14 November 2011

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.


18 Tari Kahrs ~ Orange ~ Citrus Tones
35 CJ Bauschka ~ Teal ~ Teal Air
41 Jenni Connolly ~ Gray ~ Paw 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!

15 comments:

Marcie Abney Carroll said...

Sorry I didn't get to join in! I may challenge myself with the color palettes anyway! Can't wait to see what everyone makes!

somethingunique said...

Hi Miss Erin...sorry i have been away so long...alot has been going on in my life...but it is so nice to get back into the swing of things and catch up with friends...take care ttfn Lana :)

lunedreams said...

i don't really like yellow either (esp. lemon or canary), but i'm really liking it in the context of that palette there!!

Alice said...

I'm so excited for this challenge. I've already started pulling out various beads for my palette, and can't wait to get started.

I love your 'color fuse' palette with it's rich, soothing colors. It's perfect for the season--dark colors with a bit of brightness.

I have not doubt you can pull off the challenge to use all the color palettes. Oh, and thanks for reminding me about the muffin tin challenge idea!

Have a wonderful week!

mairedodd said...

wow - erin, what fun! so very sorry i missed on this one... it is a pleasure to have your work at lmaj... gratitude - for everything, great and small...

Unknown said...

OHH you are challenging yourself but I have to say I really like this one you posted so I may try and give that one a go too...Of course only AFTER I finish my challenge piece!

KayzKreationz said...

Wow, what a challenge for yourself. All the color palettes. I'm working on my challenge piece now. I'm grateful for my family. Blue seems to be the color that challenges me most, because I'm not that fond of blue. I love reds/oranges. Don't know if this is where I enter to win one of your pieces, but I love that leaf and dragonfly piece. Don't work yourself to death. :)

Anonymous said...

Can't wait to see what everyone creates! I am working on my challenge piece now. I usually work with light tones, so this dark nocturnal blue palette will be an interesting challenge for me! Lisa Lodge

Anonymous said...

Purples for me! Which I hardly ever work in, so this is a challenge... but I'm having a good time playing around with the color palette.
Thank you Erin for putting this together and I can't wait to see everyone's creations!

Off the Beadin' Path said...

I speak with envy, but congratulations to Karen B! A nice Giveaway, hey, that's one of the things I'm grateful for, Giveaways!! also grateful for you, Erin!! Yes, you inspire our creativity and our goodness and excellence by your example. The color challenge was genius, will be fun to see the results. I guess you would be grateful for a new computer right now!

Off the Beadin' Path said...

And P.S., I had to submit before I was finished, so now for the really serious part of my answer! You have probably asked the most humungous question possible! I'm sure we're all grateful for life each day and then it goes on to include the sight of a cardinal, the sound of someone's voice, the aroma of coffee, a message from a friend, that we're able to walk, bike, hike, camp, etc., a solid roof instead of a flood or an earthquake....In other words, it's an unending list, but it's so heart-warming to read what each of us is specifically thankful for. So thank you, Erin, for asking!

My Life Under the Bus said...

Love these prompts Erin I am just catching up this color prompt is carzy awesome!!! and YAY to Karen!!!

JeannieK said...

High Five Karyn! Missed that post. Shucks.
Ok Erin, crazy dosen't even begin to describe making 12 things for each color palette. I so excited for this challenge. In fact it's my absolute favorite challenge to do than any challenge out there. So I'm grateful that you host them. Hoping to get a start on my challenge piece this weekend.

Dawn Doucette said...

I have to tell you, I needed a challenge and this palette is EXACTLY what I needed. I'm working on my piece and cannot WAIT to share it with the world on 11/30!

I'll send the healthy computer fairy your way and hope she cures that nasty virus quickly. I know how frustrating that can be... drink more coffee, when in doubt, add a shot of Baileys! LOL

{Hugs!}

SoulsFireDesigns said...

Ohhh, love that palette! I cannot believe you are going to do all 12! I'm still pulling beads for my 1 LOL You constantly amaze me, Erin! And inspire! <3

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