March Pretty Palettes :: Belle Epoch Set

It's the Halcraft Pretty Palettes challenge time again! Erin Prais-Hintz of went above and beyond this time with THREE different color choices in some of my favorites: royal blue, red & a peacock green. The inspiration images were another treat: images of women in dresses that were taken underwater that create a magical, flowing sensibility. They're truly amazing.

I chose to work with the royal blue colors and this dress:

Embed from Getty Images

Erin chose some gorgeous Bead Gallery beads to work with, but because it's spring and I'm enjoying the warmer weather, flowers and green grass so much, my initial intention was to do something summery and casual, maybe even sporty, so I bought some plain blue glass rounds.

After some consideration (as well as a bit of ooohing and aaahing over this image) I realized this image just didn't flow that way. There is a decadence to this image that my planned cotton cording components just didn't work with.

I searched through my stash and found that I had a few sparkly blue faceted rounds in my stash as well as some fabulously princess-y pearl, rhinestone and gold sliders. Perfect!

It was time to make some bangles and a long necklace. My Belle Epoch set would be perfect to dress up blue jeans or wear with a little black dress. You choose!

 

 Would you like to play along with Erin and the rest of the Halcraft team? Take a look at these great posts and add yours when you're finished! 

An InLinkz Link-up

February Pretty Palettes :: Pink Lace Knotted Pendant Necklace

I missed the Pretty Palettes day this month, but I've been dying to make up the necklace that's been in my head! Finally I took the time to get it done and I hope that I'll be able to squeeze it onto the InLinkz today! Here's a link to Erin's Pretty Palette February 2016 reveal post, and here is the inspiration and beads she chose:

 






I love the idea of lace as a theme. Last September my mom, daughter, and I all traveled to Stratford, Ontario to the Shakespeare Festival! My daughter loves theater, and this was nearly as good as a trip to The Globe in London. If you ever have the chance to see a show there, take it. The costumes, actors and town are all wonderful! We chose to do a tour of the costume warehouse before the shows and had an amazing time together. They even had a section with costumes that had been used but were out of circulation that you could try on!

My brief time as a Shakespeare player!

But, to tie this into the February Pretty Palettes post, while we were there, there was a local artists' show, and this lovely lady was making lace! Watching the bobbins fly all around was mesmerizing.

The lace-maker's husband carved all of these beautiful bobbins for his wife.

Watch those bobbins fly!

I always go to nature for inspiration in my beadwork, so when I saw the lacy golden leaf pendant, I knew it was meant to be part of this Pretty Palettes challenge.

One thing that had thrown me off my scheduled Pretty Palettes work was a request to make some knotted necklaces for an upcoming look book.

 It's easy to see why I wanted to make more. These are too much fun & look great!

I had such a great time making these necklaces with Bead Gallery beads (which you can find at Micaels) that I wanted to incorporate the knotting technique into my project for Pretty Palettes as well. The knotting reminds me of the repetitive nature of knitting that I love so much, and the waxed cord is a great fit for most of the beads I wanted to use. The knots weren't too big or too small, and its waxy nature makes it easy to thread. I found some pretty pink stone rounds (these have a bit of purple in them as well), a few accent beads, and set to it.

Here's my knotted necklace for the challenge. I call it the Seychelles Necklace, after the archipelago of islands in the Indian Ocean. (I'm wishing for some tropical weather. Won't winter just stop, already?)

So happy Pretty Palettes! I can't wait to see what Erin will come up with for tomorrow's Pretty Palette challenge, March 2016 edition!

There are some AMAZING pieces in this month's challenge. Check them out by clicking the links below!

An InLinkz Link-up