Honey Do List December 2019

This is the fourth 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... it's the Honey Do List 2019!  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 decided to get a little arty with this month's shot.  I like the deep colors in it as well as the statue and architecture.  I took this in our hotel in Milwaukee this past summer for Bead and Button.  Good luck with this one...I'm looking forward to seeing some fun interpretations!

I'm going to be real honest here... this one had me kind of stumped for a while.  I'm hoping some of you guys had quicker flashes of inspiration!  Luckily, some of my leftovers from the faux tin portion of Heather Powers' Inspired by Nature Retreat from this November were still floating near the surface of my beady mess and I realized that some of the William Morris patterns reminded me of the rug that is reflected in the crystal ball in Eric's photo.

Whenever I go to a jewelry making class or retreat, I always end up coming home with extra bits and bobs and unfinished projects.  I had several pieces of faux tin that I hadn't yet cut into or filed that were going to be great for some earrings.  First up, some little faux tin rectangles to which I added brass filigree teardrops.  The ear wires on these are niobium in a nice bronze finish that plays nicely with brass.

Next up, I punched some circles out of our practice sheet of faux tin that is actually an aluminum product.  Because of that, these are super lightweight!  This first pair combines my faux tin discs with some hammered brass rings from Vintaj for some fun and flirty dangles.

For the second pair I used some fun charms from Anna Bronze that I had sort of forgotten I had.  (Amazing things happen when you start trying to clean up!)  The ear wires on these are the bright Vintaj Vogue brass.   

Another thing that I brought back from the fall retreat was a not quite finished faux tin pendant in the same William Morris pattern.  I had cut and filed the piece but hadn't yet attached it to the hammered wire frame that I had made using the Now That's a Jig!  There's no time like the present, so I finished the pendant up and started to plot my necklace design.

I had several different shapes of Czech glass in ivory with a Mercury glass finish to choose from that have a nice creamy, pale yellow color perfect for the faux tin.  I chose some English cut grey/brown beads to round out the design.  There's a subtle mix of copper and brass in this one that I really love.

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 January 3rd (slight delay since we're taking a mini trip for New Year's Eve) to see what Eric has in store for us next month!  Wishing you all a happy and healthy New Year!!

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Honey Do List December 2018

This marks the end of the third 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... it's the Honey Do List 2018!  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:

For this month's challenge I wanted to make folks work with bright colors and designs.  While visiting Sarajo's mom in her hometown of Huntsville, Alabama we happened across this cute decorated alley.  This is why I like just walking around areas with my camera--you never know what you might discover!  

I have to say that it was kind of fun walking around downtown Huntsville with Eric... it's changed a lot since I was a kid and even since he was last there!  There's something to walking around a place with a camera (or with someone with a camera!) and trying to see the world through that lens.  We discovered a lot of cool nooks and crannies, little bursts of art hiding in a town that I've known my entire life.  

I took inspiration this month both from the bright colors of this alley's murals in general and the "Alley Cats" painting in the foreground in particular.  My first design is ALL about bright color!  I've been hanging onto this adorable heart shaped resin pendant with a sweet black kitty from Gaea for awhile.  It was the first thing that I thought of when Eric gave us this challenge.  With all the vibrant colors in the pendant, I decided that the smart thing to do was to start by going through the collection of bead mixes that I've got left over from a bunch of different Allegory Gallery design challenge kits and little gift mixes as well.  I plucked most of the beads that I used in this necklace from those mixes and then added in a few more things to round out my options.  

It's a bit hard to see in my picture (and apologies for the bad lighting... yay Minnesota winter) but the back of the pendant says "wander."  I used some fun new copper plated chain at the back and left it long with no clasp.

With the craziness of the holidays, I really wasn't sure I'd manage to make more than one design this month.  Luckily, I was able to carve out a little last minute making time and whipped up a second necklace!  I've had a sweet floral cat pendant from Golem Design Studio for a couple of years and am happy to have finally made something with it.  I kept this one fairly simple and just made links with Czech glass beads in the colors from the kitty's flowers and added brass chain at the back.  I just had to use a toggle clasp that had a flower similar to the ones on the pendant to complete the necklace!

While I was waiting (in vain) for the light to improve for picture taking, I managed to whip up a little pair of kitty cat earrings too!  I paired some adorable bow-tie wearing cat charms by Anna Bronze with some tiny lampwork beads and little Czech glass flowers.  The ear wires are bronze colored niobium.

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Art Elements Theme of the Month July 2018: Seed Pods

Another fun theme challenge from the team at the Art Elements blog this month!    Jen Cameron has chosen seed pods to inspire us for July.

I immediately thought of some fun components that I got from Anna Bronze at Bead & Button last year.  They have a couple of collections that are nature and spice inspired that were just perfect for this challenge.  Now I had just the excuse I needed to play with some of my little lovelies that have been languishing.  Thanks, Art Elements!!

I'm not entirely sure what the Anna Bronze component that I chose for my necklace is really supposed to be, but it felt pod like to me!  I decided to pair it with a lantern/melon bead from Gaea and some brass bead caps with a chain tassel hanging down for the pendant.  I added links with coordinating Czech glass.  The back is brass chain and the whole thing is long.  This necklace is currently at Unearthed Arts in Waconia.

