July Pretty Palettes - Reveal!

In lieu of a Wednesday Worktable post today, I get to share what I made for this month's Pretty Palettes challenge, hosted by Halcraft and put together by the very talented Erin Prais-Hintz. It's always fun playing along with this challenge, and this month has been no exception!

The inspiration for this month's Pretty Palettes was taken from the night sky:

Not my photo!
Credit: Ryan Hutton, via Unsplash.

That's right, this month's inspiration was the stars and the myriad shades of night--black and blue and purple, coupled with pinpricks of white.

Personally, I love looking at the stars. I grew up in the city, so star-gazing was usually reserved for when we went on vacation far away from the city lights. It was--and still is!--always a treat to look up and see the traces of the star-pictures that the ancient Greeks saw. On vacation, I've been known to take a blanket and just lie on the ground, gazing up at the stars and being amazed by the vastness of it all.

With this in mind, here are the beads that were officially chosen for this challenge:

...And I didn't actually use any of them. Heh.

Now to be clear, that wasn't because I dislike those beads. Quite the contrary--I hope to play with them at some point! However, this month's bead budget went almost exclusively to buying materials for my Monthly Challenge--which meant that for this project, I used Halcraft beads that I already had on hand. (Or picked up last minute from Joann's. Coupon for 70% off total bead purchase? Don't mind if I do!)

And trust me, there was no shortage of options. From those two sources, here are the beads that I picked out:

There is only one strand of the official beads in this picture...
Can you spot them?
(Hint, they're silver.)

Just as you might expect--purples and blues and blacks! ...Yeah, I think it's safe to say that I have quite a large bead stash.

There were so many beautiful possibilities, and quite a few different designs I played around with... Ultimately, after some trial and error, I settled on a design and made this set:

Celestial bling!

I love the combination of black and purple. It makes me think of sunsets and twilight, right as the evening slips into night. 

And, with just a touch of shiny white iridescence (added by the crystal rondelles), this set also makes me think of seeing the Milky Way through the moon-lit clouds.

About the construction: the necklace is knotted on waxed linen. It is made with faceted glass--both the beads and the rondelles--with different finishes. The earrings were also made with similar glass, echoing the same iridescence and colors found in the necklace.

Dramatic close-up!

I really love this set... In fact, I'm actually currently wearing it. I am reminded just how much of my wardrobe is made of black and purple. I suppose my love for the night sky has even seeped into my clothing choices!

Not my photo!

Credit: Sven Scheuermeier, via Unsplash.

Now, I obviously didn't use all of the beads that I had picked out, so I'm hoping to revisit this challenge at some point. After all, those lava beads make me think of asteroids and moon rocks! And I didn't even get a chance to touch those awesome faceted briolettes! Heh... So many ideas, so little time.

Thank you, as always, to Erin and the Halcraft blog for hosting this challenge. Be sure to stop by the official blog post to see what everyone else has made. And thank you so much for stopping by to see what I made! 

Have a wonderful day, everyone!