Create Everyday Challenge: Everything Together

Surprise! It's me again!

I've been thinking about my Create Everyday Challenge, and wanted to just do a nice little summary entry. 

After all, what a journey it was! And what delight this little bag brought throughout the month:

Hurray for my Bag of Goodies!

Now, as I mentioned, I had hoped to do the entire month of November... but I still think doing 20 days is pretty dang impressive. I was looking over everything I made during this challenge, and I'm definitely happy with everything I was able to do.

And, for fun, here's at least one thing I made every day of this challenge!

(Side note: it's not everything--I just picked one picture from each day. If you haven't seen everything that I made, be sure to check out the earlier posts this month!)

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

Day 8

Day 9

Day 10

Day 11

Day 12

Day 13

Day 14

Day 15

Day 16

Day 17

Day 18

Day 19

Day 20

...Phew! That's a lot of pretty things.

I think my favorite part of the challenge was pulling something new out of my Bag of Goodies everyday. I have a lot of pretty things, and I enjoyed the randomness of it. Some of the pieces in the bag were very precious, that I've been saving (read: hoarding) for some time... it was nice to give myself permission to play with them. I will definitely be revisiting my Bag of Goodies soon! (Besides, I have some items in the bag that I didn't get to... it would be a shame to not play with them at some point!)

Thank you so much for joining me on this journey. It's been a lot of fun sharing it with you, and knowing that people enjoyed looking at my designs.

Have a great end to your November, everyone! I'll see you sometime in December--when my surgery is over, and I get back on my feet!

Create Everyday Challenge: Final Day! (Day 20)

It's Day 20... can you imagine? We've made it all the way to the end of this challenge... and what a fun challenge it has been.

Let's see what I pulled out of the bag for today's creation:

...Hah. I was rather hoping for something a bit more flashy, but instead, I pulled out these lovely Czech glass tablet beads. 

I challenged myself to make something with these, and only these, and this is what I came up with:

Long and dangly earrings, that are surprisingly not heavy. I tried them on, and they're delightfully swishy and swingy, too.

Not flashy, but still a fun way to end the challenge!

Thank you all so, so much for joining me this month while I've been tackling this challenge. I definitely hope to do more at some point... Maybe even something for Advent? (Although, I'm not going to make any promises... I have no idea how quickly I'll recover from my surgery next week, and definitely don't want to over-commit.)

Have a wonderful November, everyone... I'm grateful for each and every one of you!

Create Everyday Challenge: Day 19

We've made it to Day 19! Woo-hoo!

Here are the lovely beads that I got to play with today:

Aren't they gorgeous? They're vintage German Resin... I purchased them from Ava Motherwell, and I am swooning over them.

I really want to make a necklace with them, but I'm still deciding on a design. I also have a bracelet idea, but I'm currently trying to find just the right finding for it.

So! In the meantime, I used two of these precious beads to make (surprise!) a pair of earrings:

I'm sure that I'm going to sell some of the things I have made this month, but this pair of earrings? They're mine. Allllll mine. Hah!

Thanks for joining me on this journey. It's been a great deal of fun getting to pull things out of my Bag of Goodies and create with them. 

Come by tomorrow for my final day of this challenge!

Create Everyday Challenge: Day 18

Day 18!

Today's pull from the Bag of Goodies was all about Czech glass:

Czech glass in shades of silver and grey and black and pink, to be precise.

I am constantly surprised by how much of these colors I actually wear. So! I thought I'd put together two pairs of earrings for me to add to my collection... after all, I'm pretty much guaranteed to wear them!

They make me happy.

Oh! And I started a necklace--a tassel necklace, even--but there is no way I'm finishing it today. Tassel necklaces take time, and that's something that I don't have a lot of right now. So! Stay tuned... I definitely plan on sharing it, once I finish.

Thanks so much for stopping by today... we're in the final stretch of this challenge. Come by tomorrow for Day 19!

Create Everyday Challenge: Day 17

Day 17!

I've got something simple to show for today. Simple, but still happy.

After all, it's hard to go wrong with these beads I pulled out from my Bag of Goodies:

Pretty little lampwork beads!

