Wonder and Whimsy Monthly Challenge - January Reveal

It's reveal time!

That's right... it's the last Friday of the month, which means that I get to show off what I made for this month's Wonder and Whimsy challenge. Hurray!

What was my challenge? To make something lovely with these materials, sent to me by one of my new beading friends:

...And make something, I did! Four somethings, in fact. I am delighted to say that I was able to use each of the pendants that she sent me, as well as some of the beads. What can I say--I was inspired by such lovely materials.

So, without further ado, here is what I made!


Necklace 1

I am so very excited... This was the very first Humblebeads birdie that I ever got to play around with. I've always admired them, but never had the opportunity to work with one--until now! :)

I paired the birdie with a lampwork bead (artist unknown), and a lovely ceramic feather (made by the talented Karen Totten). I then went digging through my stash for beads--and chain--to match.

I placed the beads in a random pattern, wire-wrapped them, and put links of chain between them. The overall necklace is quite long, so it has no clasp. I love the weight of the necklace--it is substantial but not overbearing. 

I also really like the combination of colors... they are not ones that I usually use, and it was fun exploring the balance of the different shades. 

Overall, I'm really happy with how this necklace turned out--and, since this was first piece that I made, it was a great way to start this challenge.

Necklace 2

This second necklace was made with the beautiful ceramic tree pendant, as well as quite a few of the Czech glass beads that my friend included in her package. I paired those materials with freshwater pearls, Czech glass from my own stash, and some other different shapes and sizes of glass.

  

For the clasp, I used a beautiful piece by Saki silver. Technically it's a different metal from the rest of the necklace (bronze, instead of silver), but I absolutely love the way it pairs with the pendant--the color, the texture, the shape, everything. 

Now, I may end up changing it--or I may remake the necklace in bronze--but for right now, this is the design. (Hah. I was actually going to remake it in bronze before this reveal, but I ran out of time. Who knows, though... maybe I'll leave it as it. *grin*)

Necklace 3
(with bonus!)

For this one, I had to do some emergency bead repair surgery. Unfortunately, while I was designing this necklace, I broke the butterfly. Thankfully, my repair was successful, and I was able to complete this:

Bronze! Copper! And purple! ...And very, very mild asymmetry. 

The necklace itself is made with Czech glass, dyed quartz, and faceted glass. I absolutely love this color combination... although, truth be told, I had to go through at least three different iterations of this design before I came up with one that I liked. 

I'm glad that I put in the extra design time, though... I really, really like how this necklace turned out. 

Oh! And I mentioned that there was a bonus with this necklace.

Here it is:

Earrings! Complete with my very first ever pair of self-made earwires. That's right--I made those earwires. Woo-hoo!

I also made those headpins, too. (My parents got me a metal-working hammer for Christmas, and I'm so excited. Fun with wire!)

Overall, I am very pleased with how this set turned out--from emergency bead repair, to trying something new, to going through different designs until finding just the right one. Persistence paid off!

Necklace 4

For this necklace, I did something a little bit different. I had used up all the pendants, but I still had quite a few beads left. 

So! Inspired by last month's challenge, I decided to learn another chainmaille weave.

...The shaggy loop weave, to be precise.

Now, this isn't the first piece of shaggy loop weave that I've made this month. If you follow my Instagram, you'll have seen a necklace I made for this month's Bargain Bead Box. Still, this one is decidedly different--different metal, different size, different color. I always think it's fun to see how the same construction can be used to achieve different looks, and this was no exception.

To make this necklace, I used large 8mm jumprings paired with some unique chain from my stash. The blue seed beads were from the package. I really love how it turned out--unique and fun, and using minimal materials. 

Ta-da! Those are the pieces that I made for this month's challenge. It was so fun playing with the beads that my friend sent me... and I still have more to use! Woo-hoo!

Oh, and you may have noticed--I also succeeded at my other, unspoken part of this challenge: not make a single tassel. Hah! I am capable of making things that aren't tassels. :)

Thanks so much for stopping by today to see what I made... I really enjoyed myself with this challenge, and I hope that shows. And many, many thanks to my new friend for the wonderful beads that you sent me! :)

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!