Thursday, November 20, 2014

Moon Garden Blog Hop Challenge



Greetings Fellow Hoppers and welcome to the "Moon Garden Blog Hop Challenge" hosted by Andrew Thornton. Andrew is the Creative Director of Allegory Gallery in Ligonier, PA. For the Blog Hop Challenge, Andrew assembles a collection of beads and findings and designates a theme. I was so excited to discover the palette we'd be using for this challenge. It was all pastel pink and white with gray and black accents. I admit that I am not a 'pink' girl, but the finishes on the beads and the allure of the Moon theme really got my creative juices going! Here is my bead mat after sorting out the goodies:


 

Ok, some of the mess is not part of the challenge, it's just how I roll when I bead. Now I had to get down to ideas for designs.

My first piece is part of the "Dusk to Dawn" mix-and-match set. This is the "Dusk" design, a bead and chain pull-over necklace using the smoky shades of gray and silver. The Labradorite bead is the center focal and various components from the kit were used as accents. I happen to love Labradorite with it's gorgeous shimmer and flash. Note: I had a difficult time photographing these pieces as the natural light at this time of year is diffuse and my timing couldn't be worse when I had a chance to shoot photos. If you click on the photo, it does help with some of the resolution/color issues. I'm going to try to take better pictures and swap them out at some point, but this is what I have for the moment.




The next design is the "Dawn" version. A pretty Moonstone is the focal paired with peach and milky translucent accent beads. I used rose gold chain and wire to complement the bead colors. This is also a clasp-less necklace and the two can be worn alone or together.



I also made a coordinating pair of earrings.




The next piece used the Mystery Component that Andrew makes for each kit. It is a polymer clay pendant embossed with a flower and shimmers beautifully. I used the waxed Irish cord to suspend the pendant and knotted some of the accent beads for visual interest. I made a coordinating pair of earrings. The Moon Garden set is also mix and match-able with the above necklaces.



The next design used a really cool Mother of Pearl mosaic bead. I decided to bezel around it. Looking through my seed bead stash, I realized I am not much of a Pink Lady. Most of my bead drawers are packed with blue, red, green and purple beads. I am fairly under-represented in the yellow/orange color group, but pink was just sadly neglected. I did manage to dig out some pretty pink Delicas and some iridescent 15/0s. I am just going to state for the record that the bezeling took 64 delicas around (32 Peyote) and was 13 rows deep with 4 rows of 15/0s. I managed to break the Peyote bezel, not once, but twice. Third time was the charm!  And then I thought it needed petals, so around and around we go!! I do have an amazing stash of pink Czech fire-polish, so voila..."Moonflower" necklace!



Finally, I had to make something in a Freeform Peyote/netted design with the bead soup. So, I went a little crazy...I think the bezel breaking sent me over the edge. I usually Peyote lengthwise, but this time I decided to bead width-wise. Then I decided it needed fringe (my mind works in mysterious ways). The bracelet reminds me of something you'd see under a microscope or deep in the depths of the ocean. I call it my "Fringiform Bracelet":



When you close the clasp, you get something with eye-lashes that reminds me of a primordial Cookie Monster. Bahahaha!!!



That is all for me for this Blog Hop. Stay tuned to the same Bat Channel...there are more hops to follow. To find more participants in this Blog Hop visit Andrew's Blog for a list:


9 comments:

  1. Wow! You were one busy lady and made such great use of all the wonderful goodies from Andrew. I admit being partial to your creations with the bezel and seed beads and really like the petal work around your bezel to reinforce the garden theme. I have never done freeform peyote and your bracelet has now inspired me to give it a try. (Love the eyelashes!) And great job sleuthing out the participants. How did you build your list? I haven't seen anything from Andrew yet.

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  2. Wow so many gorgeous pieces! I love your bead work. Like you I had a hard time with photos with the pale colors but this challenge is my favorite so far.

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  3. Wow! so many wonderful designs. I love the long necklaces and the first 3 necklaces look like they would layer together nicely. All really beautiful work!

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  4. Incredible designs! Your beaded bevel was just what the mosaic needed. And your bracelet reminds me of a sea anemone.

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  5. You were a busy bee! Good job! All of the creations are really stylish and very elegant. I love the simplicity of the first few pieces that can be mixed and matched. They could definitely be layered nicely. And the seed beaded woven projects are just stunning. I'm sorry to hear the bezel broke, but am happy that you persisted, because that's lovely! And the Primordial Cookie Monster Fringe bracelet is awesome! It has such a rich feeling to it. It reminds me of a shag carpet (in a good way) that you just want to lie down on and run your fingers through playfully! Thanks so much for participating!

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  6. Wow - you made a lot of beautiful creations! I love the dawn to dusk set. That rose gold and moonstone absolutely looks like dawn! The last bracelet is wonderful. I love your description of it - beautiful and fun!

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  7. I came back around for a second look at that primordial cookie monster bracelet! Love it!

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  8. Wow, you sure did a lot with this kit! All beautiful, butt my fave is the bracelet. Or maybe the bezel. Or maybe...

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  9. Oh. My. Gosh.
    What an amazing group of pieces you got from this kit! The mother of pearl bezel is gorgeous! GREAT JOB!

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