Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Pretty Palettes :: October Reveal

This is what fall looks like to me. Leaves, warmth, comfort. 
Erin chose the perfect palette for October's Pretty Palette challenge to go along with these "coasty" (the combination of "cozy" and "toasty" my 4-year-old came up with) feelings.
Design Seeds put together a great palette, and Erin chose some beautiful Bead Gallery beads at Michaels. 
Although I loved Erin's bead choice, I had a pair of earrings in mind for the challenge, and I needed some other shapes of beads, so I added a few little faceted rounds and rondelles. I also had some wooden rectangle beads that I'd been hoarding in hopes of finding the perfect project home for them. Because they're so lightweight, wooden beads are great for earrings! Here are the beads I chose for this challenge:
My beads, with the purplish wooden rectangles right in the middle!

I wanted to play around with wire, making frames around the larger beads with smaller beads. I ended up adding some gold faceted rounds because I needed some more smaller beads to use to frame the larger beads. Pretty soon I had some components that I could put together with wrapped loops to make some chandelier earrings with a color palette that appealed to me almost as much as a spiced warm apple cider. 
Pumpkin Spice Earrings by Molly Schaller
Now that I've made these earrings once, I want to make them again with other colors, and make them better. Time got away from me, and I didn't have enough of the small beads to make all of the trips around the red bead that I wanted to. I also want to get more practice using wire this way. I'd never made this type of component before, so my wires are a bit wonky. But when it's reveal time, it's reveal time, right? This time I worked down to the wire! ;)

To see the projects that others have made for Pretty Palettes, just click the InLinkz below.




4 comments:

  1. What a clever idea! I love the beaded bead frames. You could use those components in all sorts of things. Adds a great touch of texture and could work in any color combination. That is the sort of thing you could sit around and make up while watching your favorite tv show to have in a bowl when inspiration strikes! Thanks again for joining me in the challenge! Check back on November 4th for our next Pretty Palettes inspiration! Enjoy the day. Erin

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Erin, it's funny that you mention the portability of this project. I started work on it in the hair salon while I was waiting for my daughter to get her hair done. I had a great time talking about Pretty Palettes with the hairdressers, who all loved the beads and the idea.
      I really want to make more of these. Lots of bigger ones! I need to scour my stash for lots of tiny beads. I think those small peanut shaped beads would be great for a different texture as well as some more tiny wooden rondelles, which I think I have already....
      Thanks for a great hop, as always! I can't wait to see next month's!

      Delete
  2. I absolutely love your earrings. They are so romantic. What a great idea to use the pumpkin as a prop.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love the colors and the use of wood in the earrings. I think it has a nice organic feel for fall. I'm adding this technique to my list of ideas to try!

    ReplyDelete