As I previewed in my last post, I was lucky to get picked by Erin to participate in her September Pretty Palettes challenge!

Here is the inspiration and the wonderful beads she sent me to play with from Halcraft...



For the record, I LOVE THESE COLORS!  They are right up my alley!  I immediately had in mind a style of bracelet I saw a couple times while traveling in Germany and France this spring - a multi-strand bracelet with an eclectic mix of materials.  I poked around my stash and found some suede that pulled it all together, and kept it from being too heavy. Suede and clasp are from Michaels.


As the beads floated across my bead mat and mixed with other things, I decided I wanted to fit together some of the flat flower beads into a different shape bead as a "frame," and use the lotus charms to combine it all into a pair of earrings. I added crystals too, which are mostly clear, but they look like a warm gold because of the gold wire...


Lastly, I imagined a necklace that was similar to the strings of lanterns in the inspiration picture.  I tried a couple different combos and remembered (and then finally found) some Czech glass black flower beads I had that could be turned into lantern tops and bottoms.  I had some gold chain and used gold/brass wire because I also wanted to use the brass beads in the challenge stash which also looked lantern-y to me.


You'll notice that no clasp is shown.  Because I didn't quite get this finished.  Because of him...


Meet Griffin, a 9 week old lab/hound mix. who came to live with us Monday night.  A friend of mine fosters rescue dogs, and Griffin and his 8 little mates were (obviously) too cute to resist.


4 Comments

  1. I am actually lucky you said yes! ;-)
    I love what you did with these materials. The mix of suede with those frosted crackle beads is the perfect accompaniment. The way you combined those beads in the earrings is awesome! Turned sideways that flower bead really makes it into a lantern shape! And the necklace... oh where to begin? I love the literal transformation of a few beads and bits into a string of glittering lanterns. The Lotus Lantern festival is all about good fortune, and I am fortunate to have you for a beady friend, Miss Elisabeth! Enjoy the day! Erin

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  2. Love them all but especially that puppy and the earrings :)

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  3. I love the mix in the bracelet with the soft colors of the beads picked up in the cord and seed beads. And that is genius to fit the flower rondelle inside the opening of the window bead! And the necklace looks perfect for Halloween!

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  4. Wow, what a great variety of designs! I especially all the different textures in the bracelet. It never would have occurred to me to use the suede that way -- very clever!

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