Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Pretty Palettes February Challenge

I think I'm more on board with spring challenges because of the colors and the promises of warmer weather, of flowers, of being outside, of not wearing 3 layers all the time!

This month's Pretty Palettes Challenge doesn't have flowers (and the person in it looks pretty cold), but the colors are so very nice - soft and warm.
Here is the inspiration:

Feb_SkyPortal_horalek_960 copy




Surprisingly (or maybe unsurprisingly), I already had 3 of the bead strands from the ones chosen by Erin Prais-Hintz so I stuck with those. 
I was struck by two things in this photo.  First, the way the sky image is in a circle.  This reminded me of a necklace that a person wears on another blog I follow (in this post).  Her necklace has 3 semi-circles.  Her necklace is by baublebar and when I checked out the website, it didn't have this particular necklace but from the looks of the others, I guessed that the necklace I like is probably made with 3 metal fan or semi-circle shapes with swavorski-like crystals embedded in them or with crystal casings soldered together to make the shape.  Well, my metalwork is limited to wirework and the occasional stamping.  With 3 little kids (and two rough and tumble boys), a torch in the house is not currently approved.
So, I worked with wire and chain to make my version, plus the pink faceted rounds, glass bronze crystals and bronze plated rondelles and some green grey faceted rounds. 
Here's the result:
 This necklace took a lot of fiddling to get the right amount of loop in the semi-circle without puckering.
 When I tried it on, the necklace definitely has more of a circular drape and looks great- maybe it just needs a thicker neck than my prop.
The second thing that caught me about the picture was the use of color and the way it seems to move you around the circle of the sky.  So, the second piece was made with some beautiful lampwork beads (I think by Kimberly's Corner).

The colors very much remind me of the swirling sky and do you see the toggle bar?  These toggle bars where you can add beads are awesome.  There are some AB pink/orange seed beads in there.  And the toggle circle is a Vintage piece that has been slightly buffed.
Thank you Erin for a great inspiration!

9 comments:

  1. Wowza! You knocked it out of the park with that bib necklace. It is very on trend and so pretty! I love all the combinations of beads and I can certainly appreciate the math (shudder!) that went into making it just right! I love the look of those pretty lampwork beads that so perfectly mimic the beauty of this night sky. And I have a love of all things Vintaj as well. Thanks for playing along with me in the Pretty Palettes challenge for Halcraft. See you on March 4th for the next inspiration! Enjoy the day! Erin

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  2. Wow, what a great idea to use the semi-circle pattern for a necklace! It turned out so pretty with those colors. Love the lampwork bracelet, too. Reminds me of those extra strands of lampwork I have stashed away that I should use soon!

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  3. Great job recreating the necklace you saw! I really do like yours better! I love the toggle bar on your bracelet, NOW I know what those do-hickeys are for! The lampwork beads really sparkle like the inspiration photo!

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  4. That necklace is amazing! I love it. Your bracelet is also great. I got some of those seed bead toggle bars - can't wait to use them.

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  5. Gorgeous pieces! Beautifully designed!

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  6. I love this! It makes me want to play around with the semicircle motif. I thought these beads and the color palette were really sophisticated this month. You used them brilliantly!

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  7. What lovely creations! I love the structure of the necklace. It reminds me of Art Deco architecture! And the bracelet is very nice as well. Those lampwork beads are just juicy! Great job!

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