Tags
A Grateful Artist, glass pearls, jewelry challenge, Lisa Lodge, Pine Ridge Treasures, Pine Ridge Treasures Spring Pearl Challenge 2014, Spring Pearl Challenge 2014
This is not a traditional blog hop challenge. Lisa Lodge of Pine Ridge Treasures hosts fun blog hops on a regular basis. She also has a destash page on Facebook. She crafted this challenge so that folks without a blog could participate on even footing. It was open only to members of the destash page. We all submitted a picture of a favorite piece (or collage picture of multiple pieces) created with the pearls we got for the challenge. Color choices were orchid, blue or green and each set would also have white. Glass pearls are a bit outside my comfort zone, and in order to challenge myself even more, I chose blue, the color I would normally be least likely to choose. These are the pearls I received.
There was a strand of 8mm blue pearls, a strand of 4 mm blue pearls and two strands of 6mm white pearls. I was already working on my pieces before I realized I hadn’t taken my “materials” photo, so it’s not the best. Although the reveal for the challenge is not a bog hop, I thought I would show my creation on my blog anyway.
I knew this would be a good challenge for me. I’ve noticed that some of my favorite jewelry designers can incorporate what I would consider materials outside their usual realm and create something beautiful. I want to be able to do that. This challenge would be a great way to try to expand my creative mind. I like the bohemian look, so I tried combining the pearls with many other elements. Metal was one way I tried to “tone down” the round shininess of the pearls. In the end, I settled on using brass wire to connect the pearls and some brass bead caps on the larger blue pearls. We were supposed to use a good number of the pearls since it is a pearl challenge. I used some blue, some white and then added in some purple I had left over from another project. I think the color combination is very spring-like. Fibers such as ribbon and leather add a nice bohemian look to jewelry, and after a variety of ideas, I settled on braiding some blue-green sari silk with purple leather for the neck strap.
I really like how it turned out. This is definitely a piece I will wear. That is part of the challenge to me. I know I can make some very pretty items with glass pearls that other people would wear, but to make something that speaks to my aesthetic feels like an accomplishment.
Thanks to Lisa Lodge for this fun challenge! Check out her blog to keep up on blog hops she hosts. Visit her destash page to learn about members-only events and get in on some good bead sales.
Bead Love 