a pair to go with a necklace bought at a recent show.

Next, I've got a couple of pairs of beer can earrings that I didn't finish before my last show at Bad Weather Brewing last weekend.  Better late than never!  These two will join the rest of my Upcycled beer can collection at Unearthed Arts in Waconia in the next couple of days..

This next few pairs are the closest to true "craftermath" that I got.  The painted petals were from a big batch of painting that I did earlier this fall.  This was one of the few pairs that didn't get finished and now I'm kind of glad.  Also in my muffin tin were some beads intended for earrings to match a necklace I made for the Art Bead Scene last month.  Well, the necklace sold before I got back to the earrings so I combined some of them with the painted flower petals for a fun look!  I also had some little Czech glass teardrop beads that I had been thinking about a while back... I paired them with some lucite beads that have a bit of a gold sheen to them and some brass findings.  Lastly, I found the cute little Dalmatian Jasper hearts when I was making a necklace with that stone a while back but set them aside to play with and then got distracted... story of my life!  The hearts and the Dalmatian Jasper rounds came from a bead mix from my friends at Allegory Gallery and the lampwork glass is from the Spacer Bead Shop on Etsy (now closed).

I sold out of all of my post style earrings at my Holiday Open House earlier this month, so I thought it was past time to take care of this two lingering project.  (I also really need to get out the polymer clay to make some new color combinations, but that's got to wait for another day!)  More posts soon though!  Hopefully before the holiday shopping season is over, but we'll see how things go.

Lastly, I finally got around to making a pair that I'd hoped to make last December for Eric's Honey Do List challenge.  (You can see it HERE if you want to see my inspiration.)  The cute little wire wrapped sari silk "cocoons" are by my friend Anna Pierson of Saga Hus that I picked up in one of her events over on her SagaHus Components Facebook group.  I added a short length of Arte Metal chain to the links and made dangles from some vintage glass and garnet beads.  

I really wanted to (finally!) finish some of the polymer clay charms that I started at Heather Powers' Inspired by Nature Retreat back in October.  But I just didn't give myself enough time.  Considering that I didn't start making anything until after dinner last night, I think I did pretty darn well!  Stop by the Earrings Everyday blog HERE to see what everyone else whipped up from their craftermath leftovers! 

Art Bead Scene Ornament Hop

Every year the Art Bead Scene blog hosts an Ornament Hop where participants are encouraged to make holiday ornaments using handmade components or beads.  While this is their 7th year, it's my first time playing along and I had a blast!

This year I decided to try my hand at making some needle felted Christmas ornaments.  I got inspired last year when I saw a blog post by my friend Diana Ptaszynski over on the Art Jewelry Elements blog.  (You can see her tutorial HERE.)  I was intrigued by the idea and already had some wool roving that I had bought to felt some beads and focals...  now I just needed to collect some cookie cutters and better needles.  I gathered my supplies this fall and got busy once everything had arrived!

Here are a couple of process pictures...  First, me getting all stabby on a Christmas Tree.  I love that, assuming the cat would let me have my lap, I could work on these while stretched out on the couch watching bad tv or movies!

After getting the tree shape all felted, I started playing with how I wanted to embellish the design.  Thanks to Heather Powers for teaching me some basic bead embroidery on the Bead Cruise a few years ago!  (She also taught me how to needle felt and lit that initial spark in me.)

Now, drumroll please, I introduce to you my very first three needle felted ornaments!  I'm pretty pleased with how I was able to felt the eyes and nose of the snowman as well as the top of the stocking.  The snowman's hat isn't quite how I'd like it, but I still think it works.  I've gotten a new set of metal cookie cutters since I did these three and I think the new snowman cutter is going to give a more distinct hat shape.  Time will tell!  I had a large gauge needle that I bought to work with deerskin leather lace that worked great for pulling the ribbon through.  My last step for the tree ornament was to felt some extra wool roving to the back to cover the threads from the embroidery.

Thanks for stopping by to see my ornaments!  I hope you'll stop by the ABS Blog HERE to see what everyone else made too.  Whatever holidays you celebrate, I hope that you have a happy and joyous holiday season!

