Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Pretty Palettes :: July 2016 -- Starry Night

One of my favorite parts of summer is the relief that comes from being outside at night after the heat of the sun has dissipated and the warm breeze caresses your skin. Here in Indiana, we've been experiencing a heat wave, and nighttime is the most comfortable time--some would argue it's the only time!--to be outdoors.

The starry summer night sky is the theme for this month's Pretty Palettes blog hop, hosted by Halcraft USA and Miss Erin Prais-Hintz. For more about this month's inspiration, visit the Halcraft blog.

Some of my favorite stargazing has happened in the Adirondacks, where there isn't the ambient light from cities that can mask the starlight. One spectacular night I happened to see 25 shooting stars in a matter of only an hour!

The image Erin chose this month reminded me of that night:
Click for a larger image from Ryan Hutton: https://unsplash.com/photos/Jztmx9yqjBw
Erin chose some beautiful Bead Gallery beads for her project, but I knew exactly which beads I wanted to use for this project because of the way the purples, pinks and blues danced around in the heavens as they do in this image.
I bought these beads because they reminded me of the gorgeous sky in the image above. 

Bead Gallery's iridescent citrine nuggets
Bead Gallery's shell drops

All I needed to do was to figure out how to take these two elements and create a piece I loved. Like I said, it's been quite a hot, hot couple of weeks here in Indiana, and I wanted to make something I'd like to wear right now. I didn't want anything too weighty, so I balanced the irregular texture and over-the-top finish of the citrine nuggets with black seed beads for a stylish 4-strand choker. 

And although I considered making a necklace using all of the shell teardrops, I chose to use just one as a pendant with the citrine nuggets clustered around it. The pendant necklace is about 18 inches long and looks great layered with the choker, or it is pretty on its own, too.


For more information on how to play along with the Pretty Palettes blog hop, just click over there! Erin will post August's Pretty Palette inspiration next Wednesday, August 3rd.



You can make your own Starry Nights Necklace set with Bead Gallery beads from Michaels Stores. 


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11 comments:

  1. anafiassaJuly 27, 2016 at 5:17 PM

    Absolutely beautiful! I love the beads that you chose, and I love the designs you made with them. They really are reminiscent of the night sky. Just lovely!

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    1. The Crafty MamaJuly 28, 2016 at 7:27 AM

      I just HAD to use them. :) The citrine are so tiny and gorgeous. Sort of like minuscule meteorites! Thank you, Ana!

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  2. Michelle MachJuly 27, 2016 at 5:44 PM

    Wow! I haven't seen those teardrops yet. They are a perfect match for that purple/black sky. So clever of you to make a matching choker-and-necklace set! It really looks like one necklace that is artfully layered.

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    1. The Crafty MamaJuly 28, 2016 at 7:28 AM

      I think the teardrops are in the newer batch of beads that came out earlier this summer, Michelle. I saw them at Michaels last week, and I knew they would be perfect, though I didn't know how I'd use them. I still have most of the strand left. I bet they're popular, though. I bought the last strand at my Michaels. If you want some I'll send some to you!

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  3. SarahJuly 27, 2016 at 6:15 PM

    Those citrine nuggets are so beautiful, and perfectly paired with the black beads--it really makes their iridescent coating pop! And those shell beads have me swooning...I hope my Michaels gets some in soon!

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    1. The Crafty MamaJuly 28, 2016 at 7:29 AM

      Sarah, like I wrote above, I think they're popular, because my Michaels had only one strand. The little citrine nuggets are easy to pass by on the rack because they're just so small, and there's SO MUCH going on on the bead wall. Thanks so much!

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  4. AnonymousJuly 27, 2016 at 7:16 PM

    Putting aside that 'Great minds think alike' ;-) Your interpretation of the theme was spot on! I love the matte black background you created for you starry night! I love the pairing of a choker and a long necklace!

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    1. The Crafty MamaJuly 28, 2016 at 7:31 AM

      I think you're right, Alison! I forgot to give the black seed beads the attention they deserve. They're Bead Gallery, too, and they're not matte (but I sort of wish they were!), but they're not super shiny, either. I really loved the contrast as well!

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  5. TesoriTrovatiJuly 27, 2016 at 7:43 PM

    I love the luster on those citrine nuggets. Clearly, they are not in my local Michaels or you can be sure that I would have bought them all up! These shell beads are also new to me. They really do imitate the swirling oil slick colors in this night sky image. I love the matte black seed beads that balance out the cluster of nuggets. So pretty! Thanks for playing along with me! Enjoy the day! Erin

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    1. The Crafty MamaJuly 28, 2016 at 7:33 AM

      Erin, you TOTALLY would have bought those citrine nuggets if you'd seen them. I was actually really surprised that they were citrine because of the crazy cool colors. I think the texture of the natural stone comes across, even under that over-the-top surface treatment. I love that they're pretty tiny, too. Lately Bead Gallery's come out with some really nice small beads, which I'd been wishing for for a while. I can't wait to see what next month's challenge holds.
      Thank you, thank you, thank you for the opportunity the Pretty Palettes challenge creates!

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  6. The Crafty MamaJuly 28, 2016 at 8:35 AM

    Ladies, I found a link to the shell teardrops I used. They're 40% off this week! http://www.michaels.com/bead-gallery-medium-teardrop-shell-beads-multicolor/10471760.html#q=shell+teardrop&start=1

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