May Pretty Palettes - Reveal!

It's time for another Pretty Palettes reveal! Yay!

Heh... I really do enjoy these reveals. Can you tell? :)

This month's Pretty Palettes takes its inspiration from the Bohemian aesthetic--its vibrant color scheme, variety of patterns and textures, eclectic focal points, controlled clutter, and natural materials. To that end, these are the beads that were picked out as this month's palette:

...And I actually made something with all (but one) of those components! 

To begin with--since it was so convenient last time--I once more decided to buy my beads online. From the online Michaels selection, these are the beads that I picked out...

 Half price sale! Woo!

You can see three of the original components: the green discs, the dragonfly strand, and the copper bead caps.

...but wait, there's more!

Because, as fate would have it, I actually got to the physical store, too. There, I picked up two more strands--the coral painted faceted glass and the acrylic flower rounds. 

So many beautiful beads to work with!

I went a little nuts picking out beads.
...I'm okay with that.

From those components, I had two main ideas. 

The first of those ideas was to stretch myself out of my comfort zone. I really wanted to make something only using the materials originally picked out, saving the extra beads for the second design. I also really wanted to make something using waxed linen. 

And, of course, I wanted to make something that truly fit the bohemian theme of this month's challenge.

So, after some trial and error--stringing and restringing--this is the set that I came up with:

Totally not my usual aesthetic!
...But I still think it works. :)

The necklace is strung on waxed linen, which I also used to make the earrings.  

A little about the pendant... My first attempt at this necklace did not include the dragonfly bead, or the little tassel underneath it. Once I had strung the beads, though, I realized that the pendant needed to be a little bit more pronounced. Eclectic, even. So, I added the extra elements to the green disc, which definitely adds to the character of the piece.

This set was both surprisingly difficult and surprisingly fun to make. Using the linen, mixing colors that I don't usually pair (mismatched shades of brown and green and coral... say what?!), and using all larger beads (I tend to make large statement necklaces out of a bunch of smaller components added together) definitely pushed me out of my comfort zone.

...And I might just try it again! :)

Now, the second set is much more my regular aesthetic--but hopefully no less bohemian. To create it, I started playing around with bead shapes and sizes and textures...

 Oooo, look at all the colors!

...and lo and behold, a tassel started to take form:

And here is the final product!

Back to using lots of smaller beads, with the larger ones serving as accents.

Yep, it's a giant bohemian tassel necklace!

It's made with a variety materials and textures and colors. There are ceramic beads, there are wood beads, there are Czech glass beads, there are crystal beads, there are stone beads. There is bright copper and antique copper and brass. 

I worked hard to control the chaos and balance the colors... I think I did a fairly good job!

This necklace actually took longer than expected to make... While everything just fell into place design-wise, actually finding time to work on all the links proved challenging. And I actually just finished the earrings this morning!

All in all, I am quite pleased with what I made for this challenge--one set that was my regular approach, and one that was quite different. 

Two different interpretations of the same boho aesthetic:

Continued thanks to Erin Prais-Hintz and those at the Halcraft blog for putting the Pretty Palettes challenges together. It was quite the fun project, and I appreciate the chance to stretch my skills.

...And now, after a very full day, I'm going to relax. Thanks so much for stopping by!

Have a wonderful night, everyone!