Inspiration for the Honey Do List December 2017

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:

This month's challenge is kind of a strange one!  Tiring of flowers and such, I figured I'd get a little funky.  I took this picture in Virginia at Meadowlark Botanical Gardens.  It was cold, windy and sparse.  These tall skeletal trees were rattling and groaning in the wind, conjuring up moody images in my mind.  I superimposed a photo of clouds on this to give an even moodier mist effect on this to fit the mood I had when taking the shot.  This one should push you to try something unusual!

So, put on your thinking caps and play along with us!  The reveal date will be Sunday, December 31st... a little later than usual due to the holidays.  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 December 31st 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!

Inspired by Reading: The Bean Trees

This month's Inspired by Reading Book Club selection was The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver.  Somehow I've gone my whole reading life without reading anything by Kingsolver... but now book club has changed that! 

Originally published in 1988, you really have to read this as a period piece... so many things would play out a little differently in the modern world.  I love that the main character is super plucky and independent and that she manages to make things work out for herself.  One of the big things that I took away from the book is that you make your own family and have the power to write your own story.   

The title actually comes from another name for Wisteria vine.  People tend to think of the wonderful purple flowers that seem to just drip from the woody vines, but their seeds actually hang from the plant in pods that look very much like green beans.  At first I thought I was going to use one of my Vintaj embossing folders that has wisteria on it and do some painting with the patina paints but time just wasn't on my side for that project.  But then I remembered that I had picked up a set of little pod charms from Anna Bronze at Bead & Button this year.  I paired them with some purple floral disk beads from Heather Powers of Humblebeads and Czech glass.

I made a second pair of earrings that are more about the general look and feel of the Southwest.  I had snagged some small lentil beads from Golem Design Studio that have a terra cotta color as their base.  I kept these pretty simple to dangle off the long arched ear wires.

Thanks for stopping by to see my new creations!  I'm always hoping that I'll manage something more ambitious, but with my holiday shows bearing down upon me, I'm lucky that I got this much done!  Next month is a holiday break from book club, so I'm hoping that I can get a jump start on the January selection.  Wish me luck!!

Art Bead Scene: November 2017 Take Two

This month's Art Bead Scene challenge inspiration is a painting by French impressionist Armand Guillaumin.  You can read more about the artist and the challenge over on the ABS blog HERE.  I've been pretty smitten with this color palette and am glad that I managed to get back around to making one more design inspired by it before November disappears.

Title: Crozant, The Bouchardon Mill

By: Armand Guillaumin

Date: 1906

Medium: Oil on Canvas

One of the art beads that had originally caught my eye for this challenge is one of Erin Prais-Hintz's gorgeous pendants from her Papilio collection.  (If you haven't already figured this out, I'm really addicted to Erin's creations that she shares through her business, Tesori Trovati.)  This one is Papilio: Euselasia and is just an wonderful combination of soft colors.  And, speaking of soft, Erin finished the polymer clay to a satiny soft finish that you will not believe!

For this strung necklace I added a collection of beads in different materials including Czech glass, plated hematite, vintage plastic, and Swarovski pearls.  I had fun playing with a variety of shapes and finishes. 

I'm planning on whipping up some dangle earrings to go along with this one before my Holiday Open House on Sunday.  And with that said, I'd better get back to work!!

Honey Do List: November 2017

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 haven't really taken many pictures in the past month, so I took this chance to delve deep into older photos for something lost in the archives.  This is a really cool old stained glass window in the Schlitz Brewery building in Milwaukee, Wisconsin that really struck my fancy.  The colors and shapes should be a fun change from my usual naturalistic photos. 

Even though these colors aren't necessarily in my normal wheelhouse, I got pretty excited about this month's challenge.  It probably doesn't hurt that I love stained glass!  Anyway, I pretty much immediately started pulling together some possible beads to play with.  Here's a sample of what I gathered up:

The first art beads that jumped out at me were a set of lampwork beads that I bought last month at the Twin Cities Bead Bazaar from Donna Millard.  (If I'm honest, I probably would have skipped the show this time but I wanted to see Donna's work in person.)  Anyway, I immediately pictured a set in my mind's eye using the really cool, almost tribal beads in black and cream... so that's what I did... sort of.

