September 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 folks!  This month I decided to try something a little different for the challenge: fabrics!  On a recent trip to Denver we visited some old friends from my High School at their fabric shop, Treelotta, and I decided to take some pictures of the cool fabrics and colorful quilting supplies.  Here is one of the shots I took there.  Go for colors, or flowers, or both this month!

As soon as I saw this month's photo I knew one of the things I had to create with... another fabulous pendant by Sarah Kandell of Slate Studios Supply.  But first, in true Sj form, I made a pair of earrings!  Not cone flowers per se, but I still thought the fun little charms from Golem Design Studio would work for the challenge.  Also, I'm in making mode trying to get as much new jewelry made as possible before my first big Fall art show!  These were an unusual for me color but I just happened to have the perfect Czech glass beads in my stash to pair with them!

Now for my show-stopper necklace!  I've had this cone flower pendant pulled out from Sarah's other beads for more than a year but haven't gotten around to actually making something with it.  But now's the time!  I made links with Czech glass, carnelian, amazonite, and vintage brass with brass chain at the back.  I really love this bold piece and hope it finds it's perfect owner.

Since I was in show prep mode, I kept on making earrings with some other artisan charms.  A pair with some peachy pink flowers from Happy Fish paired with vintage brass and Czech glass rondelles.  

To keep the party going, I also whipped up a pair with some floral charms with gold accents that I picked up from Diane Hawkey at the Whole Bead Show in Milwaukee in June.  Fun pink acrylic beads with gold stripes were the perfect pairing with accents of Czech glass and brass to round things out.

Now it's your turn!  Please add links to/photos of your own creations below.  I love seeing what everyone else is making too.  Just to let you know, we're going to be taking the month off in October as we head to the Czech Republic for some beady adventures.  We'll be back in November with a new challenge though!

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Inspiration for the September 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 folks!  This month I decided to try something a little different for the challenge: fabrics!  On a recent trip to Denver we visited some old friends from my High School at their fabric shop, Treelotta, and I decided to take some pictures of the cool fabrics and colorful quilting supplies.  Here is one of the shots I took there.  Go for colors, or flowers, or both this month!

The reveal date will be Monday, September 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 September 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! 

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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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

January 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:

Sorry we dropped off on challenges there at the end of 2021, but I've been taking more pictures and feeling more motivated already this year! This month's challenge is a cool ice sculpture from the MN Landscape Arboretum's Winter Lights display.  They did a special photographer only night that Sarajo got me into, which let us take tripods in and get high quality pictures.  I thought the juxtaposition of winter and ice along with butterflies and flowers was a pretty evocative challenge piece!  Good luck this month and get making!

So... somehow I imagined that I still had a few days to work on things for this month... oops!!!  I've apparently been in a time warp.  So, a bit late, but I have managed to make a pair of earrings.  Not amazingly impressive, but there you go!

I had cut a bunch of shapes from a variety of cookie tins and such right after Christmas... including sets of three to make some cascading earrings.  I got out my Vintaj BigKick and my embossing folders and proceeded to use a butterfly and flower patterned one to give texture to the discs.  It's hard to tell from the picture, but I dapped all the discs into a concave shape then linked them together with jump rings.  The circles remind me of the frozen globe from Eric's photo.  The while the main colors in the picture are pink and purple, there is some red in the suspended flowers and such inside... thus the red discs.  These are super duper lightweight and have great movement!

I still have a glorious pendant from Slate Studios Supply and a nice selection of beads to go with it on my bead table.  Hopefully I'll get something pulled together in the next couple of days.  Here's a sneak peek for you though!

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

Honey Do List August 2020

2020 marks the fifth 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 2020!  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:

So this one is an old picture, but fits the time of year...and the fact that Sarajo is spending her summer days raising a bunch of monarch butterflies from eggs and caterpillars!  So here is some brightness for your jewelry making pleasure.

I never thought I'd be a monarch mama, but here I am.  After my original round of caterpillars I thought I'd be done, but I kept finding more tiny caterpillars and eggs.  So here I am having released 13 butterflies so far with 1 more in chrysalis, and one more decent-sized caterpillar to go!  Guess with our summer plans getting shelved and being at home all the time, I needed something extra to distract me!  

Here are a couple of pictures of two of the six (!!) butterflies that I released this past weekend.  Aren't they just gorgeous?!?

I had the pleasure of meeting up for lunch and some shady bead deals with my good friend Anna Pierson of Saga Hus the other day.  It was so nice to get to hang out and catch up, and get a nice haul of lovely new cocoons to play with at the same time!  You'll see the fruits of that meeting in most of my designs this month.

The first thing that I made focused more on the colors of the flower blooms and stems in Eric's photo than the monarch itself.  I had snagged this pair of butterfly wing charms from Kristi Bowman when she first started making them.  I paired the charms with coordinating Czech glass and some copper plated flower bead caps.  Kristi's components literally have a glow about them that pictures don't do justice.  

Next up, a super quick earring pair that combines a fun dark maroon and gold set of Saga Hus cocoons with amazing faux tin charms by Humblebeads.  These are super duper light weight yet still pack a visual punch!  I love it when components from two talented friends come together like this.

Eric says that I have to keep this next pair.  I think I just might because they are super cute and go nicely with a sundress I have.  The ceramic charms are from the talented Sarah Kandell of Slate Studios.  Again, I've paired the charms with cocoons from Saga Hus but fancied up the design with some seed bead decorated jump rings for extra movement.  

I couldn't wrap up my creating for this month without making a necklace with an amazing monarch pendant from Humblebeads.  I wire wrapped a fun black and orange piece of Nepalese cane glass and some Czech glass rondelles to make a bail for the pendant.  I knew that I wanted to do beaded links for this design since I wanted to use some more great orange cocoons from Saga Hus.  The funky black glass beads were a gift from my friend Monica Pena of Mariposa Originals Jewelry... I'm kind of smitten with their unique shape!

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 to see what Eric has in store for us next month! 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Honey Do List May 2020

2020 marks the fifth 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 2020!  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 one is from our trip to the Czech Republic two years ago, a little tableau I spotted when wandering the narrow streets of Loket.  This type of thing is exactly what I look for when walking around with my camera!  I like the colors and patterns here, so you folks should have lots of options for inspiration.

There's a lot to love in the quaint charm of the photo that Eric chose for our inspiration this month.  So many colors and patterns to play with from the mugs, the shapes of the window, the warmth of the wood...  I honestly can't wait to see what y'all create this month!

I have to admit that as soon as I saw the photo this month I knew that I had to use some new faux tin pieces from Heather Powers of Humblebeads.  I had snagged one of her super adorable tea cup pendants and coordinating earring charms.  

For the earrings I gathered a little bouquet of small Czech glass flowers to dangle from the bottom of the charms.  I picked beads in some of the colors from the trio of stacked cups on the charms.  Unfortunately, I realized too late that I I'm out of my favorite copper and niobium ear wires.  I popped some different ear wires on for the moment but will likely switch them out.  

I went less literal for my second pair of earrings.  For these I focused on the polka dotted mugs... Who doesn't love a good dot, right?  Some rustic dotted ceramic charms from Slate Studios were just the thing.  The charms are small and lightweight... perfect for earrings.  I paired them with black and red Czech glass beads and blackened findings.

I feel a little bad that I didn't manage to create more, but (full disclosure) I've been more than a bit preoccupied with bead embroidery.  (You'll see more of that soon.)  I've got some beads laid out for the pendant and hope to get that done yet this week.  Here's what I'm playing with for it.

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 June 1st to see what Eric has in store for us next month! 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter