Wonder and Whimsy October Challenge: Falling Leaves

It’s October! 

Here in my part of the United States, Autumn colors are just now starting to seep in. They haven’t completely taken over yet, though; the green isn’t completely gone. The result is a beautiful patchwork of oranges and yellows mixed with an array of emerald and peridot greens.

It really is lovely.

My photo! Taken while on vacation in western Maryland.

I know that I’ve mentioned this before… Autumn is my favorite time of year. Each season has its appeal—Spring brings joyful renewal, Winter has cozy stillness—but I do love the crisp freshness of Fall. It’s a season of sweaters and soup, watching rain through colored leaves, taking walks while smelling wood-stove duskiness. 

More vacation pictures! Taken through a car window.

More vacation pictures! Yep, still from the car.

...it really was a lovely vacation.

And so, I decided to dedicate this month’s challenge to making Autumn-inspired jewelry. More specifically, I want to make Autumn-tree-inspired jewelry. After all… since I love Fall so much, why not make a little bit of it to wear?

So! That’s what I’ll be up to this month. Be sure to come by on October 25th, the last Friday of the month, to see what I end up making for this challenge.

Thanks so much for stopping by to see what I’m up to… have a lovely day, everyone!

Wonder and Whimsy Challenge Reveal: Gossamer Wings, pt. 2-ish

Oh!

I forgot one other thing that I was going to use for this month's challenge, but it's still in the works. I'll be sure to post it soon! :)

Wonder and Whimsy Challenge Reveal: Gossamer Wings

Happy last Friday of the month, everyone! 

Not only is today actually my wedding anniversary (we've been married 16 years!), it's time for this month's challenge reveal. Hurray!

As a refresher, this month I decided to make butterfly-themed jewelry... partially because I saw a monarch butterfly in my front yard, and partially because I knew I wouldn't have time to do my originally planned challenge (which I'll be sure to bring out some other time).

And besides, butterflies are pretty cool!

Not my photo!
Credit: Dan Freeman, found on Unsplash

Sadly, as anticipated, I really didn't have much time to this month to make anything. Between getting a chance to travel and see my family (yay!), our attic getting eaten through by squirrels (boo!), and continued health issues for both me and my husband (double boo!)... yeah, I haven't really had the time or energy to make jewelry.

But! I do have two pairs of earrings to show!

They are, perhaps, not the most original earrings. I still like them, though--and I'm definitely going to wear them. Sometimes simple is all we can do--and it's still worth it. It felt good to do at least a little bit of creating this month.

Thanks so much for stopping by today... I hope you all have a wonderful end of September! Come back in October to see what my next challenge will be. 

Wonder and Whimsy September Challenge: Gossamer Wings

Hello, everyone! 

It's time to announce what I'm tackling for my monthly challenge! Hurray!

Some background: I had a plan. I knew exactly what I wanted to do.

...And then I looked at my calendar, and realized that I was not going to have a lot of time to dedicate to it. That, and it's connected to a gift that I'm making some very dear friends, and I don't want to spoil it.

So! That will be my challenge for next month. (Building some anticipation, aren't I? Hah!)

Instead, I'm going to do something I'm equally excited about... and that is:

Butterflies

Not my photo!
Credit: Dan Freeman, found on Unsplash

Not my photo!
Credit: Meritt Thomas, found on Unsplash

I have been seeing butterflies everywhere--including my front yard. Last week, as I was looking out my front window, I saw a monarch butterfly flitting around. It stayed in my yard for a good 15+ minutes, and I got to watch it the entire time. :)

I've always liked butterflies, so I thought it would be fun to make some butterfly-inspired jewelry. No limits on this challenge--can be any color, any form, as long as it's constant with the theme. 

I have a few plans, so we'll see what I have time/energy to do. (Health stuff is still being uncomfortable and draining; I find out at the end of the month if I need surgery or not.) Regardless, I'm excited to start creating.

Be sure to come back on Friday, September 27th to see what I've made!

Until then, have a wonderful September, everyone!

Wonder and Whimsy Challenge Reveal: Tropical Bright Palette

Yay. It feels good to be blogging again.

And it definitely feels good to once more be tackling my monthly challenge!* I really do love pushing myself to try different things; I feel like it helps me stretch my creative muscles and grow as a designer.

For this month, I picked out a fun, bright palette to use in my jewelry designs:

In addition, I also had a mini-challenge I set for myself: not make something with a tassel! (Although I do have a tassel planned out in these colors... just didn't get a chance to make it. Hah!)

So, without further ado... Here is what I made:

Okay, it's got a little fringe-dangle... but it's not a tassel!

It's made almost exclusively with Czech glass... the matte yellow glass are Chinese crystal. You can't quite see it in this photo, but the wire-wrapped portion does not go all the way around... The back of the necklace is chain.

Since I had leftovers, I also used those same beads and created this pair of earrings:

They're super long and dangly, and pretty fun to wear. (If you happen to like long and dangly, that is.) Since the beads themselves actually aren't that big (the little pink ones are 3mm), they add nice pops of color without being too overbearing.

