Noble Knight Challenge Reveal

Welcome to the Noble Knight Challenge reveal hosted by Andrew Thornton!  The guidelines for this challenge are to create pieces using beads from the fabulous kit we purchased from Andrew:

Here are the pieces I made with my kit:

"Bold Femininity"

This first piece is made using the gorgeous oxblood-colored seed beads and larger bead cap of the same color to compliment one of my own fused glass cabochons.  Because the colors are so bold and stark, I wanted the design to be soft and feminine for contrast.  I made 'ruffles' around the cab and the strap using the oxblood seed beads, and used the glass bead cap as a button for the clasp.

I am a big fan of jewelry that is versatile and can be worn in more than one way, and that is the mindset I had going into this second piece, "Winter Love Story":

I saw a technique on Pinterest that I wanted to try (check out the pin here), and this challenge was the perfect opportunity to do so.  Now, the kit Andrew sent came with a beautiful aubergine waxed linen that I set aside to make sure I didn't lose it...and I lost it.  So I pulled out some pewter waxed linen from my stash and set to work.

I love the necklace, but wanted to be able to turn it into a wrap bracelet, so I created the bail for the focal in such a way that you can remove it from the necklace easily.

Andrew's handmade 'mystery component' focal is just beautiful, and I wanted to be able to highlight it using the kit color scheme, but still have it stand out.

Here is what it looks like as a wrap bracelet.  It is long enough to wrap at least 3 times around, and the colors really stand out against the texture of the linen.

Here's a close-up of the clasp I made.

And, finally, of course, after I finished the whole necklace, I found the waxed linen that came with the kit, so I decided to make a pair of earrings with some more of the gorgeous beads:

"Night on the Town"

I still have beads left over, and am excited to use them in more designs.  

Thank you for joining me for this challenge, and, as always, thank you to Andrew for hosting!  Please take a few minutes to check out the other participants' beautiful work:

Tammy Bowman

Karin Grosset Grange

Ann Schroeder

Molly Alexander

Kari Asbury

Shaiha's Ramblings

In addition to these artists, you can find the following artists' work on Andrew's blog here:

Andrew Thornton

Laurel Ross

Alison Herrington

Naama from Peculiaris

Donna Hoblit

Joanne Goldberg 

Deep Waters Challenge Reveal

Welcome to the Deep Waters Challenge reveal hosted by Andrew Thornton!  The guidelines for this challenge are to create pieces using beads from the fabulous kit we purchased from Andrew.

Here is a picture of the beads in the kit:

So many possibilities!  And here is what I made with them:

The first piece is a free-form peyote stitched necklace featuring the 'mystery component' - a beautiful ceramic seahorse focal made by Andrew:

I love the colors that weave together through this piece, and the copper is a perfect compliment to the blues of the beads.

For the second piece, I used a focal I had enameled together myself a while ago that I decoupaged sheet music tissue paper to:

For the connecting links, I used my own enameled headpins to wire wrap different bead combinations together.

I finished the piece off with some lovely sari silk that is perfect with the beads.

The third piece I made is a *very* long necklace that can also be worn doubled up or as a wrap bracelet:

I made about a gazillion wire wrapped links that I attached together using links from my favorite antiqued copper chain.

I made the final piece using the turquoise waxed linen thread and an eclectic mix of beads from the kit to form a netted, knotted necklace that I wear with just about everything in my closet.

Thank you so much, Andrew, for hosting such a fantastic challenge!  Take a few minutes to check out the fabulous artists participating in this challenge:

Kari Asbury http://hippiechickdesign.blogspot.com/

Carolyn Lawson http://carolynscreationswa.blogspot.com/

Shay Williams http://shaihasramblings.blogspot.com/

Jeanne Steck http://www.gemsbyjeannemarie.blogspot.com

Christina Porter http://queenbeedesignsny.com/?page_id=62

Molly Alexander http://beautifullybrokenme.blogspot.com

Andrew Thornton, Marian Howarth, Julie Katz, Crystal Farrel, Laurel Ross, Alison Herrington http://andrew-thornton.blogspot.com/2014/05/deep-waters-challenge-reveal.html