Jewelry Designs from Nature Challenge

A month or so ago, I was lucky enough to be chosen to an Art Bead Scene blog challenge.  The reveal date is today and I have my pretty necklace to share with you.  But first, a bit about this challenge and my inspiration.

The concept of the challenge was inspired by Heather Powers' awesome book Jewelry Designs from Nature and to celebrate now that it's out making its way into the big craft stores like Hobby Lobby and Michaels. .  (You can buy the book from one of my favorite stores - Ornamentea.)

I have spent literally HOURS thumbing through this book resulting in loads of inspiration for jewelry projects.  Heather uses some of her own amazing Humblebeads as well as lots of art beads from other artists.  It is a book that is right up my own alley.

10 winners were  sent a packet and had a few weeks to create a piece of jewelry inspired by their packets.  There will also be a voting for your favorite challenge piece during the blog hop with a giveaway of beads from the book!

The Challenge Packet Contents:

1. A few Humblebeads featured in the book
2. A nature-inspired poem
3. A photo for color and design inspiration

The packets will be themed and I could have gotten a garden, woodlands or sea set!  I ended up with a woodlands packet.  Whoo hoo!!!

It included a lovely photo, a woodlands-themed Humblebead pendant and a poem by Robert Frost.  Here's the poem:

Nothing Gold Can Stay

Robert Frost

Nature's first green is gold,

Her hardest hue to hold,

Her earl leaf's a flower;

But only so an hour.

Then leaf subsides to leaf.

So Eden sank to grief,

So dawn goes down to day.

Nothing gold can stay.

Next to the crepuscular blue of twilight, the golden light of morning is my favorite (even though I don't see it very often - I'm NOT a morning person).

But, I am all to familiar to that fleeting sense of light that goes quickly from a soft glow to a the bright blue and orange of morning.  I DO see a lot of this harsher, but still invigorating light.  

My piece was meant to invoke the feeling of waking up at the crack of dawn and seeing nature unfold before my eyes.  The pale blues of the sky only serve to contrast with the golden light (and the golden buds on the tree branches in the picture.

I used a lot of czech glass, some vintage chain, a few lucite flowers and a patina butterfly that I created.  I love the way it turned out!  It's a piece that is much "prettier" than the pieces I've made lately.  

I'll have to come back tomorrow and add in a list of other blogs where artists are going to be showing off their creations.  Or you can visit the ABS blog and see if the links are up there.  Meanwhile, enjoy the fleeting bits of gold - because it cannot stay for very long.

Enjoy this blog hop.  I'm sure looking forward to it!

Lisa

Here are the participants!

Lisa Cone
Cece Comier
Amy Severino
Shelby Foxwell 
Alicia Marinache 
Keirsten Giles 
Marlene Brady
Marlene Cupo
Sharon Palac - coming soon