Open Doors

"Not knowing when the dawn will come I open every door." ~ Emily Dickinson

 

I am delighted to announce that the lovely Miss Melanie of Earthenwood Studio invited me to be a part of her Earthenwood Studio Design Team. 

Each month she will be providing us with some beady goodness and challenging us to come up with a design.  This month's theme is "Cabin Fever." 

Melanie makes some extraordinary ceramic components and focals that I absolutely love for their cleverness and wit as much for their detail and beauty. For the "Cabin Fever" theme she sent us each a Lumber toggle and a Lumber round links with this great wood grain in them. Additionally, she sent us each a different house pendant.

 

I started with the wood grain pieces. I decided to channel a childrens book that we used to read called "The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig" by Helen Oxenbury. It is the funniest twist on the traditional tale with some absolutely charming illustrations by Eugene Trivizas. 

The little wolves construct their houses out of all sorts of things to bar the mean ol' pig from gaining access, including riveted steel, but the Pig manages to blow them all up - literally. In the end the little wolves build a house made of flowers which calms ol' Big Bad down. They invite him to tea and realize that they have misjudged the Pig as Big and Bad and they all live together in harmony. 

I call this "Sticks, Bricks and Straw" in those industrious little wolves' honor. I had the Czech glass brick beads but I had a bit of a dilemma with the straw. After a $97 trip to Michaels {oh yeah...I found more than I went in for! Did you know that the Bead Gallery is all 40% off right now? And 40% is close to 50% and that is good enough for me!} I found what was called waxed cotton cord in a lovely straw color. Unfortunately, it was too big to go through my bricks {note to self: bring beads with next time}. So in desperation at the last minute {because I was determined to have this done last night!}, I wrapped some jump rings with the cord and tied it in a knot. I think that I need to add one little detail to this... a little flower bead!

{Sticks, Bricks & Straw}

My pendant piece from Melanie looked like a weathered piece of an old paneled door. So that made me think of keys {of course!}. I have just started making my own pendants and charms that I am preparing to sell on my Etsy site very soon and I had one made that fit this theme perfectly. 

I call these 'simple truths :: modern wisdom' pendants. They are made from polymer clay with painted details. But what is really special about them are the words. Words are so important to me. They can encourage or discourage in one fell swoop. I try very hard to choose the encouraging side of the equation. These one-of-a-kind pendants act as a powerful mantra to hold close to your heart. The simple truth on this one says  

"open doors for others" 

to remind me that I find it so very satisfying to help others to grow to beyond the limits they set for themselves to all that is possible.

{Open Doors For Others~
Click to enlarge!}

Vintaj products seem to go so well with Melanie's glazes, so I used the etched chain and jump rings as well as a stamped keyhole and a little key that I turned into a toggle bar with a vintage brass square to echo the shape of the ceramic pendant. I also mixed in some of my favorite twisted bar links from the Industrial Chic line paired with cracked fire agate rounds and brecciated jasper rondelles and one solitary faceted smoky quartz {truly one of my very favorite stones to work with}.

This particular 'simple truths' pendant is double sided, because versatility is how I roll. There is a skeleton key on the back. In order to wear this reversible pendant, I needed to jazz up the simple black back of Melanie's pendant. I found a copper toned square filigree in the stash that fit the back perfectly. I roughed up some brass gears from Rings & Things and then grunged them a bit with alcohol inks and a heat gun. Punched a few holes and layered them with a copper brad to give the effect of an ornate door knocker.

Just looking at the list of participants in the Earthenwood Studios Design Team makes me have to pinch myself because they are each so very different and so very talented! I admire each of them for the unique flavor that they bring to the beading community. Do check out their blogs to see what they have created.

Andrew ThorntonGaea Cannaday Denise Yezbak MooreErin Siegel Heather PowersLorelei Eurto Lori AndersonJean Yates Marie Dodd 

To me, opening doors for others means that you have to be willing to share which is a risk. You hold that door open for other ideas to flow through that might not be what you expected. But in so doing, you open yourself up to unexpected joys as well.

Thank you, Melanie for opening a door to your Design Team to me and for trusting each of these talented people to make great things. We hope they bring you unexpected joy as well.

Items mentioned in this post credited to Earthenwood Studio were provided as a promotional gift as part of the Earthenwood Design Team. These items are for review or design purposes. Thank you, Melanie!

Your turn...

If you were a little wolf bullied by a big bad pig, what material would you create your house with?

Have you ever misjudged someone because of their behavior only to find out that they were much different than you once thought? 

What doors have you opened for others lately? 

What doors have others opened for you?

Do tell!

Enjoy the day!