Wonder and Whimsy March 2025 Reveal: Mocha Mousse Madness

Hello everyone... Guess what time it is! 

That's right: it's reveal time!

As you might recall, my challenge this month was all about brown. And not just any brown... this particular Pantone-selected brown:

I had a lot of fun with this challenge. 

Now, I realize that I always say that, but it's true! Challenging myself to make things under certain constraints is always fun for me.

For this particular challenge, though, I had an obvious starting point. Back in January, I received the Monthly Fun Pack put out by The Bead Place; it's a fun collection that they put together around a different theme each month. For January, as one might suspect, the theme was Mocha Mousse.

How convenient, I thought. What a great place to start for this challenge.

...And, as a special bonus, the pack also included a swatch of the color printed out and glued to the front of the bag. That was incredibly helpful for matching the color--and for taking pictures!

So! For this first set, I used only the beads included in the pack--and the swatch to show you just how close the match was. :)

Those are the earrings (yes, without the earwires added--oops).

I also made a matching necklace:

Included in the necklace are Czech glass, sunstone, faceted glass, and toho seed beads.

Amusing note about the necklace: I had forgotten how much I don't like stringing necklaces. I much prefer using wire. 

My main reason? 

Because I keep having to restring it. Hah! Making this particular necklace, I had to restring it three times... once because I dropped it, once because I messed up the pattern, and once because I realized I didn't like the color seed beads I originally chose. The final result is definitely worth it... but I think I'll continue to stick with wire!

...Which is what I did for the second set. 

For this set, I used some beautiful Czech glass beads I found on Lima Beads. The color is called sueded gold ash rose, and they are just the right shade of brown:

Pretty close, right?

First, I just made a simple necklace using just the 8mm rounds:

...And then I got to work putting the leftover beads together with some matching shiny things I had in my stash:

Here is the final result!

It is slightly longer than the simple necklace, so the two can be worn together or separate.

This necklace is made of Czech glass (even the bicones), copper, and mother of pearl heishe beads. The pendant is chiastolite, I believe.

And did you notice? It's actually asymmetrical.

Another fun note: I picked the bicones because their shape is reminiscent of the pendant, and I picked the copper coin beads because they are are divided into four quadrants--again, like the pendant.

Overall, I'm very pleased!

So, there you go! Those are the pieces that I finished for this month's challenge. (I actually made two Russian spiral pieces, too, but I haven't woven in the ends yet. If I remember to post pictures when they are fully done, I will try to do so!)

Thank you so much for stopping by today to see what I've been up to! It was a great deal of fun working in a very limited colorway, trying to match a very specific shade of brown. I even have a few beads leftover... we'll see if they show up in some of my later creations, too.

Thanks again... I hope you have a lovely day, everyone!