Here I am, late for the party as usual!

Here I am, late for the party as usual!
Here I am, late for the party as usual!

I signed up for TesoriTrovati’s (Erin Prais-Hintz) bead challenge at the first of the month, and after being given two palettes to choose from, I decided on the “Meandering Mississippi:”

Here is my creation:
I began by shopping my stash to see what matched:

My daughter had given me this beautiful focal bead to recycle, and I thought it looked “mapish,” not to mention being a dead ringer for the palette> I chose antique copper findings because of the rust color in the palette:

I set out to make a Bohemian “chain” for the bead using seed beads and ribbons I had on hand.

But after a lot of work, I met with technical difficulties, and abandoned that idea. Yesterday, after leaving my grandson at nursery school, I made a dash for the nearby Michaels. (We don’t have one in my hometown.) There was a copper chain that I had admired previously, and luckily, there were two strands left! I liked the “global” look of the links, and thought it went well with the “Earth as Art” theme.

I used copper jump rings and the simplest, round toggle from my stash to complete the chain. After much debate, I hung the focal bead from the center “globe” of the chain. It looked like it would be wonky, but I’m wearing it right now, and it hangs just fine:

I’ve not given up completely on that other necklace idea, but for now, I’m very pleased with my creation!
I’ll wear it to town, later!

Link’s to other challenge participants can be found on Erin’s blog, if these links don’t work:

Erin Prais-Hintz http://treasures-found.blogspot.com/2012/11/3rd-annual-challenge-of-color-reveal.html Rebecca Anderson http://songbeads.blogspot.com Kris Auderer http://strandedinthecity.wordpress.com Chrizette Bayman http://beadsoupmix.blogspot.com Lori Bowring Michaud http://artfullyornamental.blogspot.com Courtney Breul http://beadsbybreul.blogspot.com/ Lynsey Brooks http://yellowunicorncreations.blogspot.co.uk Stephanie Buss http://maxandlucie.blogspot.com Iveth Caruso http://www.creativeatelier.net/ Shannon Chomanczuk http://www.formysweetdaughter.blogspot.com Lisa Cone http://inspiredadornments.blogspot.com/ Cece Cormier http://thebeadingyogini.com Lori Dorrington http://lorisglassworks.blogspot.com Dawn Doucette http://designsbydawnmarie.blogspot.com Jeannie Dukic http://site.jkdjewelry.com/blog/ Kim Dworak http://cianciblue.blogspot.com/ Beth Emery http://storiesbyindigoheart.blogspot.com Janice Everett http://JLynnJewels.blogspot.com Pam Farren http://www.re-maker.blogspot.com Donetta Farrington http://simplygorgeous-donetta.blogspot.com Gloria Ferrer http://judetaama.blogspot.com.es/ Cherrie Fick http://designsinthelight.co Therese Frank http://www.theresestreasures59.blogspot.com Patty Gasparino http://www.mylifeunderthebus.typepad.com Tanya Goodwin http://pixiloo.blogspot.com/2012/11/3rd-annual-challenge-of-color.html Ambra Gostoli http://chicandfrog.wordpress.com/2012/11/27/3rd-challenge-of-color Jess Green http://tabbiekoshka.blogspot.co.uk/ Denielle Hagerman http://somebeadsandotherthings.com Mary Harding www.maryhardingjewelrybeadblog.blogspot.com Karla Hartzog https://karlakrafts.com (That’s me! What fine company I find myself in!) Kim Hora http://www.kimmykats.com Brandi Hussey http://brandigirlblog.com Emanda Johnson http://ArtemisiaStudio.blogspot.com Jennifer Justman http://soulsfiredesigns.blogspot.com/ Sue Kennedy http://suebeads.blogspot.com Ema Kilroy http://emakaye.blogspot.com Lee Koopman http://Stregajewellry.wordpress.com Linda Landig http://www.LindasBeadBlog.com Kirsi Luostarinen http://kirsiluokorut.blogspot.com Cynthia Machata http://antiquitytravelers.blogspot.com/ Alicia Marinache http://www.allprettythings.ca Beth McCord http://www.ebbeadandmetalworks.blogspot.com Mary K McGraw http://mkaymac.blogspot.com/ Karen Mitchell http://www.overthemoon-design.com Cheri Mitchell-Reed http://creativedesignsbycheri.blogspot.com/ Aimee Moisa http://threecatsdancing.blogspot.com Karla Morgan http://www.texaspepperjams.blogspot.com Penny Neville http://copperpennydesigns.blogspot.com Becky Pancake http://beckypancakebeaddesigns.blogspot.com Kashmira Patel http://sadafulee.blogspot.com Alice Peterson http://alice-dreaming.blogspot.com Kayla Potega http://www.teejewelry.blogspot.com Debbie Price http://greenshoot.blogspot.co.uk Bobbie Rafferty http://beadsong.blogspot.com Caron Reid http://caronmichelle.blogspot.com.au/ Nicole Rennell http://nicolerennell.com/blog Cynthia Riggs http://cynthsblog.blogspot.com/2012/11/3rd-annual-challenge-of-color.html Andrea Ross http://silvermapledesigns.blogspot.com/ Sally Russick http://thestudiosublime.com Annie Scherz http://www.studioluma.ca Pam Sears http://crazycreativecorner.blogspot.com/ Renetha Stanziano http://lamplightcrafts.blogspot.com Sandra Stein http://sannipanni.wordpress.com Kristen Stevens http://kristen-beadjourney.blogspot.com Tracy Stillman http://www.tracystillmandesigns.com (had to bow out due to a wrist injury) Sherri Stokey http://www.knotjustmacrame.com/2012/11/challenge-of-color-reveal.html Lola Survillo http://www.beadlolabead.blogspot.com Kay Thomerson http://KayzKreationz.blogspot.com Jo Tinley http://daisychaindesignsjewellery.blogspot.com Emma Todd http://www.apolymerpenchant.com Cory Tompkins http://www.tealwaterdesigns.blogspot.com Pam Traub http://www.klassyjoolz.blogspot.com Melissa Trudinger http://beadrecipes.wordpress.com Michelle Tucker http://michellescreativemusings.blogspot.com/ Shelley Graham Turner http://www.shelleygrahamturner.blogspot.com Monique Urquhart http://ahalfbakednotion.blogspot.com/ Rachel Van-Walsk http://balancedcrafts.com/blog Patti Vanderbloemen http://www.myaddictionshandcrafted.blogspot.com Lesley Watt http://thegossipinggoddess.blogspot.com Lynn White http://lynnwhitejewelry.com/Lynn_White_Jewelry/Lynns_Jewelry_Blog/Lynns_Jewelry_Blog.html Joan Williams http://www.lilrubyjewelry.com

