Wonder and Whimsy Monthly Challenge - March Reveal

Looking for my Bead Soup post? Go here... or keep scrolling! You'll find it eventually. :)
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I've been doing so many other challenges this month, you might have thought I accidentally neglected my own.

...And you would be right, honestly. While working on pieces for my other projects, I almost ran out of time to create pieces for this one. Rather fitting, honestly, considering the inspiration for this month's challenge--Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll. The White Rabbit's admonishing of "Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be late!" actually echoed through my head this week as I tried to finish up something to post.

But! I'm happy to report that I do have something to share for this Month's Challenge. It's not much (and I have three other pieces planned--including one involving the above compass), but it is something. Yay!

Anyway, I'm getting a bit ahead of myself. Time to back up a bit. Again, my inspiration for this challenge was Alice's Adventures in Wonderland--more specifically, Lewis Carroll's whimsical and logical and nonsensical novel, not the Disney adaptation. (Not that there's anything wrong with that version! ...it just wasn't my focus. *grin*)

I actually started work on this challenge while visiting my parents:

Rolling paper beads! Can you guess which ones were used for this project?
...You can also see the lime green I used in one of my Bead Soup creations.

The Queen of Hearts! My mum had a pack of cards she let me cut up.
Also, you can see the paper beads in their final form.

Once I got home, it was time to start putting those different elements together...

Designing time!

Ultimately, my puttering solidified into four different necklace ideas--only one of which I was able to finish in time for this reveal. That's all right, though... I'm really happy with how it turned out!

Without any further ado, I present: 

Painting the Roses Red

This necklace is made with: the three shades of paper beads, glass, crystal, the recycled chain tassel from a pre-made earring, a key-and-lock toggle clasp, and a pendant featuring the rose from the Queen of Hearts card.

It was made to represent the part of the novel where Alice first meets the Queen of Hearts. For those unfamiliar with this scene: Alice uses a key to unlock a door that leads to a lovely garden, where she finds three hapless gardeners (who are also playing cards) attempting to paint white roses red. The Queen then bustles in, and starts uttering her famous proclamation: "off with their heads!" Alice manages to save the heads of the gardeners--and her own--and is then requested (i.e. ordered) to join the Queen in a game of croquet.

To reflect this scene, the paper beads going from white to red (or perhaps red to white). I also added a heart charm for the Queen of Hearts and the key used to enter the garden in the first place. Oh, and as aforementioned, the pendant was made from an actual playing card, where the Queen is holding a red rose. Can't get much more Queen of Hearts than that!

I also tried to echo some of the Wonderland kookiness through the design. At first glace, it looks like the sides are simply asymmetrical, but in fact there is more to it than that. The sides are actually inverses of each other: one has the design going up, the other has it going down. One side uses silvertone wire and brass findings, the other uses bronze wire and silver findings. 

...What can I say, it seemed fitting for the subject matter. :)

I made one other thing to show off for this reveal: earrings!

And not just any earrings... Mushroom earrings! I present:

What Size Do You Want to Be?

In the story, Alice comes across a caterpillar who tells her that one side of the mushroom it's sitting on will make her taller, and the other side will make her shorter. This is quite a relief to Alice, who has been spending most of the novel going from one size to another!

Unlike their inspiration, these earrings don't actually change the wearer's height. They are also not edible. They are made with lampwork mushrooms and silvertone findings, and add a bit of Wonderland whimsy to any outfit.

So, there you go! Those are the pieces that I made for this reveal. Here they are together:

Thanks so much for stopping by today to see what I made for this challenge. I do hope to post again with the other pieces I have planned... we'll just have to see when I have a chance to make them!

Have a wonderful Friday--and last day of March--everyone!