I love all the circles in Eric's inspiration photo and I wanted to keep playing with that shape beyond the lampwork focal bead.  Luckily, I had a nice selection of coin beads to choose from in yellows and grey.  (I ended up choosing some vintage glass, Labradorite, and faceted Yellow Jade.)  To continue with the circle theme, I also picked a cone with some swirly circles to round out the pendant focal I built up.  I mixed up Vintaj Arte Metal and silver plated findings and chain to complete the design.

A closer (and better!) look at the focal and tassel.

Next, I intended to make a bracelet... this is where my plan went a little off the rails.  I wire wrapped one of Donna's lampwork beads with some Czech glass and little "pringle" spacers.  (Ok, I don't know what they're actually called, but that's my name for them!)  Unfortunately, the resulting bead unit was a little too long for my bracelet focal but I'd already gone through the work of cleaning, hammering, and sealing the steel wire for the link so I didn't want to tear it apart.  Never fear, the set had three beads so this one quickly became a second necklace!  I dangled some little beads and a small black key charm from the bottom and put it on a long length of chain.  Voila!

Back at the drawing board for my bracelet design, I tried again for a steel wire wrapped focal bead unit.  This time I kept it really simple with just Donna's bead and the little pringle spacers.  Much better!  I then made a chain of wire wrapped beads including faceted pyrite, Czech glass, and the black lampwork beads that came with the set.  This bracelet is a little on the petite side size wise, but I could always add more links if a customer needed more length.  

Last, but not least, I also whipped up a little pair of coordinating earrings to complete my new Honey Do List set.  I picked out a little pair of grey cocoon beads from my friend Anna Pierson of Saga Hus.  I had the same pearlescent yellowy-ivory Czech glass rondelles in a slightly larger size than what I used in the necklaces that made great dangles for these little ear bobs.

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We're All Ears: November 2017

This month's We're All Ears challenge hosted by Erin Prais-Hintz over on the Earrings Everyday blog is all about inspirational quotes.  As our friend Loralee pointed out, words are Erin's magic (or at least part of her magic!).  She gave us four options to choose from:

I found this challenge a little more, well, challenging than some.  The first quote that sparked something for me was A... "stars can't shine without darkness."  I'm guessing this one worked for me because stars were something that I could grab onto. 

I had just bought a set of Starry Night faux tin charms from Heather Powers of Humblebeads fame, so this seemed like an obvious starting place for me.  I pared them with star cut aquamarines (get it, star cut?!?) and some tiny dark blue Czech glass rondelles.  I think that these are for me so I kept them pretty simple and just added some grey with sterling niobium ear wires on the top.

Next up I made something for D... "never stop growing."  Now, at first I thought those objects on the leaf were acorns.  After slipping off my glasses and taking a closer look I'm not so sure that I was right.  Regardless, I interpreted them that way and the photo does have a very autumnal feel to it, so I made some acorn earrings!  I bought some silver plated acorn bead caps from Nunn Design a while back and I'm finally getting around to using them.  I've got a fall show coming up in a few weeks, so this seemed like a good time to get going!

I managed to pull something together for one last prompt, B... "Chart Your Own Course."  I grabbed some compass decorivets from Vintaj that I've had for a bit and never done anything with for my first pair.  I just bent the rivet pieces on the back side into nice loops and added the ear wires and some labradorite teardrops by way of jump rings connected to the loops.  They are a little bit on the big side, but pretty light weight.

A little more abstract, I had some earring charms from Erin herself that I got as a prize for the Art Bead Scene challenge a few months ago.  They were part of her Minutia line... you can see some other options in her store on her Tesori Trovati website.  I'm guessing that her intention for the design was more floral, but they read a little bit compass-like to me for some reason.  I decided to just go with it... I could use a few more designs with some sparkle as we head into the holidays anyway!  I kept it simple and just made little dangles with some Swarovski crystals, copper plated spacers, and some plated hematite.  I think these would be a perfect accessory for a holiday party!

