Wonder and Whimsy Monthly Challenge - October Edition

This month's challenge is all about rocks.

Well, specifically, it's about gems and minerals.

...But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me start at the beginning, at what inspired this month's challenge. As I'm sure you gathered, last month was quite busy for me... Yet, in the midst of the busy-ness, I was able to do some really awesome things. 

Like go to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, for instance:

It was really an epic trip. I went with my best friend, who has the same tolerance for giant museums as I do... which means we spent hours there. 

...It was awesome.

There were many different types of exhibits. There was one about narwhals. There was one about ocean life. There was one about dinosaurs. There was one about the natural history of mankind. 

And there was one about gems and minerals.

While there, I saw such beautiful things as these:

...And that was just the gift shop.

Ha! I'm not ashamed to say we spent quite some time in there, too. :)

Now, while I could go on and on about all of the different exhibits, the one of most interest for this blog entry is the one about gems and minerals.

As I'm sure you guessed, the actual exhibit was absolutely gorgeous. It included the Hope Diamond, which was lovely...

...but it also included so much more. 

When I do picture-heavy blog posts, I usually try to make at least some of the pictures smaller--for ease of reading. But, for this one, I'm going to leave them all big (and you can make them bigger if you click on them). Everything was absolutely lovely, and honestly I think I'm going to let the photographs do the talking.

  

So! For this month's challenge, I'm going to make pieces using only gems and minerals. (Well, and metal--which was also included in the exhibit. *grin*)

And, although that may sound like not much of a challenge, let me assure you: it is. I love mixing media, so to make something using only one type of material is going to be different for me. (What do you mean I can't add pearls and paper beads and...? *smirk*)

Well, there you go! That is my challenge for this month--and my excuse to inundate you with happy pictures. Thank you for letting me share my photographs with you, and be sure to come by on Friday, October 27th to see what I end up making for this challenge.

Until then, have a wonderful day everyone!