On Winning, Gratitude and Challenges

WINNER ALERT!

Karyn B of Plus Sized Bangles has a great sense of style. I am always crushing on her jewelry submitted for the Art Bead Scene monthly challenges. You win your choice of one of my class samples on faux enameling! Email me and you can decide which of the four that you would like to call your own!

Speaking of winning... What are you grateful for? I am grateful for family and friends, for the changing seasons, for coffee every morning and chocolate every night, and for all my wonderful supporters out in the great big ol' world. You make it seem so much smaller despite the miles and that makes me grateful. The Art Spark for November over at Love My Art Jewelry is all about gratitude. And I am grateful for the opportunity to sponsor their giveaway for this month. Hop on over to Love My Art Jewelry and show those ladies some love by creating something that shows what gratitude means to you (and maybe you will win one of my 'gratitude' simple truths pendants.) They also have an awesome giveaway of art beads in their Art Bead Love Tour. This is such a clever way to share the art bead love, I would be in heaven if I won!

Last night my computer got infected with a nasty virus. I am not sure when I will be back in the swing of things, so excuse me while I try to piece things together. I had planned to put up the final list of the participants in the 2nd Annual Challenge of Color blog hop. But of course that is on my computer. I have recreated it by hand the best that I can right now, because I wanted to share with you the lovely participants. 54 of them. From around the world. So excited!

To recap... I invited people to play along with me as I explore the color palettes put together by Jessica Colaluca of Design Seeds. The challenge is to take a color from Miss Colaluca's palettes, one that is either a challenge or something comfortable for you (no judging!), and create jewelry from it. It really is a selfish thing in that I need a little jolt of color during these gray winter days, plus this forces me to make things that can of course be for sale for the holiday season. The fact that 54 of my blogging buddies want to play along is just the icing on the cake! We will have some prizes donated by some of our fellow participants (thank you Miss Jeannie, Miss Sally and Miss Sandy!) as well as beads and things selected from my stash representing the 12 color palettes and even a 'simple truth' or two. Wednesday, November 30th is reveal day, a chance to hop around and see the unique color palette that I chose for each participant and what she did with it. It is always inspiring to see.

Here is the final list of participants including a link to their blog (stop by and say hi!), their color palette choice, and the unique color palette I selected for each one.

1 Norma Turvey ~ Teal ~ Color Crave

2 Jeannie Dukic ~ Green ~ Mineral Tones

3 Mary McGraw ~ Teal ~ Embellished Hues

4 Jo Tinley ~ Red ~ Decadent Tones

5 Rebecca Anderson ~ Pink ~ Tulip Tones

6 Kristi Jaro ~ Red ~ Temple Entrance

7 Stephani Gorman ~ Green ~ Dew Tones

8 Melissa Meman ~ Green ~ Fruit Star

9 Kathleen Lange Klik ~ Teal ~ Silk Hues

10 Cynthia Riggs ~ Red ~ Autumn Comfort

11 Heidi Post ~ Teal ~ Flora Bright

12 Cece Cormier ~ Teal ~ Merino Teal

13 Amy Freeland ~ Gray ~ Cultured Tones

14 Alice Peterson ~ Blue ~ Island Play

15 Rose Noble ~ Gray ~ Autumn Stacked

16 Kristina Johansson ~ Yellow ~ Sunny Flower

17 Kirsi Luostarinen ~ Teal ~ Dragon Hues

18 Tari Kahrs ~ Orange ~ Citrus Tones

19 Mallory Hoffman ~ Purple ~ Petaled Dark

20 Molly Alexander ~ Brown ~ Peppered Tones

21 Regina Santerre ~ Red ~ Frosted Berry

22 Emanda Johnson ~ Teal ~ Color Purl

23 Amy Severino ~ Orange ~ Winged Tones

24 Bobbie Rafferty ~ Teal ~ Lime Hues

25 Tanya Goodwin ~ Gray ~ Pecked Tones

26 Lisa Lodge ~ Blue ~ Nocturnal Tones

27 Hope Smitherman ~ Blue ~ Bloom Tones

28 Linda Landig ~ Green ~ Cacti Dark

29 Ambra Gostoli ~ Teal ~ Perched Autumn

30 Lori Bowring-Michaud ~ Blue ~ Sharpened Blue

31 Pippa Chandler ~ Teal ~ Hungarian Hues

32 Keirsten Giles ~ Purple ~ Mineral Brights

33 Jennifer Justman ~ Blue ~ Autumn Rays

34 Sandy Richardson ~ Purple ~ Moroccan Brights

35 CJ Bauschka ~ Teal ~ Teal Air

36 Shaiha Williams ~ Teal ~ Sushi Hues

37 Kay Thomerson ~ Purple ~ Autumn Spectrum

38 Sally Russick ~ Purple ~ Golden Gate Tones

39 Cilla Watkins ~ Purple ~ Autumn Infused

40 Shirley Moore ~ Purple ~ Frozen Heather

41 Jenni Connolly ~ Gray ~ Paw Tones

42 Tamara Soper ~ Green ~ Field Tones

43 Sharyl McMillian-Nelson ~ Blue ~ Nested Blues

44 Jen Velasquez ~ Pink ~ Sweetened Tints

45 Maria Grimes ~ Red ~ Bright Bloom

46 Elisabeth Auld ~ Gray ~ Petaled Tints

47 Susan Kennedy ~ Pink ~ Zinnia Tones

48 Shannon Chomanczuk ~ Gray ~ Autumn Leaf

49 Holly Westfall ~ Yellow ~ Sprinkled Tones

50 Patty Gasparino ~ Red ~ Color Carton

51 Angela Little ~ Pink ~ Singapore Brights

52 Lizzie Zawinski ~ Green ~ Budding Hues

53 Kristen Stevens ~ Pink ~ Scooped Tones

54 Dawn Doucette ~ Brown ~ Jarred Tones


Since this is a challenge for myself, I have decided that I would attempt to make one thing for each of the 12 color palettes. Crazy? Most definitely. But it wouldn't be a challenge if I didn't push myself.

This weekend I selected the color palettes based off the pictures on Design Seeds that grabbed me and some that would be a true test of my color IQ. To further complicate things, I will only use what I have on hand and include as many art beads as possible. I resurrected the muffin tin challenge from earlier in the year as a great way to corral the pieces for each palette. Last night I made two pairs of earrings for the PINK palette and a bracelet for this one below in the GRAY palette (one that I thought would test me, since yellow is just not on my radar, but I quite like it and might even do one more!).

{color fuse}


Stay tuned to see if I can pull this off or if this will be (to quote my son Rocket) an 'epic fail'! And, of course, now that I have put it out there to all of you, you are likely going to be reminding me to get it done! ;-)

So now it is your turn...

What are you grateful for?
What color is a challenge for you in your life? What color are you most comfortable in?
Do you like to challenge yourself? Or is it better when others do the challenging for you?
 Do tell!