Challenge of Colour 2012

I am taking part in two blog hops today - if you are  looking for the 'AJE Component of the month' hop you will find it here.

Welcome to the 3rd Annual Challenge of Colour blog hop and huge thanks to Erin Prais-Hintz and Brandi Hussey for once again organising an event of monumental proportions and providing us all with such stunning inspiration pieces from the Nasa 'Earth as Art' collection of unique topographical images

Life has been a little manic here of late to say the least so although we were offered two palettes, on this occasion I decided to be sensible and just commit to one - although I did manage to make two pieces even though it went to the wire as usual. This is the palette I chose from those selected for me:

Desert to Forest
March 28, 2009

In the American Southwest, transitions from one ecosystem to another can be dramatic and abrupt. This certainly is true in northern Arizona, USA, where the parched Painted Desert, shown here in a palette of purples, adjoins Sitgreaves National Forest (shades of green), a realm of pine woodlands with abundant wildlife. Within the Painted Desert lie the Hopi Buttes, a field of ancient volcanic cones, seen here as a scattering of dark, circular shapes near the top of the image.

Green is my my favourite colour and I'm rather fond of purple too so thank you again Erin!

In the past I've had  a habit of sweating it too much over these challenges and trying to find exact matches for every tone and include every shade but this time I decided I was going to be much freer with it by choosing beads that have an overall feel of the palette and going with my first instincts. For my first piece I selected a group of beads and then put the rest of the stash out of sight so they wouldn't distract me and it seemed to work as I decided pretty quickly on a bracelet. I chose lampwork beads for this and Fine silver to represent the paler tones of the palette...this was the result.

The mottled ribbed round beads were the obvious starting point since they already combine purple and green but they also reminded me of tiny little worlds viewed from space. The silvered green beads picked up the same green from these. The barrel beads that look pink in these photo's are in fact a perfect match for the purple, I just couldn't get them to look their natural colour without changing the tone of everything else - glass can be a challenge in itself! I used some Hill Tribe hammered lentils to lift the colours and strung the beads on waxed linen to get the rustic feel I'm so fond off but then I took an unusual turn for me. I wanted something to suggest the feeling of lushness and abundance I get from the image so I started making lots of little dangles - not something I do often. With pale green and amethyst crystal and some blue black Czech glass to represent the volcanic area which can be seen as the mottle black patch at the top of the image these also add a lovely sense of movement.

I clustered these along three Hill Tribe hammered rings so that that they would cascade from the bottom of the bracelet and counterbalance the weight of the larger beds. Finally I finished it off with a hand made silver clasp. I've called this piece 'Abundant Earth'.

Ribbed and silvered lampwork beads by Lush Lampwork
Purple barrels by Alchemy lampwork

My second piece came about from two focals that jumped out at me when I was first going through my beads. When I first saw the images for this hop the old Carpenters song 'Top of the World' came into my mind (and stuck there!) and these two focal seemed to lend themselves to that so, with a simple little treatment my second piece is called...what else but "Top of the World".

The cute little ceramic bird by Blueberri Beads is nestled in one of my own bronze bead caps and sat atop a stunning Moogin focal which reminds me rather of a patchwork quilt of fields. A purple class drop and bronze heart and flower charms complete the pendant.

I've hung this simply form a Vintaj chain but have added a little embellishment with some beautiful ceramic beads by Summers Studio and some Czech glass beads. The necklace is quite long and adjustable and has a great fun feel to it.

So there you have my colour inspired pieces for 2012. I could play this game for ever and I do have a little plan to spend some quiet time over Christmas investigating some of the these 'Earth as Art' pictures more closely and maybe even designing a few more pieces. I hope you join me on this blog hop and see what everyone else has created...I am sure there are going to be some some stunning pieces so please follow me and enjoy!

