Tribes Competition Challenge: Mountain

I am going to start off today's reveals with the Mountain Tribe.

...Or, as I've been calling it, the Purple Tribe.

...Interestingly enough, this is also one of the simplest of today's reveals. When I bought the kits, I thought that wasn't going to be the case--I thought I would see all the components and make a veritable mountain of jewelry. After all, purple is my favorite color--and this kit is gorgeous.

I mean, just look at the beautiful things I got to work with (pictures from the official listing):

Yet, when I had the components in front of me, I realized that was not going to be the case. Granted, that was partially due to a time crunch (I may have bitten more than I can actually do this month)--but that was not the main reason.

You see, I had started thinking about the nature of the Mountain Tribe itself. When these kits were put together, they were done so with a fantastical world and its various cultures in mind... And I wanted to portray that culture through what I made. After all, world-building and fantasy-writing-anthropology is what I do--bonus points when I get to connect it with jewelry!

So, as I thought about the people of the Mountains in this fantastical land, I came up with this:

It's a necklace made with the delicateness of crystal and Czech glass and vintage acrylic, paired with rugged leather and wire-wrapping. Almost all of the components are from the kit, with only the findings, leather, and violet rondelles being from my personal stash.

Using the deep purple donuts as connectors made me feel clever. Hah.

In making this design, I wanted to pair elements that were both elegant and simple--something that captured both the majesty of the mountains, as well as their ruggedness. 

...Just as I imagined the people who lived there.

Now, I don't know what sort of culture Andrew Thornton had in mind when he made this kit, but in my mind, the people of these fantastical mountains live in a kingdom carved into a cliffside. They have some of the best metal-smiths and jewel-cutters in the land, due to the abundance of natural materials nearby.

And why do they like purple? Because of sunsets, because of the lavender mists that settle in over the mountains, and because of the amethyst crystal caves found in the cliffs near their home.

So, that is what I made for the Mountain Tribe reveal: a combination of ruggedness and elegance, in the shades of mountain mists and amethyst. Thank you so much for stopping by to see what I made.

Next up: the Petal Tribe!

Allegory Gallery - Tribes Competition Challenge Introduction

Well, it's time for this month's biggest reveal: The Allegory Gallery Tribes Competition Challenge! 

Hurray!

As I've previously mentioned, I purchased four of the seven kits available for this challenge. I made multiple items for each... And today, I get to show them off!

Since there are four of them, and I take lots of pictures, I'm going to split the reveals up by tribe. My goal is to post one every hour or so (as I get them written). So, keep checking back to see if there's anything new!

And once this reveal is done, I actually have another one to post, too. That one will likely be posted this evening. Woo!

So, enough delay... Let the fun begin! :)

Wednesday's Worktable

What's on my worktable this week?

Getting ready for the 5 reveals I have tomorrow.

The Tribes Competition Challenge Kit: Petal

That's right... 5!

Oi.

They are all Allegory Gallery reveals, too. (Sound familiar? That's because I mentioned them in this post, too. I realize that this month's worktable posts have been all challenge-oriented, but that's because everything I've made this month has been challenge-oriented. Not a month for side projects!*)

The Tribes Competition Challenge Kit: Nomad

So, yes, I am working on beautiful things! Many beautiful things. And you get to come back tomorrow to see them all! Whee!

Have a happy Wednesday, everyone! See you tomorrow!

--
* - Okay, okay, there is one not-challenge thing that I've made this month: birthday presents for one of my my sisters-in-law. But I can't share pictures yet because the package is still in the mail. So! Challenge pictures, it is. :)

We're All Ears: July Inspiration

It's a reveal day! 

I really do love reveal days. (Seriously, I'm not just saying that. It means that I get to share all of the fun things that I've been working on!) 

Today's particular reveal is for this month's We're All Ears challenge, hosted by Earrings Everyday.

And what was the inspiration this month, you ask? 

Hot air balloons!

Not my photo!
From Unsplash, credit Daniela Cuevas

When I was quite little, I lived in in a row house in South Baltimore--a row house that was across the street from a park. One day, a hot air balloon landed in that park... and I got to see one up close for the very first time.

Now, I don't remember the actual details of why the balloon had been there (I've asked my mum to see if she can look through photos/journals to figure that part out, and will update if she finds anything.)... But, oh, I remember the balloon! And since I was such a little person, it was even bigger than it would seem now. And not just big, it was bright and magical! Enough to make any child dream of getting in one and floating away.

Remembering that amazement and wonder, I made two pairs of earrings to go along with this challenge... One pair that more matches the form of the balloons, and one pair that matches the color:

Pair #1
First up: the form on the hot air balloons. Due to the sharp contrast between the bright silver and the dark blue, this pair was exceedingly difficult to photograph. 

