Today is a special occasion! It marks the REVEAL of the first ever Reader's Challenge on my blog! A design kit was created with artisan pieces made by Melanie Brooks, Keith O'Connor, and Bernadette Fuentes. It also included vintage glass, Swarovski crystal, semi-precious stones, and a Luxury Bead Blend. The kit also included a special mystery component made by me! It was a copper leaf 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 asymmetrical design is by Margriet Schnabel. I love the organic flow and how it remains like and dainty. She did a lovely job of utilizing the seed beads to pull the color throughout the piece. Nicely done!
This piece, featured above, was created by Sarajo Wentling. I love how the eye is drawn to the ring and the pieces flow in a cascade from it. I bet it has a lot of lively movement. The clean lines and "simplicity" of the piece lend a chic, elegant vibe!
With its layers and many textures, the above piece by Katie James, has a lot of earthy character. She's attended to quite a few details, making it a piece that can be looked at over and over, with new discoveries at every turn. Really lovely!The piece below is my own humble contribution:
I wanted to create a piece that really put an emphasis on the artisan components. I used the Keith O'Connor tube and chain embellished with a fringe of wire-wrapped dangles to quite literally point to the lampwork glass sugar bead by Bernadette Fuentes, the copper coin pendant from me, and the lime green ceramic leaf pendant by Melanie Brooks of Earthenwood Studio. I used spots of crystal throughout the chain to bring the eye around the piece and tied it all together with a bronze flower clasp from my family at Green Girl Studios.
It was really amazing to see what everyone created. Truly inspiring! I was fascinated by this process – seeing what decisions people would make with similar materials. For more fun, check out what the other participants made on their blogs:
12 comments:
I need to travel about and look at all of these! What you have on your page..they are beautiful! I have so far today looked at Patty Gasperinos and she has made such a pretty necklace! And I especially Love the Big Green leaf..shes got my handmade Lampwork purple bead paired with them..so lovely! Andrew your leaf is wonderful! I hoard the Owl I bought from you..nobodys getting it..ox
*waves to Janet* This was so much fun it is intriguing to see how each person treated the pieces. These are all fantastic but I love how Sarajo used everything together it's so well balanced. Traveling around Sally Russick has an Fantastic surprise she made with your leaf focal! Thanks for putting this together! : )
I have enjoyed seeing what everyone did and their thought processes along the way. While sometimes there were design similarities, each one was unique in its own way. And I was surprised at times to see design elements I never would have thought of. Everyone did a great job. Thanks for putting this on
I have visited everyone's creations and they are all wonderful! So many different and great ideas!! I cannot wait for the August Challenge!
Thanks Andrew!
Darby
This challenge was so much fun, and it was interesting to see how different everyone's work turned out. Even with these four showcased on this post! I just love how different they are, from the way the strands were layered (or not) to the choice of the focals. Thanks so much for hosting this challenge.
Andrew, thank you so much for hosting this challenge. It was great fun! It was wonderful (and at times frustrating ;)) to get my hands back onto my tools and my brain back into the creative process. Everyone's pieces are so unique!
It's so exciting to see what everyone did! I especially like Sally's secret message and Melissa's multi-strand action. Great job everyone!
This really was a fun challenge and it was just what I needed to get myself out of a serious beading slump.
I had so much fun with this challenge.....I spent a part of my dad looking at all the other participants pieces, and was amazed at just how different they all were, and how wonderful they were, I'm ready for an august challenge!!!
Such a great thing, Andrew! I love the components, and the mystery one is very beautiful. Seeing what a group of people do with one set of the same things is so intriguing. I am off to hop!
Enjoy the day.
Erin
Andrew, thank you so much for having this wonderful design challenge! Everyone's designs are so different, and beautiful! Again, thank you are putting this together, I had a great time!!!
This was such a great challenge. To see the way each creative spirit interpreted the element was so interesting. I hope you will present another one soon, especially if it comes with one of your creations. Priceless!
These look great! I think some of my best work comes from using a limited pallette. I'm excited to see what the next batch will look like!
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