A chronicle of the meanderings, false starts (which in retrospect, while sort of embarrassing turned out to be highly instructive), epiphanies, selective apathy (still evolving), wild mood swings, opinions (subject to frequent change), and life lessons of an inveterate dabbler (and her latest dabblings).

Friday, December 3, 2010

The Challenge of Color Big Reveal!

I've been looking forward to this day! I could barely contain my excitement. Yes, Moi, hater of all blog jewelry challenges. My inner toddler ("NO!") just comes out when I see a design challenge issued on some blog--yeah, like I'm gonna run out like a good little girl and make exactly what you tell me to make. Thing again, sistah! Take THAT! (flip double bird). Obedience is such an ugly word. Unless you're talking about a black or chocolate lab, and then it's all good. Although rare.

Erin Prais-Hintz of Tesori Trovati jewelry issued a color challenge on her blog, explaining she'd been experimenting with color chips from the paint store to stoke her inspiration. The challenge was simple--let her know what color family you'd like to work in and she'd send you a few paint chips. You could use as many or as few of the colors as you wished. That sounded broad enough to me that I could participate and still maintain my self-respect and not damage my credibility as a Rebel. Heck, I do that all the time anyway with stuff I see--nature scenes, buildings, stuff in my house, cars going by. I see some colors together and think, hmm, and then I go make something in those colors.

I admit, I did not love any of the paint chips when I first looked at them. Huh, I thought. I let them sit for a few days, and then finally one day I was idly pawing through my bead stash to see if I even had any of those colors, and wouldn't you know, I had them all EXACTLY. Even in art beads (lampwork). When I put the beads together with some metal, and then some leather, I started to really like it. I would probably never have put these colors together before (mixing reds? Ewww!). But now I'm even thinking of getting my own paint chips. But alas, I was only able to conjure something out of two of them. I just couldn't bring myself to do the third chip (see below). Without further ado (i.e., prattling), here they are.

"Strawberry Wine"
Red lampwork beads (in both wine red and crimson) by Beingbeads on Etsy, and "feather white" lampwork spacers by Studiorent, with brecciated jasper saucers, red bamboo coral barrels, hand-formed copper rings, toggle bar, beadcaps and coil ends, and some red Greek leather. On Softflex in "copper". I was going to antique the copper crimp covers but then I decided I liked them better bright. Here's the paint chip:

Look at what a good girl I was. I matched the colors exactly. I'm almost ashamed of myself for being so pliant. (Notice I named my piece after the colors too. Next thing you know I'll be flossing every day).

The next chip didn't give me the horrors quite so much; for some reason mixing yellows was less scandalous than mixing reds. Again, I pretty much had all these colors, in both art beads (lampwork again) and gemstones. The match wasn't quite as exact, and other shades are included in this piece as well.

"Yellowtail Debutante"


I love the cryptic and artfully abstruse (I'll give you a second to go look that up) name I chose for this piece. And it was on the card. (See below).

Large variegated lampwork and dark red lampwork by Beingbeads again, with Soochow jade in deep berry and buttery parchment colors, accented with smaller aragonite in an apple flesh hue, with Dzi-style etched red agate and garnet heishi. Copper rings with brass wire wrap accents, copper beadcaps, oval copper chain, and brass toggle bar, all hand-formed; deerskin lacing in buckskin. Also on copper color Softflex. I had some Soochow jade that was closer to the "antiquity" color on this card (had some green in it), but I didn't like it with the other beads. I went with the more buttery tones.

And lastly, the ugly stepsister that didn't get to go to the ball because her shoes were too small (what?):

"My Little Pony"

I just couldn't do it. The lavender and the blue were too much for me. Some Rebel. I'm a phony. A charlatan. I could have just made something with that nice berry color (I had asked Erin for plum/berry colors) and some other colors, but that seemed kind of lame. So I skipped it all together. I just don't think I will ever make anything with pink AND blue in it. Unless a friend ever gives birth to a hermaphrodite and no one else is available to make her a baby blanket.

To see what the other participants have done with their paint cards, click on the links below:

26 comments:

  1. You ased for three color palettes? And here I was having trouble getting just the one done! I love your pieces with their gorgeous lampwork beads, metal, and leather. They certainly make a statement.

    Oh, and I completely understand about that last pallette....