Hopefully, though, you can see what I was going for--the little bead cap baskets underneath the blue stone teardrop balloons.

Pair #2
For this second pair, I focused more on the bright and bold colors of the balloons. To that end, I paired colorful swirling glass with brass findings. They really do make me think of seeing a sea of colorful balloons against the brilliant blue of the sky!

Not my photo!
From Unsplash, credit Austin Ban

So, there you go! That is why I made for this reveal. Thank you so much for stopping by! Be sure to stop by the Earrings Everyday blog to see what everyone else made. 

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

Wednesday's Worktable

I have one word to describe my worktable table today: 

Green.

Materials from top left to bottom right:
magnesite, dyed yellow turquoise, chrysoprase, and wood.

So much green.

You see, I started working on my Mayan-inspired Monthly Challenge, only to realize that I didn't actually have many green beads. Huh. And, since that made it rather difficult to make really anything in the desired shades of jade, I went to a few of my favorite bead-buying websites and placed an order or two.

And those orders arrived today.

Heh.

Trust me, there's even more than this.
Bwahahahaha!

So, now I'm organizing my new green beads (yay!), working on my Monthly Challenge pieces (yay!), and realizing that there are ten challenges that I am hoping to do this month and I have only really finished two of them.

Hah.

Writing out the reveal dates. Heh. I got this!
(And please pardon the handwriting--not always the neatest when I'm scribbling.)

...Ten challenges. 

I suppose that means I'd better stop blogging and go start beading. Woohoo... It's time to go wade through my sea of green and make some beautiful things!

Happy Wednesday, everyone!

The Jenny Monthly Challenge - July Edition

Here it is! Time to announce my July Monthly Challenge!

...And I definitely have something special planned for this month. While trying to figure out what I wanted to do, I had a sudden inspiration--and I couldn't be more excited.

You see, I know that I have done a few different History Hops in the past--I love art history and archaeology, and usually use any excuse to apply that love to jewelry making. However, there just so happens to be one culture that I've always wanted to tackle, from a jewelry perspective, but never have: the Maya. (I bet you can figure out where this is going!)

The Temple of Inscriptions, Palenque
Not my photo! From the Wikimedia Commons.

A Bit of Background

So, who were the Maya?

The Maya were an ancient Mesoamerican civilization whose Classic Period spread from 250 to 900 AD--although they were around both before and after that time. (The Maya people are still around today!) They are known for having the only known fully developed writing system of the pre-Columbian Americas, an extremely sophisticated calendar, an impressive knowledge of astronomy and mathematics, and some really really cool architectural structures. 

Temple at Chichen Itza
Not my photo! From the Wikimedia Commons.

...They are also one of the first ancient civilizations I remember learning about, and definitely one of the causes of my love for archaeology. (And linguistics! Their writing system is really cool--and I remember learning to write 1 to 20 when I was in elementary school. You know, for fun.) 

Pages 6-8 of the Dresden Codex.
Not my photo! From the Wikimedia Commons.

So, yes. As you have probably guessed, for the July Monthly Challenge, I want to make jewelry inspired by the ancient Maya. Booyah!

...And what does that look like? Well, if you'll indulge me, that looks like this:


History Lesson Time!

The ancient Maya wore a lot of jewelry--necklaces, pendants, bracelets, anklets, earrings, ear plugs, rings, intricate headdresses, you name it. If you look at art from the time--whether painted on a clay pot or carved into a stelae--people are always depicted draped in elaborate finery. 

Early Mayan jewelry was made using bone--namely jaguar teeth and claws--as well as feathers, stones, ceramic, and colorful shells (they were particularly fond of Spondylus shells--red on one side, white on the other). Metal was a rarer, later addition, in the forms of copper, silver, bronze, and gold.

And jade.

The Maya loved jade.

Mayan Offering Necklace
Not my picture!
From the Western Belize Happenings Blog

In fact, according to Lucia R. Henderson in this item description for the Metropolitan Museum of Art:

Jade was considered the most precious of all materials in the ancient Maya world. Its vibrant color was likened to other precious green things, including ripening crops and the iridescent tail feathers of the quetzal bird. The fact that jade endured, unchanged, for centuries, connected it to ideas of timelessness, permanency, and longevity. When polished, jade reaches a high, glossy shine, as though the surface has been dipped in water. It is almost always cool to the touch, but when held, quickly takes on the warmth of a human hand. This process led the ancient Maya to conceive of jade as a breathing, living, animate, and ensouled substance. To the ancient Maya, then, jade was not just beautiful, exotic, and expensive, but the incarnation of water, mist, floral aroma, and living breath. 

(4th paragraph, found here)

Adding to its value, jade is/was extremely difficult to carve (it approaches 7 on the Mohs hardness scale--diamonds are a 10). Without metal tools, the carving process was quite extensive and tedious, and took a lot of skill. As a result, jade was usually reserved for the elite--monarchs, the very wealthy, and priests. 

