The Jenny Monthly Challenge - April Reveal, Part 1

I don't know how it's been for you, but my April has been challenging, productive... and short!

At least, it certainly feels like it's been short--which is probably because I got such a late start on so many projects. I have been busy, busy, busy... And I am happy to report that I have many things to show off for this reveal! Hurray!

Remember this bag?
My challenge for this month was to make pieces using jewelry misfits and
components that purchased from my local consignment shop.

I have so many things to show off, in fact, that I am going to split up this challenge's reveal into two parts. This will be Part 1, and I hope to post Part 2 tomorrow. 

Why did I decide to split it up? Well, mostly for the sake of my sanity (so many pictures to edit, so little time!)... And also, because I can! It's my blog, after all. :)

So! Enough chatter... Onto the reveal!

To jog your memory, here are a few pieces that were in the above bag: necklaces and solitary earrings, some pieces that were broken...

From that pile, I started to play around with some of the components:

Laying out a potential design.

And, to prove that those pieces really were salvaged, here's a rundown of where they came from:

• the leather and purple iris crystal are from one of the purple necklaces (picture on the left)
• the large silver circle is taken from one of the blue necklaces (picture on the left)
• the purple diamonds are from a necklace at the top of the bag (picture on the right)
• the silver glass bicones are from a multi-strand necklace that was fraying (picture on the left)

After I played around a little more--and ignored it completely for over a week because of other commitments--here is the finished design:

Purple and silver! Leather and glass! Acrylic and crystal! A fun mix of textures, this necklace took quite some time to perfect--making sure that the dangle draped correctly, and that the leather didn't completely overwhelm the delicate wire-wrapped crystals.

Also, the leather piece is too short to reach all the way around my neck... To solve that problem, I augmented it with a little bit of chain, which is actually not visible from the front. 

All in all, I am very happy with this set--and not just because I like purple. I went through so many different iterations of this design, and took it from "eh, it's all right" to "I really like it." 

Persistence pays off!

After fiddling with that necklace so much, I wanted the next project to be super simple... And so I made was a pair of earrings using two of the silver donuts seen below:

Here are the finished earrings:

Yep! Simple. Versatile. I'm quite enamored with them, actually. Much of the jewelry that I wear on a day-to-day basis is rather understated, and these match just perfectly!

Refreshed by completing an uncomplicated design, I then decided to try my hand at making another necklace using earrings I found amongst the jewelry misfits:

Where are the earrings, you ask? 

They're in the focal. They were three separate discs that I stacked on top of each other and wire-wrapped into place, creating a giant textured pendant.

Now, I didn't actually get a "before" picture of them... You'll just have to take me word for it!

Then I strung the pendant with some matching wooden beads on hemp cord and tied on a clasp. The finished look feels rather tribal and earthy to me... A nice break from all the silver and wire-wrapping!

...Almost done! 

There is one more set to show off in this part of the reveal (you're starting to see why I broke this up into segments, aren't you?), and some of the components that I used to make it can be seen in this picture...

So, what did I make? 

This is what I made!

Back to the world of purple and silver and wire-wrapping, after my brown-and-cream interlude... This time in the form of a long dangling tassel necklace with matching earrings!

The tassel and all of the acrylic components were repurposed... I added some silver chain and glass beads to finish off the look.

So, there you go! That concludes Part 1 of the reveal of my April Monthly Challenge.

...You know, I honestly thought I was going to slack off this month, especially since I chose my challenge so late in the month. Heh. Apparently not.

And, yes, there's more! Tomorrow, I will show off what I made with this pile of goodies--and what repurposed components I matched with them!

I look forward to seeing you tomorrow... In the meantime, I'm off to edit some photos, learn how to cook steak, clean the house, and finish two more challenge pieces that I need to complete by May 1st. Heh. Never a dull moment!

Have a wonderful day, everyone!