November's Pretty Palettes - Reveal!

It's reveal time! This time, it's time to show you what I made for the Pretty Palettes challenge hosted by the Halcraft inspiration blog.

The inspiration for this month's Pretty Palettes was a lovely photo taken by Susan Conaway, featuring a combination of lamb's ears and maple leaves:

Not my photo!
Picture by Susan Conaway, and matching color palette by the Halcraft design team.

I love how this mix is unconventionally Autumn. When I think Autumn, I usually think russet and brown and red and yellow--the colors of the trees outside my window. This palette reminds me that there are more colors to take into account... Morning frosts and evening mists, the last green of summer turning into the first brush of winter. 

So! Inspired and armed with that palette--and the list of beads chosen by Erin Prais-Hintz--I went shopping at Michaels and picked out this selection: 

A collection similar to the official beads... but not identical.
I'll let you spot the differences.

...And then I promptly ran out of ideas.

I tried so many designs that just didn't work. I tried tassels. I tried multi-strands. I tried tassels with multi-strands. Nothing seemed to work.

Eventually, however, I started playing around with some silk-knotting...

...and settled on a design that I liked.

By that, I really mean that I just made it up as I went along... After trying so hard to make something work, I decided to just wing it and enjoy some randomness and asymmetry. 

The result? This bracelet: 

And it's not just a bracelet... It can also be worn as a necklace! Four different ways as a necklace, actually--all depending on what side you put the toggle clasp (in the front, in the back, or on either side): 

...You may have also noticed, in that last picture, that I made some matching earrings, too. After making the necklace, it seemed like the thing to do.

All in all, I'm pretty happy with how this set turned out. I really do enjoy the combination of colors. I also enjoyed the randomness of it--and, after struggling so long to make something happen, I'm grateful to have something to show for my efforts!

So, there you go! Thanks, as always, to Erin Prais-Hintz and the Halcraft team for organizing this challenge--be sure to check out the Halcraft blog to see what everyone else made! 

Thank you, too, for stopping by to see what I made for this challenge!

Happy Wednesday, everyone!