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Friday, March 31, 2017

Design Challenge 2017 -- The Reveal!

Okay...Here it is...the big reveal of our Cousin Creative Circle Ambassador Design Challenge!

On March 6th, I told you guys about our 2017 design challenge we do as Cousin Corporation of America's Creative Circle Ambassadors. (See post here.) All of the ambassadors received the same package of beads, findings, charms, etc to create with. We were able to add in anything from our private stash of beads, charms, connectors, chains, etc to create unique pieces that fit our personality.

Speaking of personalities, here are our Ambassadors:
The Girlie Girl - Rebecca Grafton
The Mermaid - Dawn Doucette
The Die-Hard DIY/Professional Blogger - Jennifer Priest
The Crafty Mom - Rachel Goodman Nielsen
The Laid-Back Author - Lisa Crone
and me - The Wandering Gypsy

Our styles are so different from each other, yet we always seem to be able to create commonality with our pieces.  I'm so excited to share our designs.  You can click the above links to see what my creative sisters have come up with.  Below you can find mine.

Ombré Plum Tassel Druzy Necklace


The items used in this necklace came from the new "Tassel it Yourself" line as well as the standard Jewelry Basics line CCA has.

This faux druzy didn't start out all sparkly.  It was a dull, flat white. Very little shine to it at all.  The druzy is a piece of acrylic resin that has been shaped to look like a druzy.  I fell in love with a strand of ombré plum crystal beads and knew I wanted to do something fun with them.  While I was painting my toe nails, I had this brilliant idea of using the glittery polish on the druzy piece.  The color is "Salsa" and is made by China Glaze.  It was the perfect fit for those lovely crystals.

I also removed the connecting clips from the druzy.




I had this lovely sort of pale copper colored chain that seemed to go well with with coloring around the faux druzy.  I also had a lovely brown leather tassel from the same line as the faux druzy that I wanted to use as well.  The only issue was the jump ring was silver. I needed gold.  Not a big deal. I switched it out for a gold colored one to match the color scheme of the necklace.








I decided to use a short section of chain (four links long) to attach the druzy to the necklace instead of a standard jump ring just to be different.

I arranged the lovely crystals in a pleasing pattern and strung them on 19-strand jewelry wire with the chain sandwiched within the pattern and attached them to the chain.  I didn't use a clasp since I used such a long piece of chain.

I created bead dangles out of some of the left over crystals and attached them to the bottom of the druzy.











The second project was another necklace using blue Calcite stones, brown ceramic beads, beaded link chain, a cross pendant, beaded tassel, polished cotton knotting cord and silver plated beads to create a lovely layered piece.

The Blue Jean Bohem Necklace



The blue Calcite is from the Boho line, the beaded link chain and tassel are from the Tassel it Yourself line, and the cross and ceramic beads are from Jewelry Basics.

I kept the Calcite strand to a choker length so add to the layered look.

The brown beads came strung on hemp so I attached fold over ribbon clamps to each end so I could create the necklace.

I took pieces of the polished cotton knotting cord and folded them in half then strung on the silver plated beads and secured the ends with more old over ribbon clamps. I attached the two together to form the second layer.

I added a jump ring to the cross connector and attached it to the beaded link chain.  Again, I removed the connector clip from the tassel so I could attach it directly to the cross.



The end result is a gorgeously casual necklace that could very easily be worn with a dressy outfit as well.


I hope you have enjoyed these two pieces and hope you look over the other what the my fellow ambassadors have created.  Happy Beading!