About a month ago, I felt like I was in a creative slump. All my ideas felt stale. To wake up my creativity, I signed up for the "natural materials" challenge on Beading Daily. The idea is that everyone sends in materials related to the theme and the organizer redistributes them to us in identical quantities. The kit included beads made of shell, wood, gemstones, nuts, seeds, and other natural materials that I almost never use. Here are my projects so far:
Butterfly Beau
I created this little butterfly with the shell hearts,
seed
beads, wooden bead, and green heishi pearls. (I added only the copper
wire.) I set the butterfly on my desk during the month of August to
remind myself
to play with the kit materials as soon as the month ended. (I had a big editing deadline on August 31.)
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I confess I almost did not share this photo, since I know most people expect me to make Serious Jewelry. I'm sharing it because it was creatively freeing to make something whimsical that has no practical purpose. (I could add a magnet or pin to the back to make it more useful.) Once I created this butterfly, other designs came quickly. |
Nuts for Fall Earrings Next, I created a simple pair of earrings. I really wanted to use the painted wooden beads in the kit to give the earrings a more bohemian vibe, but the holes were too big to use alone. (I'd need to add another bead to help fill the hole and I didn't want to add any more length to the earrings.) Instead, I chose a textured round for the top of the earring. It's a bead created from a nut. Everything was from the kit, except the copper head pins. The one change I might make is to add a jump ring between the top wrapped loop and ear wire, just to give the earrings more movement and make them even more fun to wear. |
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Unakite Dreams Necklace My biggest challenge was using the unakite rounds. As I mentioned in my previous blog entry, I've always been challenged by this gemstone with the mix of green and pink. Several blog readers suggested combining unakite with brown, copper, or brass, so I decided to try it. The dark rounds in the photo are wood. I added the copper chain, clasps (yes, TWO of them), beading wire, crimps, and copper rounds. All the other materials for the necklace were in the kit. Lesson learned: Listen to your blog readers. They're RIGHT! I visited a bead shop shortly after making this necklace and I looked through the gemstones for unakite. Luckily, they were out or I might have bought some. Who knows what dangerously creative things might have happened? |
I still have a few ideas for the kit materials, including
a bracelet and another pair of earrings. I'll post photos of any
additional projects I make.
(Pictured below are just a few materials from this huge challenge kit. Inspiration awaits!)