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 everyone! I didn't have a single picture that really spoke to me this month. Instead, I decided to try a mix of texture shots to test your muses! Take these pictures as inspiration directly, or just make good use of textures in your work this month. Good luck! And next month I should have some pictures from our upcoming trip to warmer climes...
I really like this trio of textures that Eric chose for our inspiration this month! I had some immediate ideas but not much time until pretty late in the month due to our travels. I ended up focusing more on the idea of the textures than the actual colors that Eric captured. Creative license!
While I know that the green and cream/yellow texture on the left is flaking paint, it made me think of some jasper pieces that Eric bought me for Christmas ages ago. There was a fairly large pendant piece and a strand of puffed rectangles. I wanted to add some extra oomph to the pendant (not that it really needed it with its size!) just to give a little more visual interest beyond the beauty of the stone itself. I dug through my collection of Vintaj embellishments and came up with a copper ivy vine piece that fit the stone nicely. It only has one hole in it (at the top) so I did a little wire wrapping at the bottom to keep it nice and secure. I just don't love relying on glue. Anyway, I strung a few of the smaller jasper beads interspersed with a mix of Czech glass and brass beads and used Vintaj natural brass chain at the back.
Next I made the pair of earrings that were actually my very first thought for the challenge. When I saw the crater like texture in the upper right hand I thought of the ceramic moons that I got in my subscription box from Artisticaos a while back. (I'm really bad about not just hoarding all her lovelies so I'm proud of myself for actually using these, lol.) The color is obviously more golden than the inspiration, but I still think it works. I decided to dig deep in my Humblebeads stash for this and found some gorgeous headpins that I've had forever but have been too scared to use. (Seriously, I have a thing about decorative headpins!) Some Czech glass beads and brass bead caps round out this design.
I managed one last design... a pair of earrings that may be for me. I've had this pair of wonky lampwork rings in my stash for quite a while that Eric and I picked out together at an art show. I had originally planned on some sort of wire wrapping situation (which always gives me fits!) but decided on a simpler route with jump rings. It gives them a lot of movement! Some faceted gemstones and creamy Czech glass with a little bit of an AB finish finish these up.
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 March 1st to see what Eric dreams up for us next!
