August Reader's Challenge REVEAL...

Today is a Gold Star Day! It marks the REVEAL of the second Reader's Challenge on my blog! A design kit was created with artisan pieces made by Diane Hawkey, Marsha Neal, Sue Kennedy and Bernadette Fuentes. It also included vintage lucite, Swarovski crystals, semi-precious stones, and a Luxury Bead Blend. The kit also included a special mystery component made by me! It was a copper sunburst pendant that was pressed out by hand. Participants were asked to create a piece using as much or as little of the kit as they were inspired to.

Challengers who wanted to share their creations and don't have blogs were allowed to send their pieces in or send photographs of their work to be revealed here. Below are three fine examples:

The above pieces were created by Kari Asbury of Hippie Chick Jewelry & Design. She made three necklaces, that I think look great together. Don't you think they look nice layered together? All of them are whimsical, wearable, and just lovely. I really like how she's used the large round links in two of the necklaces as accent focal elements – it really draws the eye to the artisan focal components.

The above picture is two views of the same stunning, magical multistrand necklace by Marian Howarth. The one on the right depicts the richly abundant necklace draped as if it's being worn. The one on the right includes some of the details. Here's Marian had to say about her piece:

I titled this piece, “The Magic of People.” It is a tribute to the people who influence my life through their talents, perseverance, or love and support. The art bead pieces are from the kit; plus I included three Bob Burkett shibuichi beads I have had for several years. The Tibetan prayer wheel beads are for the Dalai Lama. Hidden inside the necklace (as in a prison) are two pieces of copper tubing on which I have hammered the prison numbers of Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel (A7713) and Nelson Mandela (46664). Plus there are three tiny copper goddesses to represent the women in my life, especially my daughter Carole, my granddaughter Gillian, and my friend Margriet. I made the clasp and darkened all the copper findings, and the ends of the necklace are done with kumihimo weaving down to the Tibetan prayer wheel beads.

This was a fun piece to do, even though it meant threading 2000 – 3000 beads!

The above piece was created by Darby Lohrding. She stated, "I love my creation and the chain tied it all together nicely!! It was the missing link!" The layers of the strands impart an opulent feel. The addition of the blue really pops in contrast with the burnt oranges of the copper and the cascades of red. It's definitely an enchanting necklace.

The picture below is my own contribution to this month's challenge:

I've been REALLY pressed for time with the preparations for Allegory Gallery. It seems like this has been the MONTH of CHALLENGES! I don't think I've ever participated in so many in such a short amount of time. It has been nice to pull myself away from paperwork and frustrating pitfalls and make some time for a creative exercise. I think it has been really good for my creativity, as the time constraints don't give me much time to mull over design decisions and just MAKE.

In this piece, I wanted to keep it fairly simple to put an emphasis on the artisan made components. I always want to spotlight the work of the artisans I am incorporating. I think the magic of this piece lies in the little details. I've used a lot of my own handmade components in this piece and customized the pendant that was the mystery component by riveting Sue's lampwork glass bead on it and creating a movable mechanism that allows the necklace to be adjusted to different lengths without changing the proportions of the necklace. The piece is full of movement and I don't think the still images do it justice. (I was playing with it for hours, making all the parts move and dance!)

In this piece I also used a shibuichi link from Saki Silver and a shibuichi toggle from my family at Green Girl Studios. I think the dark, chocolaty patina helps bring the eye around the piece and provide visual counter-balances for some of the brighter reds.

Another challenge for me was using more of the Luxury Bead Blend. Last time, I used only a tiny bit of it. So, this time, I used more. I think the texture of the small beads balances the large links of the copper chain.

It was such a pleasure to see what everyone made. So many different design ideas and drastically different choices, even with nearly the same materials. For more fun, check out what the other participants made on their blogs:

Jessica Nelson

Leslie Todd

Holly Westfall

Alice Peterson

Christine Altmiller

Cilla Watkins

Sally Russick

Beth Emery

Patty Gasparino

Jeannie Dukic

Rebecca Anderson

(Do keep in mind that some of the Reveals have been delayed in posting due to hurricane Irene. Let's send good wishes and positive energy to those who are still without power... some of who are just bouncing up and down waiting to share what they made.)

UPDATE:
Patty Gasparino's power was out and she was unable to upload pictures to her blog. Fortunately we were able to figure out a way for her to take pictures with her camera and send them over for me to post here! Just look at her lovely piece! I love the mix of pale blues and reds. It's very striking and has a lot of wonderful texture and details. Very nicely done!

Interested in participating in the next round? Keep an eye out tomorrow for the September Reader's Challenge Design Kit! It's my birthday month and it's going to be a particularly nice kit with some really decadent surprises!