AJE February 2014 CoM Challenge Reveal ~ A Love for Autumn

It's reveal time again! For February's CoM challenge on AJE blog, Melissa Meman made us all a gorgeous and colorful fluttering heart focal—each one is formed in copper, enameled in rich hues, and decorated with little sprinkles of glass frit. A perfect choice for February!

Here's the one Melissa picked for me…

In my favorite color—orange! And so vibrant and shiny. I had been toying with an idea before it arrived and was pretty sure that was that. But then, when I unwrapped it, I had a totally different idea…

Because suddenly it wasn't just a heart, it was a heart-shaped leaf in stunning autumn colors…

Yes, I'm talking about the back! For a girl who loves autumn the most and who receives a "leaf" focal what else can she do? She must to go with it.

Just look at those colors! Glowing yellow-gold, a speckling of rust brown, and rich oxblood red. It's a bright autumn leaf, glowing with one last effort before it fades away and is forgotten in the harshness of winter.

Yes, I am swooning over it.

And yes, I did use it backwards—Melissa, I do hope you won't be offended or upset that I didn't use it as you had originally intended. I think it's so much more than the back of a heart—it's the inside of a heart and in this heart (mine) is held a deep love for autumn.

Okay, enough babbling from me—let me show you what I made and you can tell me if I did right…

I kept the design fairly simple. Inside the "leaf" I wire-wrapped a little bouquet of cloud grey czech glass flowers with vineing tendrils.

Each flower has a tendril at the center and a tiny purple seed bead—I love purple and orange together.

I hung the pendant on a double strand of seed beads—it's a mix of grey iris, purple iris, and metalic purple.

More wire wrapping, dark stained wooden beads, and rosy-orange faceted czech glass.

Deciding how to finish off the back of the necklace took me the longest. I was originally going to paint some leather, but couldn't come up with a design that really complemented the focal… so I finally settled on a piece of vintage fabric from my great grandmother. I absolutely adore the bold pattern and colors of this print, but I don't have a whole lot, so I've been hanging onto it for something special. It was perfect for this necklace!

The colors were just a little more vibrant than I wanted, so I tried tea dyeing for the first time—I've been wanting to try out this technique for ages! I made it long enough that I could easily slip it over my head without any closure and wire-wrapped the ends.

And that's the end of my new necklace story… except for the part where I will wear it—a lot! I really am so happy with the way it all turned out. Thank you so much for stopping by and Melissa, thank you for a most gorgeous focal!

Be sure to check out what everyone else dreamed up with Melissa's pretty hearts!

Guests:
Lori Bowring Michaud 
Kathy Lindemer
Kim Bender 

AJE Team:
Melissa Meman
Jenny Davies-Reazor
Rebekah Payne
Caroline Dewison
Kristen Stevens
Keirsten Giles
Sue Kennedy

* * * And don't forget… * * *

There are only 3 days left to enter my leather feather giveaway and get free shipping on all orders in my shop!

Go here to enter the giveaway.

Use code FLYFREE at checkout on all orders through March 5th.