Next up I played with some star anise seed pods from Anna Bronze.  These little cuties have multiple holes (at the 4 compass points) so it seems a shame that I'm only using one, but I wanted the pods to shine!  I just made some little bead links with some fun little melon beads for a small pop of color.  I feel like the texture of the melons also seems seed pod like.

In addition to the finished pieces that I made, I did make progress on a couple of other pod-related projects.  During Heather Powers' Fairy Garden Headpins class at the Adornments Retreat I ended up with a couple of headpins with a pod-like feel.  One of the items I used for mold making was some sort of flower bud, I'm not sure what the other little guy really was, but I liked the impression it made!  They don't look like much in this photo especially since I haven't painted them yet, but I think they're going to be cool once I get them finished!

When I got back from the retreat, I went looking in the garden and yard for other items to make molds of... one of the things that I found were milkweed pods.  I've really never seen milkweed up close enough to observe it's life cycle before.  When I left for the retreat the plants still had some flowers on them but by the time I returned it was all about the pods!  I haven't gotten out the polymer clay yet, but I did make what I think will be a great set of molds.  I can't wait to use them!

Thanks for stopping by!  This is a blog hop so check out what everyone else was inspired to create!

Guest Artists:

Tammy 

Raven 

Alysen

Anita

Cat 

Kimberly 

Rozantia 

Sarajo - You are here!

Divya

Caroline

Catherine

Kathy

Jill

Norma

Art Elements Team: 

Claire

Caroline

Lesley

Niky

Laney

Susan

Marsha

Jenny

Cathy

Jen

Art Bead Scene: July 2018

I'm a little mesmerized by this month's inspiration for the Art Bead Scene challenge!  The artwork is one of the plates from the book of Ernest Haeckel's work Art Forms of Nature that portrays ascidians, commonly referred to as sea squirts.  Haeckel was a German biologist, naturalist, philosopher, professor, marine biologist, and artist who discovered, described, and named thousands of new species among other accomplishments.  You can read more about the artist and artwork HERE.

Art forms in Nature, Plate 85, Ascidiae 

By: Ernst Haeckel    Date: 1907

I adore the colors and organic shapes in this plate... so much to be inspired by!  The first thing that jumped out at me were the coral-like tendrils coming from the two center images.  I had already been exploring my small collection of Anna Bronze pieces for another July challenge and found just the perfect elements for earrings in a mismatched pair of bronze charms.  I kept my design simple and just attached the charms to a pair of silk cocoons from my friend Anna Pierson of Saga Hus in a soft green.

Despite some big plans, I only managed to make one other design this month... another pair of earrings with coral designs!  This time I used some cute charms from Heather Powers of Humblebeads.  I wire wrapped some fun mottled turquoise and gold flecked coins along with star cut peach moonstone beads and hung these cuties on sterling silver ear wires.

I'd love to say that August will be a more productive month, but we've got even more travel on the docket.  Hopefully I can still manage to get something made for my favorite challenges.  Fingers crossed!!

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: September 2017

This month the Art Bead Scene is all about bugs and bright colors!  It's an amazing print with tons of insect action by entomologist and pattern designer Eugene Seguy.  You can read more about the artwork and the artist on the ABS blog HERE.

Insects

Eugene Seguy

Published in 1920

Pochoir Print

Image Credit: Special Collections Research Center at NCSU Libraries

I know that I can only post two official entries for the ABS competition, but I couldn't only make two things with this yummy inspiration!  I made a trio of dragonfly inspired earrings for now... I've got some other designs up my sleeve if I have time to circle back before the end of the month.

First up, a pair of pewter wings from Green Girl paired with some raku rounds from XAZ Bead Company.  The wings are already a decent size for earrings so I wanted to keep things fairly simple.  I just did some messy (for me anyway!) wire wraps around the beads and attached with a jump ring.  I liked the way the raku beads had some of the green tones but also the iridescence of real dragonfly wings.

Next, I just had to play with some copper plated dragonfly wings from Anna Bronze.  (True confession: I bought quite a bit from them at Bead & Button but this is the first thing I've made with my haul so far!)  These wings are so dainty so I wanted to keep any beads I added on a small scale to let the wings really shine.  There are loops at both ends of the wings so I had to add something to the bottom.  I chose some small metallic plated hematite and some crystal rondelles for the tiny dangles.

Lastly, I finally went for some serious COLOR!  I got these wonderful dragonfly charms in turquoise from Michelle McCarthy of Firefly Design Studio this summer and knew immediately that they would be perfect for this month's challenge.  (I adore the idea of having the whole year of ABS challenges ahead of time, by the way.)  I'm often guilty of being too monochromatic in my designs, so for this pair of earrings I really wanted to embrace a riot of color.  After looking at lots of different options, I settled on a pair of super bright disc beads from Heather Powers of Humblebeads.  I always like the combination of turquoise and red, so this was just the thing here.  (For some reason, these were really difficult to photograph... and my picture doesn't do them justice!)

Ok, back to work!  Lots more jewelry waiting for me on the bead table today.  Have a great weekend!