With everything that's been going on in my life this month (both good and bad) I'm pretty proud of myself for getting this many designs completed.  There's no rest for the weary (or the wicked!) since I've got two shows coming up in early December.  Thanks for stopping by... I hope you'll head over to the Earrings Everyday blog HERE to see what everyone else was inspired to make this month!

Art Bead Scene: November 2017

This month's Art Bead Scene challenge inspiration is a painting by French impressionist Armand Guillaumin.  You can read more about the artist and the challenge over on the ABS blog HERE.  I'm pretty smitten with this color palette and have been looking forward to focusing on this challenge.

Title: Crozant, The Bouchardon Mill

By: Armand Guillaumin

Date: 1906

Medium: Oil on Canvas

This one really got my creative juices going!  Before I knew it I had a bunch of art beads hanging out on my bead mat.  The first project that I decided to work on was a great excuse to break out my brand new Now That's a Jig that I bought last month.  I had the right gauge copper wire to make the charm holder pendant that Heather Powers taught us at her Inspired by Nature retreat, so that was my starting point for my necklace.  Two of the charms that I got from the retreat's charm swap (one from Heather and one from my friend Anna of Saga Hus) were perfect for the artworks color palette.  I added in a ceramic feather headpin from Artisticaos to complete the charm grouping.  Instead of using leather for the necklace (even though I had some light purple leather that would have worked well), I decided to finish it with chain and some beaded links made with Czech glass and plated hematite. 

Keeping with a Heather Powers/Humblebeads theme... I had to make a pair of earrings with some earring charms that I bought from Heather at last year's Inspired by Nature retreat!  She had just debuted this style and I had to pick up a couple of pairs including a vibrant set that I think works well with the ABS inspiration painting.  I added some Czech glass dangles but otherwise kept my design minimal.

I have a couple more ideas rattling around my head for this month's challenge.  We'll see if I end up getting back around to them with all my show prep that I have to do.  Fingers crossed that I get into my creative groove and really pound some things out!

Artisans Create Together: November 2017 Color Inspiration Challenge

While I don't always get around to playing along with this monthly challenge, I love the Color Inspiration challenges over on the Artisans Create Together Facebook group.  This month is no exception with this muted fall palette and we've been given so many luscious inspiration photos to get us motivated!

As you know by now, I'm not always the greatest at making seasonal jewelry ahead of time... but this challenge got me going!  Not long ago I got some lovely, rustic fall leaf ceramic pieces from Artisticaos and I've been itching to design with them... this is the perfect excuse!

I ended up making a necklace and earrings set that make me so very happy!  I had just gotten several strands of new beads that felt perfect for this set including some plated hematite saucers in "mocha" and a strand of medium sized English cut Czech glass beads in really soft and lovely muted shades . (Lima Beads calls them "Glowing Amber Picasso" for what that's worth!)

I decided to stretch my brain and go asymmetrical for the necklace.  I strung a pattern of Czech glass beads with the mocha hematite as spacers on one side.  Some Czech glass rondelles in pale orange bring in some of the warmer tones from the pendant and keep it from being too neutral.  (This girl loves color after all!).  For the opposite side I went with links on blackened metal connected with textured brass jump rings.  I used a combination of Wild Horse Jasper puff coins and some funky grey-green Czech glass rounds flanked by the hematite saucers.  It's hard to see it in my photos, but the jasper has a glorious mix of earthy colors!  I finished it off with a brass plated leaf clasp to keep with the leafy, autumnal theme.

The closeup of the pendant lets you see some of the beads a little better as well as the wire-wrapped details that I added to the pendant's connector wires.  I grabbed a couple of beads from the body of the necklace as well as some Czech glass leaves for the dangles.

I'm so lucky to have snagged a pendant and earring charms that matched in color so well from the Facebook sales event.  For the earrings, I used more of the English cut Czech glass and mocha plated hematite and continued the mix of blackened and brass components.  I topped off the earrings with some orangey glass beads to bring more color into the mix.

Now pardon me while I turn on the fire place and snuggle up in a sweater with a kitty in my lap.  If I can't keep winter from coming, I can enjoy the finer aspects of cooler temperatures.