Challenges

I'm not talking of the many challenges that 2016 threw at all of us. I don't have the time or nerve to list all of them up, also I know it would turn into a big rant and I want to spare you that.
No, this is a wrap up post about the 2016 challenges at the Jewelry Artisans Community and about the pieces I came up with. If you want to see the other entries as well, just click through in the topic list at the bottom (although most of my pictures have disappeared there, but you get them here, so that's okay).
Which one is your favorite?

January - Make something that's new for you
I had never made something tassel like before and I re-found those beautiful rose beads that were a gift from a dear friend, so I teamed up rose, seed and drop beads for this one.

February - Romance
I didn't feel the romance, so I skipped that month.

March - Lariats
After a few attempts that didn't make me happy I took the opportunity of those pearls already being on the wire and had a little crochet session.

April - Spring has sprung
Beaded flowers can turn into an obsession as you can tell from this beaded necklace!

May - Button, button ... who has the button?
Now that one was a real challenge for me. I have never been a fan of buttons, not even as a child, and I avoid them until today. The ones that I do love are usually Victorian and too expensive for me to have them lying around. Then I stumbled upon a mysterious vintage button, mysterious because I had to find out its history and because I have absolutely no idea how it ended up in my place!

June/July - Zip it up
After my whining about buttons our challenge master chose zippers for those two months. Strictly speaking this is not a piece of jewelry although I had planned to turn it into one - which hasn't happened yet. It features a zipper from a vintage Barbie swimsuit and, well, I had fun with this one.

August - Cool clear water
This pendant is woven in dark and light blue wire around an ammonite that is about 100 million years old. It never ceases to amaze me that I am able to work with such old and beautiful fossils. The water is represented by the wires, but also the ammonite itself and by the pearl that is topped by two tiny crystals.
I do love my ammonites!

September - Goodbye Summer
I'm not an expert in peyote bezels, but I'm trying ;-) A sunflower picture that our challenge master took was supposed to inspire us. Can you tell?

October - Halloween Treat
No one could come up with anything due to different reasons, so there were no Halloween treats at all ...

November - Fire
I have all those bugles, but hardly ever a good idea for them. This bracelet ate up some of my stash - and my time.

December - Christmas earrings
I got these finished just in time to wear them on Christmas Day. Now I'm thinking I need to make more next year.

Please also visit these blogs:

Violetmoon's Corner
Jewelry Art by Dawn