We've been beyond busy at work, much of everything has gone by-the-wayside. Many days have escaped without me hugging one of these as well (That's my girl, Cherry. She loves hugs):
However, I am determined to keep my promise to Rita of jewelschoolfriends.com regarding her Octoberfest Blog Hop!
A few months ago, I received brilliant orange beads from Lisa Lodge of Pine Ridge Studios as part of a set from her upcoming Sparkle Challenge. Remember this set from one of my prior posts?:
Orange is a great happy sunny color, which I've typically shied-away from in jewelry, clothing, home furnishings..or beads. My husband is 'the great lover' of orange. He is totally utterly nuts about orange, Halloween is his favorite holiday. So, I must admit, when I opened this package, there was a moment of 'surprised panic'. Orange beads!?..what am I going to do with these?! Gorgeous, sparkling, but Orange!? uhh oh...I'm in trouble for sure.
Fast-forward to an unplanned stop at the nearest Michaels store one night after work. You know those wonderfully-guilty opportunities...running about 40 minutes ahead of schedule (unheard-of, right?), you're nearing the turn-off lane for the shopping center (should I? No! I shouldn't!...Oh what the heck)....and in you go, despite having tons of supplies and stuff at home! YAY..'me' time!
Strolling around the store, I wandered into the bead aisle. A few moments later, a strand of super-sparkly beads caught my eye. Totally 'uber-super' sparkly, come-hither beads. Guess what?..these were orange-based, too. Just like that, it all came together.
They call these 'Challenges' for a reason. Try a new color, a new style, a new technique. I pulled out bronze wire, a bit of vintage bronze chain, a cute bronze clasp (ok, not october-ish, but I love this one!), and suddenly developed a new fondness for wire-wrapping. Wire-wrapping never existed in my repertoire before. I always seemed to struggle with wire, of any sort. However, thanks to an excellent tutorial from Melissa Meman of Melismatic and ArtJewelryElements, something 'clicked' and I 'totally-get wire-wrapping' now (thank you, Melissa!). Please, check-out all of the fantastic tutorials at ArtJewelryElements (AJE) if you are struggling..they cover many topics, the directions are clear/concise/well-written and are beautifully photographed. Lots of fun, too!
To 'wrap-this-up':
1. I am totally desperately late for Octoberfest;
2. I am early for Sparkle Challenge (don't worry, I have many more pieces created from this excellent bead set in preparation for the December Challenge reveal date);
3. I am completely in love with this new necklace and with wire!!!
Thank you all for bearing with me, for stopping by (again), and many thanks to Rita, Lisa, Melissa!
Carol
What a fabulous necklace, I love orange and I love wire, besides, the spots of grey/blue give some depth and mystery, you definitely managed your challenge!
ReplyDeleteGood job Carol. Kudos to you for working with orange and learning wire wrapping. Your necklace does indeed speak fall.
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