AJE June 2014 CoM Challenge Reveal ~ Wood Fern

Goodbye June!!! The ending of another month means another AJE blog Component of the Month reveal, and so today is all about Linda Landig and the jewelry we made with her new ceramic lovelies. Often our hostess of the month makes several of the same component design—maybe in varying colors and slightly different shapes—so we were in for a real treat from Linda when she crafted a whole menagerie of stunning ceramic focals! It was oh-so hard to choose just one!

But I did finally, and here it is…

Love the rustic feel of this focal combined with the shiny clear glaze—it's color say summertime woods to me!

And here's what I was inspired to make…

After days of contemplation and trying so many ideas, I decided to go with mostly greens, only hinting at the rosy pink of Linda's focal—I wanted to continue with the woodsy rustic feel and let the focal really to stand out. The wispy feather-like shape of the leaf reminds me of the wild ferns growing here and so I've titled my necklace "Wood Fern".

I didn't want the beading of the necklace to distract from Linda's focal, so I came up with this design for a more elongated centerpiece with a large ring to give more "space" between the focal and the beaded strands.

This little pebble is one of many that I've collected from run-off creeks that trail through the woods surrounding my home. They only flow with plenty of rainfall and so most of the year they are dry and covered in leaves, but if you go out at just the right time you can catch them rushing with water. It's a gorgeous sight and it's a perfect time to gather up those lovely smooth pebbles! I found this particular one outside a cave after a big rainstorm had caused the cave to fill up with water and wash through the woods. I think it's some type of agate—I couldn't capture all the detail with my camera, but it actually has tiny lace-like patterns scattered over the surface.

Anyhoo… I'd been saving too many pebbles for I had no idea what, when suddenly it hit me that I should start using them in my jewelry! I don't have the setup to drill them yet, but wire-wrapping works perfectly! Between the pebble and Linda's focal, I tied a short piece of suede leather which I burned and painted.

From there I strung brass beads with soft pink czech glass and some kind of green gemstone—I have no idea for sure since I forgot to label the bag, but it might be unakite.

I added in some light golden aurora borealis chips for a touch of sparkle. I think the jagged shapes are nice with my rustic theme too.

And then two big chunky green gemstones paired up with a couple smaller ones to end the beaded section—again, I'm not sure what these green beads are either.

And finally I put it all together with a hand-dyed batik ribbon from Indonesia. It has a pretty floral design all over and I just love how the colors and pattern echo the dappled sunlight as it shines through the forest treetops. This ribbon came to me tied up on a little box of beads from Karen Totten (isn't nice when the outside of a box looks almost as pretty as what's inside!?) and I knew immediately that it was destined to become a part of my new necklace!

All in all, I'm so pleased with the way it came together—the pink really did throw me off for a bit, but it was a good challenge and now I have a new "keeper" necklace! These challenges really are filling up my jewelry box, but I just can't seem to be able to let go of them!

Thank you all for visiting my blog and thank you to Linda for a beautiful focal and fabulous challenge!

Be sure to check out what everyone else made…

Guest Artists

Ann Schroeder

Mischelle Andrade Fanucchi
Therese Frank

The AJE Team

Susan Kennedy

Diana Ptaszynski

Linda Landig

Lesley Watt

Melissa Meman

Caroline Dewison

Francesca Watson

Jenny Davies-Reazor

Rebekah Payne <— you are here!

Kristen Stevens