And, for fun... Here are the two pieces together:

I'm not sure I'd wear the pieces together--they both are fairly bright and statement-like by themselves.  I'm still pretty happy with them, though. They definitely used the colors in the inspiration palette.

So, there you go! Those are what I made for this month's challenge. Thanks so much for stopping by today for the challenge reveal... I always love showing you what I've been up to.

Happy end of August to everyone... I hope you all have wonderful days!

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* - Bit of a disclaimer here... I'm not entirely sure how I'm handling my challenge for next month. I absolutely know what I want to do, but I'm once more dealing with some health stuff. (I've gone two years since my last major health thing... ah well. I'll spare you the details, but ugh.) Either way, keep an eye out at the beginning of September... I hope to announce my September challenge soon!

15th Anniversary Celebration - Day 15

Ta-da! We have officially made it to Day 15!

For those just tuning in, I'm doing 15 Days of Content here on my blog. It's my little way of celebrating the fact that this blog has been around for 15 years. 

So, what better way to end this celebration than to... announce my next challenge!

You see, I have greatly, greatly enjoyed posting here for the last 15 days. I really want to keep the momentum going. Challenges have always been an integral part of my design process--pushing me outside of my comfort zone, getting me to try new things. They have also always been an integral part of this blog.

With that in mind, I'm bringing back my Wonder and Whimsy Monthly Challenge... and this month's challenge is a Palette Challenge.

In particular, this palette:

It's bright! It's summery! 

And it lends itself really well to a tassel, hah! (Yes, I already have beads picked out to make one. I will try to make something else, too, though. In fact, maybe that will be part of the challenge--make something that has a tassel, and make something that doesn't!)

The reveal will be on the last Friday of August, which is August 30th.

Thank you for joining me for this anniversary celebration. I cannot tell you how much I appreciate all of you... It makes me very happy that there are people out there who like my jewelry, and take time to check in and see what I'm doing.

Happy 15 years, little blog. Here's to many many more!!

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Another way I'm celebrating is by offering a coupon code for my Etsy store!

Simply use the code BLOG15 when checking out for 15% off! Please note that the code expires TODAY... you have until this evening to use it!

15th Anniversary Celebration - Day 14

It's Day 14!

For those just tuning in, I'm doing 15 Days of Content here on my blog. It's my little way of celebrating the fact that this blog has been around for 15 years. 

Today's entry is another Show and Tell. 

You see, I recently had the good fortune of acquiring a mass of sand cast African trade beads:

And for today's entry, I wanted to show you what I made with them. (Well, some of them. As I said, I now have a lot of them.)

I'm sure it will be no surprise that I made a necklace:

...Although it might be a surprise that it doesn't have a tassel. It can be done! ;)

In addition to the trade beads, I have also used tiny faceted lapis rounds, shell rounds, red frosted glass rounds, and two different shades/shapes of wood.

I really don't make multi-strand necklaces that often... I should look into changing that.

Thanks for stopping by today! Tomorrow is the last day of my 15 Days of Content... I hope you'll come back to see what I have planned.

Have a lovely day, everyone!

--

Another way I'm celebrating is by offering a coupon code for my Etsy store!

Simply use the code BLOG15 when checking out for 15% off! Code expires once my 15 Days of Content is over, on August 3rd.

15th Anniversary Celebration - Day 13

Day 13!

For those just tuning in, I'm doing 15 Days of Content here on my blog. It's my little way of celebrating the fact that this blog has been around for 15 years. 

We're nearing the end of the celebration, and for today's entry, I thought it would be fitting to revisit a design I made back in 2009 when I first started this blog.

Here is the design in question:

I found this necklace this past week. I've been doing a massive overhaul of my craft room, and in doing so, I have unearthed a box of jewelry I made during that period. This particular necklace is similar to one I made at the exact same time, which I called Black Dew and sold on my then-freshly-created Etsy store.

Now, there isn't anything particularly wrong with the design. Apparently I've been enjoying dangles and cascading looks from the very beginning. But looking at the construction, I can definitely see that I've come a long way--the simple loops are awkward, and the chain is a bit too open-and-airy for the look of the pendant.

So, I decided to remake it--using only the beads from the original necklace (but allowing myself to add different chain).

This is what I came up with.

I decided to keep with the dangle idea, but instead fleshed it out to a full-blown tassel. The beads from the dangle were turned into elements of the chain.

All components of this necklace were recycled and reused, all part of previous pieces that needed a bit of fresh life breathed into them.

Oh, and please pardon the wonky lighting in these pictures. As mentioned, I'm doing an overhaul of my craft room, and my photo booth is not set up.

Overall, I am very pleased with the new design. It's always interesting to look at designs I've made in the past, and seeing how I would reimage them now that my skills have improved. I can certainly see myself wearing this new design!

Thanks so much for stopping by today. I have two more days to go in my 15 Days of Content... I'd love it if you came by tomorrow to see what I have in store for Day 14.

Have a lovely day, everyone!

--

Another way I'm celebrating is by offering a coupon code for my Etsy store!

Simply use the code BLOG15 when checking out for 15% off! Code expires once my 15 Days of Content is over, on August 3rd.