I was so excited when I saw that Andrew Thornton was starting up his design challenge kits again. It's always a treat to get my hands on one of these precious, limited quantity, beady filled treats! This month's kit was filled with shades of watery blues and greens from clear tropical waters to deep dark oceans...truly gorgeous! This time Andrew really gave us a treat with this beautiful seahorse pendant...the "mystery" component...which is a surprise item included in all kits.
I really love this seahorse pendant but found myself really stump for designing anything with it from the beads included in the kit... I spent several days thinking on it then decided to look through my other beads for possible inspiration...that's when I found these beauties! A few small turquoise rondelles from my stash and the wax linen included with the design kit and suddenly a design was coming together.
I have worn this necklace twice and I am really struggling with whether I should keep it for myself or list it in one of my shops for sale... But enough about that...now for some earrings... The kit included two of these beads so naturally they had to be earrings!
Again, I struggled over using elements from the kit and ultimately went with items from my own stash to complete this fun design. I love the look of mix metals, especially the warm of copper and the cool of silver...I think these earrings pull that off perfectly. They are very light weight.
and one more pair of earrings...I really love the look of the antiqued copper with the teal and turquoise colors in these beads...so warm and tropical...I need a vacation!
I hand formed these earrings including ear hooks from one piece of wire for each and hammered each side of the wire for texture.
I hope you enjoyed my creations for the Dark Waters Challenge. Please stop by Andrew's blog here to see what he created as well as the other participants or visit the links below. Remember if you want to play along next time you have to follow Andrew's blog and be quick only a limited number of kits and they always go fast!
Jeanne Steck http://www.gemsbyjeannemarie.blogspot.com
Christina Porter http://queenbeedesignsny.com/?page_id=62
Kari Asbury http://hippiechickdesign.blogspot.com you are here :)
Molly Alexander http://beautifullybrokenme.blogspot.com
Andrew Thornton, Marian Howarth, Julie Katz,
Crystal Farrel, Laurel Ross, Alison Herrington http://andrew-thornton.blogspot.com/
I loved that you used just one piece of wire for the earrings! All of your designs are lovely! It's so much fun to see what other other artists do with the same components!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful work, Kari - I love everything you made! The earrings made from one piece of wire are my faves - fantastic design!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much ladies! I wasn't sure how if felt about the one piece of wire originally...not as much movement and swing as my usual earring styles...but in the end they seemed to fit so it's nice to hear you like them :)
ReplyDeleteLove them! Awesome work as always!
ReplyDeleteI just love that necklace. It would definitely be a keeper. And both pair of earrings are just so fun.
ReplyDeleteGreat designs Kari. The beads you chose for the necklace are the perfect compliment to Andrew's pendant.
ReplyDeleteLove the Necklace and the earrings are cute too. I'd probably keep it for myself.
ReplyDeleteVery nice work Kari, have fun hopping.
ReplyDeleteGreat fun designs, I love all these colors bursting! The necklace is just gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite is the first pair of earrings. Very pretty. Cheers!
ReplyDeleteLori in Atlanta
I hopped around earlier, but didn't get to leave a comment yet. So here it is... first and foremost, thank you so much for participating again! I was a little burnt out with the kits before, but I decided to just have fun and it has made a world of difference! I am glad that everyone is enjoying working with the kits again and making really AWESOME things! I think the necklace you made is simply stunning. I think the beads from your stash compliment the focal so nicely! Yum-o! And the earrings you made are very chic! I could totally see someone wearing them in a casual or a more dressy outfit. Very nice! Thanks again for participating! I loved seeing all the goodies you made!
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