The Jenny Monthly Challenge - April Reveal

...and Giveaway! 
(Which shows up at the end of this post, if you're just dying to see. *grin*)

Hurray! It's time for me to show off what I've made for my monthly challenge! (Well, I'm excited, at least! *grin*)

As a quick refresher, this particular month was all about pearls...

And what lovely pearls they are!

While any pearls were fair game, I was specifically trying to see what I could make with these lovelies... 

Two different kinds of baroque pearls!
...And white rice pearls, which I didn't actually end up using.

...because I had never used baroque pearls in a design before.

And, honestly, it was a challenge. The irregular shapes proved difficult for me, and required quite a bit of experimentation on my part. Eventually, I ended up making four designs with them.

First, I did some standard stringing:

Ta-da! Both kinds of baroque pearls in one necklace-and-earring set!

And then I brought out the wire-wrapping:

Baroque pearls and Chinese crystal.
If I had had enough materials, I would have preferred not having to use the chain...
But! It still looks nice, so I won't complain too much. :)

And then I thought, why not try adding some leather?

Leather Design #1

Leather Design #2
Also featuring some amethyst, because why not?

...And with that, I used all but 4 of the baroque pearls I had! 

For all the trouble that they were giving me, I'm actually pretty pleased with these designs... I especially like the mix of the leather with the pearls, since it creates a rather interesting texture dynamic. 

Now, you might be asking if I was finished working with pearls.

Not quite. 

Since I like over-achieving, I made two more sets.

First up, I made this silver-and-mystic-blue necklace...

I love this shade of blue,

Again, it's just standard stringing... I thought the simplicity would let the beauty of the pearls stand out.

And then... well, then I went a little nuts. 

I combined the multi-colored mix strands and some good-old-fashioned-wire-wrapping-for-days to create this:

Which actually looks like this when not completely jumbled up:

It's a long necklace that can be worn double stranded, with an awesome multi-colored tassel that sways wonderfully when you walk. 

There are over 200 links in this necklace, including the tassel, and when I was done I had to take a three-day break from jewelry making... It made my wrist ache, and I needed to let it rest.

So, there you go! Those are the sets that I made for this monthly challenge--and my love for pearls has only increased. Now to save up money so that I can buy more! 

And, as promised, it's now time for...

The Giveaway!

Pearl earrings!

Yep, this month's giveaway is this pair of gold-tone earrings, made with the white/mauve patina top-drilled baroque pearls. They are light-weight and stylish, and rather difficult to photograph.

To win this pair of earrings, simply comment on this blog entry, telling me something happy that's happened to you this week. Oh, and be sure to include your email address so that I can reach you if you win! 

The winner will be announced on Friday, May 8th.

Thanks so much for stopping by... And don't forget to come by on Saturday, to see the reveal for the Bead Peeps Swap N' Hop! I have more lovely things to show off! :)