It’s been busy this week—school holidays, three kids at daily swimming lessons, fun stuff!—but I finally got some time to play with the beads (Mum I’m hungry, Mum I’m bored!!!). And in the nick of time too, as today is the reveal date for Lisa Lodge‘s Into the Forest blog hop.
As with all of Lisa’s blog hops, she puts together kits for a small price, and the challenge is to make something with the kit contents. My kit contained a lovely spiral polymer clay pendant by Staci Louise Smith, who makes fabulous beads from a variety of mediums, as well as coordinating yellow turquoise beads, green Czech fire-polished beads and green seed beads, both in yummy shades of green. Sadly, I didn’t manage to take a picture of the kit before I started playing with it, my bad! But, here is a (slightly blurry) picture of the focal pendant, with lovely greens ranging from olive to deep green tones as well as a rich bronzey brown.
Anyway. With the deep green colours in the pendant I thought about the dense green rainforests found in Australia’s far north. I dug through my stash to find some Czech glass rondelles in deep green with a picasso finish, some Czech squares in green and brown and some appropriately named rainforest jasper (rhyolite), and strung them together with some of the kit’s yellow turquoise and Czech beads, using the seed beads as spacers. I wire-wrapped the pendant with one of the turquoise beads and added a couple of brass birds to represent the life hiding within the forest.
I have a few beads left from Lisa’s kit, which no doubt will make their way into earrings and other pieces over the next few months. Thank you again for a great kit and a fun challenge Lisa, I always enjoy your blog hops! Stay tuned, the next one is in about a month!
And of course, I wasn’t the only participant! To see the rest of the creations, just follow the links below!
This is beautiful! Stacie’s pendant looks gorgeous with the beads you selected! So nice to see all these lovely greens here on your page – winter here…not very much green! 🙂 Love the little birdies, too!
You did a beautiful job with your kit – Staci’s pendant really stands out! The little birds are the perfect addition!
Beautiful necklace, Melissa! I love the lush greens and pretty birds. Definitely looks like the rainforest. Thanks for being in the hop!
A beautiful piece, and I love your inspiration!
Love the addition of the brass bird. Every forest needs critters.
What a beautiful creation! Great focal from Staci Louise! And I’m really admiring how you designed the entire piece!
Beautiful creation. Stacie’s focal is gorgeous! I love the richness and variety of the greens in your piece.
You’ve done such a lovely job on making this pendant sing! Nicely done
I love the greens that you put together. The pendant looks beautiful on the necklace.
Beautiful! I love the colors, they are so serene.
Lovely piece – I don’t think I ever saw the yellow turquoise before, love how well it plays with the rest of the mix. The bird is such a fine touch, I truly feel like walking through a lush forest 🙂
Love it! The birds add such a wonderful touch. You mixed the greens to perfection.
Love how your necklace turned out especially the little birdie next to the pendant.
Wow, a wonderful rendering of organic shapes with crystal brilliance and cheerful birds to make a beautifully wearable piece, Melissa 🙂 Jealous that you are presently enjoying summer, of course!
What a lovely necklace! I just love the focal and how you highlighted it with the birds.
This soooo beautiful necklace IS a forest! All those greens… must be great to wear this beauty with black♥
Such a beautiful necklace – I love the colors, and the bird is a sweet addition. It reminds me of a forest with the light shining through the leaves. Fabulous!
Love what you did with the pendant and those square beads add an awesome touch.
Really nice necklace, I liked the colors a lot.
Beautiful necklace, I love the pendent…the little bird was a perfect addition to the pendent too…
I love your necklace. And the addition of the tiny birds, lovely. It indeed reminds me of the rainforest. Beautiful
Superb art jewelry design, busy mum! By honoring the Australian rainforest, you’ve created gorgeous jewelry with lush beads and rich appreciation for nature. I’d love to wear this necklace! The rhyolite and Picasso Czech are perfect additions, complementing Staci Louise Smith’s focal beautifully. The sweet brass birds and pretty chain really bring the warm colors of the focal out too! You rocked it!
What a pretty necklace. I love the rest of the stones you used to bring out the colors in the pendant, the story behind it and the little birds all wrapped up together in your piece.
Melissa, your necklace is awesome! I would wear it in a minute. It is of a style I love. Love the pendant, and your perfect working with it. I have to say, I don’t know how you, and many others, I’m sure, can sit down and so quickly put something together. It often takes me weeks to put a necklace together! lol I suppose that comes with time. Thanks for sharing your beautiful piece.
What a gorgeous Green Goddess Necklace!
Beautiful necklace. whenever i get settled i’d like to participate in some blog challenges as well.