My challenge with Andrew Thornton’s November Reader’s kit wasn’t the fact that nearly every component in the set was yellow, a color I have little design experience with. My biggest challenge stemmed from the luxury seed bead mix dominated by sparkling yellows, pale greens, peaches and a punch of gold and bronze. They begged to be spilled out on my mat and stitched into something lovely, organic and freeform. But I promised myself I would complete this project sans needle.
My favorite pieces in the Jonquil kit were the knowledge tree pendant (the month’s mystery component), and the long wooden bead, both of which cried out to be used in a focal. With kit in hand, I was off to my favorite bead store, where I found a carved, black onyx leaf, which brought out the color and detail in both. To heighten the challenge, I threw pink into the mix, another color that rarely makes an appearance on my bead table.
Once my focal was secured to the brass chain supplied in the kit, I dusted off my wireworking skills, creating sections of dangles leading to some gold Venetian glass coins from my stash. I used the soft peach tones from the kit to transition to the larger dangles that echo the focal. To give more length to the necklace, I added a doubled length of Vintaj ornate chain.
Much praise and many thanks go to Andrew Thornton for offering his readers these monthly opportunities to forge down new creative paths and work with artisan pieces that excite our imaginations. Take a moment to click on the following links to all the participants who will be revealing their Jonquil Challenge results:
Alice Bavaud will have pieces on Andrew Thornton's blog