...Okay, they're not really little, but they are pretty. And, surprise surprise, I decided to make them into earrings:

They honestly feel a little Spring-y to me. With all the Autumn-inspired jewelry I've made recently, it was nice playing with a different palette.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I officially have three days left of this challenge (I mentioned in my last entry that I am cutting it off at Day 20, just for personal/life reasons)... come back tomorrow for Day 18!

Create Everyday Challenge: Day 16

Day 16!

Today's pull from the Bag of Goodies was another mixed bead collection:

...All shades of clear and peach and orange. 

Since I'm sure you're interested, here is a better look:

Really pretty, right? You can't quite tell from that picture, but there are also quite some interesting shapes in there: flat faceted charms, bicone drops, round beads with really big holes. That's honestly why I hadn't made anything with this collection before.

But today, I was up to the challenge!

I started by making two pairs of earrings:

...And then I decided to try my hand at stringing again, and make another necklace. This is what I came up with:

The beads are a little more tan than they are peach, but I still think they work!

And you can't really tell from that picture, but since the hole on the focal bead is so wide, I put some seed beads in there to help stabilize it. I really like the way the gold is peaking through the bead!

Now, by this point I was on a roll--and I really really wanted to make a necklace that matched this pair of earrings:

So I got to wire-wrapping again.

...Except I haven't finished it yet. Apparently I bit off more than I can chew. Every time I think I'm close to being done, I realize I need to make it longer. But that's okay! I'm still really happy with what I've made so far, and I'll be sure to share the final necklace when it's done. (I think I'm close? Maybe?)

Thanks, as always, for stopping by... Come back tomorrow for Day 17!

(Also! As an FYI: I may need to stop this challenge early. I was hoping to go until the end of the month, but I think I may end it on the 20th. Just life stuff piling up and cutting in to my creating time--nothing bad, just stretching myself too thin. So! Trying to be wise and not overdo it. Besides, I think 20 days of Creating Everyday isn't too shabby!)

Create Everyday Challenge: Day 15

Day 15! We're at the halfway mark!

So, today, I really really wanted to make up for yesterday's... simplicity. (We'll call it that, sure.) 

Imagine my excitement, then, when I pulled these out of my Bag of Goodies this morning:

These are hand-painted South American ceramic, and I have been drooling over them for a long time. I mean, just look at them...

They're so cool!

Thankfully, I had some inspiration and knew what I wanted to make. I've always liked the teardrop shape, and I made two pairs of earrings--one with the thick part at the top, and one with the thick part at the bottom.

Here is the first pair:

And here is the second pair:

Now, I had a little more time today to dedicate to jewelry-making, so I decided to make a matching necklace, too. After all, I had some jasper beads that matched perfectly:

It's been awhile since I've really gotten a chance to sit down and do a long stretch of wire-wrapping, but I'm so glad I did. Here is the result:

I know I won't be able to do a necklace like this every day this month, but it was really, really nice to be able to do it today! 

So, there you go! All of the lovely things I made for today's Create Everyday Challenge. It was nice having a bit more inspiration than I did yesterday. I guess some days are just like that!

Thanks for stopping by... Come by tomorrow to see what I make for Day 16!

Create Everyday Challenge: Day 14

Well, it happened. It's Day 14, and today's beads really stumped me.

For reference, this is what I pulled out of my Bag of Goodies today:

Aren't those cool?? They're made by Heather Semple of Aluminations, and she sent them to me as a thank you gift when I ordered some of her lampwork beads.

I really, really wanted to make something cool and innovative with them. I love the way that they swirl, and the way the light is refracted off of the faceted silver part.

But all of my attempts just didn't work. Add a dangle? Couldn't find just the right bead. Make a necklace? The pendant didn't lay right.

Sometimes the creativity just isn't there, I suppose.

So, instead of putting them back in the bag (remember my rule: no put backs!), I added earwires and called it a day. I didn't want to show up here empty-handed, after all.

...I also had a pair in blue that she sent me, so as a bonus: here is the exact same design, except in blue!

I may revisit these at some point, but at least I made something wearable. And I suppose not every day has to be over-the-top complicated.

Thanks for stopping by today. Come by for Day 15 to see if my inspiration returns! (I sure hope so! Hah!)