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hahahah "my little pony"!!!
    I'm in LOVE with Yellowtail Debutante! Love the leather, the colors, the bead caps...you rock!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oooooh, both necklaces turned out bee-you-tee-flee! And I think I like the color combo better in the jewelry than on the walls or the cards.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ohh my - three palettes. I was happy to come down with one. Love every single piece - but my fav is strawberry wine. bias of that color:-)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Love what you did with your first two color palettes and got a good laugh over "My Pony."

    ReplyDelete
  6. Great post! Love your two necklaces - and the vocabulary work out - I am a working mom so my brain has been mush for years :-)

    ReplyDelete
  7. OMG you are tooo funny! I love your creations so much but I was laughing so hard at your attempt to remain a rebel I almost peed my pants! And these are my favorite jammies so that would be ugly! Anyway you kept your rebel status with your My Little Pony and earned a faithful follower! Thanks for the eye candy and the laughter!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Great job!! I love what you did with all 3 swatches! I'm in complete agreement about the pink and blue. That one was never destined to be made into jewelry. I'm having trouble imagining what a room covered in those paint colors would look like! Ewwwwww.

    ReplyDelete
  9. you crack me up :) I love both the necklaces, especially Yellowtail Debutante! yummy, buttery goodness...the deer lace really works.

    ReplyDelete
  10. So glad ro see you used leather! I am a fool for necklaces that incorporate leather. They are both fabulous!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hahaha - I say slap my little pony on a chain! Gorgeous pieces - really stunning!

    ReplyDelete
  12. You came through like the pro you are - Rebel, Rebel! A real rebel can do whatever she likes, even if it is something she was asked to do.
    I do understand about the last paint palette though.
    And I wonder, do people really paint their homes like these palettes...?

    ReplyDelete
  13. GGGGGorgeous!!! Can't decide which is my fav, they are both very cool. I don't blame you for the third one at all, I would like to see somebody come up with an attractive piece from those colors, I'm not sure it's possible!!

    ReplyDelete
  14. OMG - I'm laughing so hard! I finally realized during this challenge that there's something about having to fit a particular theme or set of rules that makes my creativity just go running screaming into the night. I totally get why you usually avoid challenges - I think I'm heading that way myself, soon.

    However, I'm glad you decided to play in this one because OMG...your stuff is freakin' gorgeous! I wouldn't have wanted to mix reds, either, but look how fantastic it came out! LOVE LOVE LOVE.

    Am also off to check out those vendors because WHY DIDN'T I ALREADY KNOW ABOUT THEM???!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Wow, gorgeous work! My color palette is very similar to your second palette. I really love both these pieces. I kind of want them actually. I don't think I could have worked with that My Little Pony palette either. ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  16. Keirsten, I love what you made but I am totally with you on the last palette. your pieces are wonderful, so you. I love them.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Ouch, you made me laugh with the My Little Pony analogy (dental issues this week)...I think that paint chip might have been an 80s color scheme that was accidentally dropped back behind the other palettes and Erin managed to unearth it :)

    ReplyDelete
  18. Must remember not to blog hop to Keirsten's blog with 5 year old daughter sitting on lap...I can't move past the MLP! LOL Honestly, though, I completely get your quandry with that palette ;)

    Oh, but I love your two other pieces! They're just gorgeous, as one would expect from a rebel like you :)

    ReplyDelete
  19. OMG, you're hilarious! But I'm laughing because that's pretty much how I feel about creative challenges, too (only you made it funny, whereas I'd probably make it whiny). Love the results (and the my little pony)!

    ReplyDelete
  20. I think you did a nice job there! The colors look great together even if you don't like the berries! lol

    ReplyDelete
  21. I love your pieces, in fact so far they are my favorites! The colors and the style are unique, stunning!

    ReplyDelete
  22. You make me laugh!

    I loved the red variations and am surprised that came difficultly to you -- I would have thought it would hit you spot on. The second piece -- total love.

    The last chip -- I could have knocked that out of the park. But have you seen the colors of my web site? Oh dear. Sorry. Here's some sunglasses. And a valium. Can we still be friends?

    ReplyDelete
  23. I completely love "Strawberry Wine". It's just gorgeous! And I don't blame you for skipping that third combo-eek!

    ReplyDelete
  24. Wow - three color pallets and I couldn't even do one without a little cheating. Your necklaces are gorgeous! Love the little pony -great laugh for me!

    ReplyDelete
  25. What gorgeous colour palettes... such rich colours. Well done... beautiful pieces.. and love My Little Pony lol!

    Karyn
    Australia

    ReplyDelete