Today is the reveal for the Allegory Gallery Design Challege – Mystery Challenge 3 edition. People really seem to like the mystery challenge kits where we don’t see any of the components prior to getting them. In other Allegory Gallery Design Challenges, only the Mystery Component that is hand made by Andrew Thornton is a surprise. Well this kit came as a complete surprise to me. Judging by the photo above, I thought it was going to be all neutrals – taupe, cream and beige. I did not pick up on the color of the lettering. The kit actually consists of soft pinks, peaches and greens. Love! Just gorgeous.
My first piece is a necklace using the Mystery Component that Andrew made – a gorgeous bird pendant.
Materials I used from the kit include the pendant, the two green saucers above it, a few of the pearly seed beads and the waxed linen.
I made another necklace based on a sketch I had made to use some “flag” beads I have in a necklace unrelated to this kit. It wasn’t quite working, so I thought why not try a version of it with some of the kit beads.
I used a sea glass pendant made by Andrew Thornton and his sister Sheila. I’m in love with it. Above it, I put three chip beads from the kit and two serpentine rounds. Then I used the flag beads and green beads from my stash along with pink rice beads and pearly seed beads from the kit. I finished it off with some chain bits because I’m enthralled with chain bits. This picture was difficult due to the shine on the flags. Also, we’ll see how long this necklace lasts because the flags flap and there doesn’t have to be any wind. It may or may not bother me enough to take it apart. But I like how it looks. I love the look of bunting flags, and hope I got a bit of that here.
Next I wanted to use those gorgeous, lightweight pink barrels from the kit. I had gotten some of my serpentine out to see if it went with anything, and these twisted barrels were perfect.
In addition to the pink barrels from the kit, I used a flower pendant by Andrew Thornton, a few Czech cathedral beads, and the serpentine with some tiny bright green colored pyrite between them. These are all I had of this color of cathedral bead. It’s gratifying when a small number of beads is just what I have and just what I need! I love the slight asymmetry.
Then I focused on earrings. When getting the pendant above out of my Andrew Thornton box (I group art beads for storage by artist) I saw a pair of his polymer roman glass pieces in a perfect color for the kit.
All the other beads in these earrings, along with the waxed linen, are from the kit. I think these earrings are so cute!
Then I moved on to some fabulous faux strawberry quartz dangles from the kit. (I don’t know if they were trying to be faux, but that’s what these plastic pieces looked like to me.)
All the beads in these earrings are from the kit. I even got to use some of the sequins! I’m always thrilled when I get to do that. And then I loved these so much I used more of the “strawberry quartz” drops in another pair.
All the beads from these earrings are also from the kit. Next I wanted to use one of the big, faceted pink plastic rectangles. I originally thought of earrings, but even though they are light, they are kind of big. I regularly look at Pinterest for inspiration, and saw these fab bracelets by Shannon of Miss Fickle Media. She has a whole bunch in her shop, along with components that are some of my favorites. I had an open bracelet bar by her and decided to try to use it. My bracelet isn’t perfect, but I love it anyway. It’s very much my style.
All the beads are from the kit, and I added some WoolyWire on the bottom. I didn’t want to use it all the way around because the bracelet bar itself is so beautiful.
There were lots of beautiful rounds in the kit. I also had a bunch of fun large glass pearls, faceted plastic and large “sugar” beads I had been trying to use together in a piece. This kit brought them all together!
I used about half a dozen green and pink round from the kit along with the other beads, some bead caps and waxed linen for this fun necklace.
This was another super fun and inspiring kit! Thanks to Andrew and William for this challenge! Please visit the Allegory Gallery Design Challenge Facebook page to see what other participants made.
I love even the picture above of the kit. Such beautiful colors! The theme is lovely – Summer Solstice and Faerie folklore. Also, just from my own midwestern perspective, midsummer is a time when we can count on it being consistently warm and there is still time before the snow flies. OF COURSE, I forgot to take a picture of the kit, but I will point out what I used, so you can get an idea.
I hope you agree I’ve achieved the funky and romantic look I was going for.
