What is the Honey Do List Challenge, you ask? It's where her husband, Eric, issues her a beading challenge--with the intent that she both use up some of her bead stash and get out of her comfort zone. Luckily, she lets others play along, too!
Here was this month's inspiration:
This is what Eric says about it: Last month I took an insect photography class at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum so I figured one of those shots would be a good bet for this challenge. The day of the course was insanely windy so taking pictures of moving insects atop briskly moving flowers was a challenge! Luckily I got at least one decent shot of a Painted Lady butterfly...now take the idea and fly with it!
Looking through my stash, I found a brass butterfly pendant that I wanted to use... But I thought it needed a bit more color.
Sadly, I do not have any cool patinas or metal paints (yet!). However, I do have a copious amount of nail polish that I've accumulated over the years for crafting purposes... And I figured, why not put them to good use?
So I got to work:
The first attempt did not turn out as well as I hoped... the yellows and golds that I picked out--to go along with the picture--just didn't show up against the brass.
After a bit of trial and error, I decided to focus more on orange and brown--the colors of the Painted Lady butterflies when they open their wings. This was the final result:
Once the pendant dried (I just realized that I still need to go back and do an acrylic topcoat--oops), I got to work creating the necklace itself:
It is made with a combination of red agate, red aventurine, glass, brass, and Chinese crystal. I used 24 gauge bronze wire to create the links. Overall, I'm very happy with how it turned out... perfect for Autumn!
Thanks so much for stopping by today to see what I made... Be sure to hop over to Sarajo's blog to see her creations, too.
And, of course, thanks to Sarajo and Eric for continuing to let me play along with this challenge! I always enjoy seeing the inspiration pictures, and it's a fun way to encourage me to use up my stash, too. (...And also reminds me that I need to put Vintaj patinas on my ever-growing wishlist, hah!) :)
Have a wonderful week, everyone!
I don't think I could adore your butterfly necklace any more than I do! It's perfect for the challenge and truly lovely! You got great colors out of your experiments with nail polish... I'm impressed. Thanks for playing along with us this month! Check back on November 1st to see what Eric dreams up for us next.
ReplyDeleteOh, thank you! I'm so glad you like it! Thanks so much for commenting, and for letting me play along with your challenge! I'm excited to see what November brings! :)
DeleteLOVE this! Despite hearing how well fingernail polish works for jewelry designs, I've used only clear a time or two. I best it works great, especially knowing that you can use remover to clean up any mistakes. You don't get that with the Patinas. The butterfly turned out beautifully, I especially like the little dangles you've got hanging behind it. And the chain accents it perfectly!
ReplyDelete