Not my picture!
From the Western Belize Happenings Blog

The specific form of jade found in Central America is jadeite. The Maya had a preference for its bright apple-green shades, although dark blue-green was also highly prized.

Not my picture!
From the Western Belize Happenings Blog

...So, there you go! A little bit of a background on Mayan jewelry.


The Challenge

Where does that leave me? 

Well, for the sake of this challenge, I think I may focus on the colors and feel of jade. After all, when I think of Mayan art, it is one of the main things I think of... And can you blame me? They made it into everything, including pendants:

Not my picture!
From the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Not my picture!
From the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Not my picture!
From the Metropolitan Museum of Art,
where it has a wonderful write-up on the symbolism.

Not my picture!
From the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

...Simple beads:

None of these are my pictures!
This is a compilation of beads from the Meso-American collection
at--you guessed it--the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

And even earflares (just like today's earplugs--except, well, carved in jade... And with elaborate soul-portal imagery to go with them):

Not my picture!
From the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Not my picture!
From the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

...Now, I may end up incorporating some shell-red and other colors, too--I'm making jewelry inspired by the ancient Maya, not exact replicas. (And it's a good thing, too... I'll probably need to find jade-colored substitutes, since my beading budget--while wonderful--is definitely not that of a Mayan King!) 

So, ta-da! There you go! That is my long-winded, historical introduction to my Monthly Challege for this July... Thank you so much for humoring me. Come by on Friday, July 29th to see what I end up making!

And, of course, have a wonderful weekend, everyone! 


---
Sources:

Art History:

Metropolitan Museum of Art
They have their collection searchable online, complete with informative write-ups and quality pictures. Yeah... I may or may not have spent way too much time just scrolling through their collection.

Ancient Jewelry History

Mexicolore Resource: Ancient Mayan Clothing

Western Belize Happenings Blog
Pretty much the only source I was able to find that had a quality picture of a genuine, complete necklace. (Sorry, eBay listings don't quite count.) Oh, and also pictures of beads in situ. 


General (i.e. Wikipedia Articles):

Wikipedia: Mayan Civilization

Wikipedia: Mayan Peoples

Wikipedia: Mayan Script

Wikipedia: Mayan Stelae

Wikipedia: Palenque

Wednesday's Worktable

On my table this week: Allegory Gallery kits!

...More specifically, four of the kits for the upcoming Tribes Competition Challenge. 

Yep, I treated myself to four of them! I honestly wanted to buy all seven, but I had to refrain. (Darn monetary restrictions... Still, I'm beyond grateful that I was able to get as many as I did!) 

I fell in love with the fact that each one of the color combinations (Tribes) was created with a fantasy culture in mind... And those fantasy cultures just happen to remind me of the world building that I've been doing for my Landus Fantasticus novels. More excuses to connect jewelry with my stories? Yes, please!

So, yeah. I bought four:

Nomad

Coast

Petal

Mountain

The reveal for these kits is on July 21st--and I'm just now getting a chance to play with them. Heh. I suppose we'll see how much I finish by then!

So, now it's time for me to hunker down and get it done... Woo!

Have a wonderful week, everyone!

Hello, July!

...and, once again, hello weekly worktable post!

Of course, I realize that said weekly worktable post is a bit late... But, considering Wednesday was dedicated to the Pretty Palettes reveal, I figured that would be acceptable. :)

Some background on my current beading table endeavors: June was a doozy of a month. Honestly, it felt like it was divided into two mini-months. The first two and a half weeks--June #1, so to speak--was dedicated to making a lot of jewelry. That was when I finished my Pretty Palettes pieces. The last two and a half weeks, June #2, was a whirlwind of activity and social interactions and I hardly did any creating at all... Until Wednesday, when I finally started playing around with my June Bargain Bead Box. 

That means that I am starting July finishing up pieces from that collection... Namely, this:

This tassel necklace is now almost done!
I will share pictures when it is... I'm really happy with how it's coming together.

I also made this necklace set using the Bargain Bead Box beads, which I finished up yesterday (yep, at the very tail end of June):  

This set is beautiful, and I need to take a better picture of it.
The necklace is knotted on waxed linen.

Another so-so picture of a beautiful jewelry set.
I really love that silver flower focal.

So, yeah... the first worktable of July is catching up with projects from June. And that's okay! Just mostly amusing, at least to me.

We shall see what this new month holds... More craziness, I'm sure. More busy-ness. But also more beads and more laughter and more chances to learn. And who knows... Maybe I'll get a chance to start on my July Bargain Bead Box more than two days before the end of the month. ;)

Happy July, everyone! Let's make it a good month! :)