Erin Prais-Hintz    http://treasures-found.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/color-full-world-welcome-to-3rd-annual.html
Rebecca Anderson    http://songbeads.blogspot.com
Kris Auderer    http://strandedinthecity.wordpress.com
Chrizette Bayman    http://beadsoupmix.blogspot.com
Lori Bowring Michaud    http://artfullyornamental.blogspot.com
Courtney Breul    http://beadsbybreul.blogspot.com/
Lynsey Brooks    http://yellowunicorncreations.blogspot.co.uk
Stephanie Buss    http://maxandlucie.blogspot.com
Iveth Caruso    http://www.creativeatelier.net/
Shannon Chomanczuk    http://www.formysweetdaughter.blogspot.com
Lisa Cone    http://inspiredadornments.blogspot.com/
Cece Cormier    http://thebeadingyogini.com
Lori Dorrington    http://lorisglassworks.blogspot.com
Dawn Doucette    http://designsbydawnmarie.blogspot.com
Jeannie Dukic    http://site.jkdjewelry.com/blog/
Kim Dworak    http://cianciblue.blogspot.com/
Beth Emery    http://storiesbyindigoheart.blogspot.com
Janice Everett    http://JLynnJewels.blogspot.com
Pam Farren    http://www.re-maker.blogspot.com
Donetta Farrington    http://simplygorgeous-donetta.blogspot.com
Gloria Ferrer    http://judetaama.blogspot.com.es/
Cherrie Fick    http://designsinthelight.co
Therese Frank    http://www.theresestreasures59.blogspot.com
Patty Gasparino    http://www.mylifeunderthebus.typepad.com
Tanya Goodwin    http://pixiloo.blogspot.com/2012/11/3rd-annual-challenge-of-color.html
Ambra Gostoli    http://chicandfrog.wordpress.com/2012/11/27/3rd-challenge-of-color
Jess Green    http://tabbiekoshka.blogspot.co.uk/
Denielle Hagerman    http://somebeadsandotherthings.com
Mary Harding    www.maryhardingjewelrybeadblog.blogspot.com
Karla Hartzog    http://www.karlakrafts.com
Kim Hora    http://www.kimmykats.com
Brandi Hussey    http://brandigirlblog.com
Emanda Johnson    http://ArtemisiaStudio.blogspot.com
Jennifer Justman    http://soulsfiredesigns.blogspot.com/
Sue Kennedy    http://suebeads.blogspot.com
Ema Kilroy    http://emakaye.blogspot.com
Lee Koopman    http://Stregajewellry.wordpress.com
Linda Landig    http://www.LindasBeadBlog.com
Kirsi Luostarinen    http://kirsiluokorut.blogspot.com
Cynthia Machata    http://antiquitytravelers.blogspot.com/
Alicia Marinache    http://www.allprettythings.ca
Beth McCord    http://www.ebbeadandmetalworks.blogspot.com
Mary K McGraw    http://mkaymac.blogspot.com/
Karen Mitchell    http://www.overthemoon-design.com
Cheri Mitchell-Reed    http://creativedesignsbycheri.blogspot.com/
Aimee Moisa    http://threecatsdancing.blogspot.com
Karla Morgan    http://www.texaspepperjams.blogspot.com
Penny Neville    http://copperpennydesigns.blogspot.com
Becky Pancake    http://beckypancakebeaddesigns.blogspot.com
Kashmira Patel    http://sadafulee.blogspot.com
Alice Peterson    http://alice-dreaming.blogspot.com
Kayla Potega    http://www.teejewelry.blogspot.com
Debbie Price    http://greenshoot.blogspot.co.uk
Bobbie Rafferty    http://beadsong.blogspot.com
Caron Reid    http://caronmichelle.blogspot.com.au/
Nicole Rennell    http://nicolerennell.com/blog
Cynthia Riggs    http://cynthsblog.blogspot.com/2012/11/3rd-annual-challenge-of-color.html
Andrea Ross    http://silvermapledesigns.blogspot.com/
Sally Russick    http://thestudiosublime.com
Annie Scherz    http://www.studioluma.ca
Pam Sears    http://crazycreativecorner.blogspot.com/
Renetha Stanziano    http://lamplightcrafts.blogspot.com
Sandra Stein    http://sannipanni.wordpress.com
Kristen Stevens    http://kristen-beadjourney.blogspot.com
Tracy Stillman    http://www.tracystillmandesigns.com
Sherri Stokey    http://www.knotjustmacrame.com/2012/11/challenge-of-color-reveal.html
Lola Survillo    http://www.beadlolabead.blogspot.com
Kay Thomerson    http://KayzKreationz.blogspot.com
Jo Tinley    http://daisychaindesignsjewellery.blogspot.com
Emma Todd    http://www.apolymerpenchant.com
Cory Tompkins    http://www.tealwaterdesigns.blogspot.com
Pam Traub    http://www.klassyjoolz.blogspot.com
Melissa Trudinger    http://beadrecipes.wordpress.com
Michelle Tucker    http://michellescreativemusings.blogspot.com/
Shelley Graham Turner    http://www.shelleygrahamturner.blogspot.com
Monique Urquhart    http://ahalfbakednotion.blogspot.com/
Rachel Van-Walsk    http://balancedcrafts.com/blog
Patti Vanderbloemen    http://www.myaddictionshandcrafted.blogspot.com
Lesley Watt    http://thegossipinggoddess.blogspot.com
Lynn White    http://lynnwhitejewelry.com/Lynn_White_Jewelry/Lynns_Jewelry_Blog/Lynns_Jewelry_Blog.html
Joan Williams    http://www.lilrubyjewelry.com

Lesley