Fusion Beads 30 Day Bead Challenge: Day 1...

The first prompt in the Fusion Beads 30 Day Bead Challenge was to "make a perfect pair of earrings inspired by a color idea"!  Fusion Beads has a gallery of different color ideas that you can see by CLICKING HERE.  I love the Summer Sun palette.  It's so vibrant and warm!  It's bursting with oranges, yellows, and reds.  To me, those colors mean fall.  I went out for a walk the other day and came across a cinnamon fern that fit this color palette to a "T".  Below is a close-up of one of the fiery fronds:

Whenever I begin a new body of work, I build a new color wheel.  Our color sensibilities change and grow.  Color is a living thing.  Making a new color wheel allows me to understand myself a little more and makes the colors mean something to me.  The colors I use become personalized and "anchored".

So, for this challenge, I did it in reverse.  I took an existing color palette (Summer Sun) and I matched it something I have recently seen (the cinnamon ferns in the bog).  I used this image to inspire the earrings and hopefully give them something a little extra.

Here are the earrings that I made.  I used Swarovski crystals and balled copper headpins.  I embellished small lengths of chain with the wire-wrapped dangles and hung those from circular earwires.  They're bright, sparkly and lots of fun!  When they're laid out on the table, the way the dangles fan out reminds me a lot of the ferns.

Today is the first day of the challenge!  I encourage all of you to play along!  You can do the entire month or pick and choose the challenges that strike your fancy.  For the full calendar, CLICK HERE.