27 Responses

  1. Your necklace is beautiful. I love the copper chain with the green focal. I can see you wearing that “on the town.”

  2. Simplicity sometimes steals the show. Beautiful piece! Like you, I started out with great intentions and and a huge pile-o-beads, but ended up with a piece I am proud of from a minimum of supplies.
    Enjoy the hop,
    Emanda

  3. Like the interesting way you hung the focal from the metal bead. Hope you can figure something out for all of that work on the other strands. Sorry I have no suggestions – don’t have much experience with stringing with crimps.

  4. The pendant is perfect for your palette. I like the copper chain too, but I think you should “keep at it” with the seed beads and ribbon – it looks very promising too! Great job either way!

  5. I think that focal is absolutely perfect. You’re right, it IS a dead ringer for the palette! I love when that happens, don’t you?

    Thanks so much for playing along!

  6. Love the focal of your second piece – so sorry the first one didn’t work out but I’m sure that you will come back to it and use it another design 🙂 JLynn

  7. So sorry you had technical difficulties (haven’t we all?) – I can envision how you wanted that “chain of beads” to work – and I know you will master it! BUT, I think your necklace is perfection just the way it is – love the focal with your inspiration!

  8. It was a blessing in disguise to have to rethink your chain midway through, as now you have the start of another beautiful design. How wonderful that the Michaels component you had previously admired was just the ticket… and it looks fabulous with that amazing focal, Karla!

    Following you so I can keep up with your creations!

    BTW, I struggle with crimps also… it’s one of those skills that improve with practice.

  9. Hello Miss Karla! You are not late, you are ‘fashionable.’ I am, too! I am still making my way around so that I can give everyone my full attention. I do think that the natural stones really have the beauty of our earth contained in such a compact space. And I agree with other commenters that simplicity is sometimes best. To make that stunning bead the star, it would have got lost in the other one (but I still think you have something cool going on there, and now you have a new project to challenge you!). Thank you for joining me on this fun color full journey. Enjoy the day! Erin

  10. Oooh! I think it was serendipitous that the first beaded project didn’t work out. The chain really makes a star of the focal and the colors are gorgeous together!

  11. There is definitely something special about having that perfect bead on hand for a challenge like this! And the global chain? Showcases it perfectly! Beautiful!

  12. Good for you for overcoming all the challenges within the challenge! I had the Mississippi palette, too — aren’t the colors just gorgeous! I really like what you ended up with, and know you’ll get lots of compliments when you wear it.

  13. I love your necklace. I really dislike wearing heavy necklaces and this one looks so easy to wear. The chain is gorgeous, and really allow the focal to stand on it’s own.