Queen of Hearts Challenge

Have you ever started on a project and felt like everything was coming together, that you would certainly love the outcome of the finished piece only to be sorely disappointed when it just isn't meant to be?  Yeah, well that's what I encountered in the beginning of the Queen of Hearts Challenge hosted by Allegory Gallery.  According to AG's blog, this kit was "loosely inspired by two things: Queen of Hearts appearing in Lewis Carroll's "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" and Valentine's Day." 

I'm not really a fan of pink, I don't design with it much and so I started second guessing my decision to join this challenge when the package arrived.  I was thrilled when I opened the package because there was more than just pink and red beads in the kit; there was a lot of purple in the package too.  Yea!  There were large plastic, glass and wood beads, some large vintage Lucite beads in deep red with golden speckles.  The kit also included a nice strand of Rose Quartz.  I quickly started to design a necklace using the large Lucite beads, some of the Rose Quartz and the small plastic purple crackle beads.  I planned on tying some purple leather cord to the two beaded strands.

The necklace was looking really good - on my bead board - but when I picked it up to try it on... well I just didn't like the weight (or lack thereof) of the piece.  I usually don't use plastic beads in my designs, but after participating in these challenges I've started to like the vintage Lucite beads.  They work well in earrings since they are so lightweight.  You also could design a statement necklace with a bunch of these large, lightweight beads and not have the necklace weigh you down.

Anyway, I found myself so bummed out by not having my necklace turn out as I wanted that I got into a bit of a creative funk.  So I thought, o.k. this is a challenge, so how do I challenge myself?  I usually make jewelry with copper wire so I went the other way, grabbing the lovely Rose Quartz and knotting it onto the Irish Wax Linen.  I alternated with the light purple glass rounds and used a vintage Czech glass button for the closure.  The button has a beautiful iridescent shine to it.  This necklace feels so warm on as the stones heat up from being on your body.  As weird as this might sound, it's very comforting to wear. Rose quartz is known as the love gemstone representing love in all its different forms. It is supposed to "bring optimism pertaining to love" and "bring happiness to the wearer."

This is such a departure for me style wise.  It makes me think of Mother's Day so perhaps I should pursue making this type of necklace for spring craft fairs?












I wanted to showcase Andrew's pendant, so it's just a bead and a crown for the Queen.

I also made a couple pair of earrings - one small Rose Quartz dangle

and these funky ones with two of the cool vintage purple beads. 

Check out the other jewelry designer's creations at Allegory Gallery's Design Challenges Facebook page.

Thanks for joining me here!








Next up... Forest Journey Mystery Challenge.  The reveal date is April 13!