Each participant was given two palettes derived from photos in the US Geological Services' Earth As Art Gallery, which uses various satellite images, filtered to emphasize colors in the spectrum we normally don't perceive. We were only required to use one palette, but of course I couldn't choose, so in typical "why just dive off the cliff when you can jump off backwards and throw in a few somersaults along the way" fashion, I did both.
And both of my palettes are rivers. First, the Ghadamis River, an ancient riverbed in Libya:
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| Desert Riverbed Pendant of amazonite, peruvian opal, strawberry quartz and seed beads |
The Peruvian opals were the starting point here. They matched the palette perfectly, and the striations of color in the gemstone mimic the natural striations of the landscape. I wanted to somehow capture the feathery effect of the landscape along with the colors. The branched fringe I tried first was just fugly, so I settled on loopy fringe instead.
Here they are side by side:
The second palette is called Meandering Mississippi:
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And here's my Mississippi Mud Romance necklace:
The cubes were the first thing I pulled out of the stash, because they were a perfect match for the olive green in the palette. Then it occurred to me that I had the sterling silver squiggle in a pile of UFO's, where I had envisioned it as the starting point for a bracelet that never happened. Throw in a little freeform peyote, some woven leather the color of rich Mississippi mud, a hand-forged sterling clasp, and there you've got it.
And the side by side:
And what does "Romance" have to do with Mississippi Mud? On our first date, my husband and I shared a truly decadent chocolate miracle of the baker's craft called Mississippi Mud Pie. Any man who would (a) order such a fantastic dessert and (b) share it with me was obviously a keeper.
Anyway, with great thanks to Erin and Brandi who organized this wonderful challenge (thanks, ladies!!), here are the other folks playing along with this challenge. Thanks for stopping by, leave a comment if you like, and go check out the rest of the hoppers:
Erin Prais-Hintz http://treasures-found.blogspot.com/2012/11/3rd-annual-challenge-of-color-reveal.html
Rebecca Anderson http://songbeads.blogspot.com
Kris Auderer http://strandedinthecity.wordpress.com
Chrizette Bayman http://beadsoupmix.blogspot.com
Lori Bowring Michaud http://artfullyornamental.blogspot.com
Courtney Breul http://beadsbybreul.blogspot.com/
Lynsey Brooks http://yellowunicorncreations.blogspot.co.uk
Stephanie Buss http://maxandlucie.blogspot.com
Iveth Caruso http://www.creativeatelier.net/
Shannon Chomanczuk http://www.formysweetdaughter.blogspot.com
Lisa Cone http://inspiredadornments.blogspot.com/
Cece Cormier http://thebeadingyogini.com
Lori Dorrington http://lorisglassworks.blogspot.com
Dawn Doucette http://designsbydawnmarie.blogspot.com
Jeannie Dukic http://site.jkdjewelry.com/blog/
Kim Dworak http://cianciblue.blogspot.com/
Beth Emery http://storiesbyindigoheart.blogspot.com
Janice Everett http://JLynnJewels.blogspot.com
Pam Farren http://www.re-maker.blogspot.com
Donetta Farrington http://simplygorgeous-donetta.blogspot.com
Gloria Ferrer http://judetaama.blogspot.com.es/
Cherrie Fick http://designsinthelight.co
Therese Frank http://www.theresestreasures59.blogspot.com
Patty Gasparino http://www.mylifeunderthebus.typepad.com
Jess Green http://tabbiekoshka.blogspot.co.uk/
Denielle Hagerman http://somebeadsandotherthings.com
Mary Harding www.maryhardingjewelrybeadblog.blogspot.com
Karla Hartzog http://www.karlakrafts.com
Kim Hora http://www.kimmykats.com
Brandi Hussey http://brandigirlblog.com
Emanda Johnson http://ArtemisiaStudio.blogspot.com
Jennifer Justman http://soulsfiredesigns.blogspot.com/
Sue Kennedy http://suebeads.blogspot.com
Ema Kilroy http://emakaye.blogspot.com
Lee Koopman http://Stregajewellry.wordpress.com
Linda Landig http://www.LindasBeadBlog.com
Kirsi Luostarinen http://kirsiluokorut.blogspot.com
Cynthia Machata http://antiquitytravelers.blogspot.com/
Alicia Marinache http://www.allprettythings.ca
Beth McCord http://www.ebbeadandmetalworks.blogspot.com
Mary K McGraw http://mkaymac.blogspot.com/
Karen Mitchell http://www.overthemoon-design.com
Cheri Mitchell-Reed http://creativedesignsbycheri.blogspot.com/
Aimee Moisa http://threecatsdancing.blogspot.com
Karla Morgan http://www.texaspepperjams.blogspot.com
Penny Neville http://copperpennydesigns.blogspot.com
Becky Pancake http://beckypancakebeaddesigns.blogspot.com
Kashmira Patel http://sadafulee.blogspot.com
Alice Peterson http://alice-dreaming.blogspot.com
Kayla Potega http://www.teejewelry.blogspot.com
Debbie Price http://greenshoot.blogspot.co.uk
Bobbie Rafferty http://beadsong.blogspot.com (yay - you're here!!!)
Caron Reid http://caronmichelle.blogspot.com.au/
Nicole Rennell http://nicolerennell.com/blog
Andrea Ross http://silvermapledesigns.blogspot.com/
Sally Russick http://thestudiosublime.com
Annie Scherz http://www.studioluma.ca
Pam Sears http://crazycreativecorner.blogspot.com/
Renetha Stanziano http://lamplightcrafts.blogspot.com
Sandra Stein http://sannipanni.wordpress.com
Kristen Stevens http://kristen-beadjourney.blogspot.com
Tracy Stillman http://www.tracystillmandesigns.com
Lola Survillo http://www.beadlolabead.blogspot.com
Kay Thomerson http://KayzKreationz.blogspot.com
Emma Todd http://www.apolymerpenchant.com
Cory Tompkins http://www.tealwaterdesigns.blogspot.com
Pam Traub http://www.klassyjoolz.blogspot.com
Melissa Trudinger http://beadrecipes.wordpress.com
Michelle Tucker http://michellescreativemusings.blogspot.com/
Shelley Graham Turner http://www.shelleygrahamturner.blogspot.com
Monique Urquhart http://ahalfbakednotion.blogspot.com/
Rachel Van-Walsk http://balancedcrafts.com/blog
Patti Vanderbloemen http://www.myaddictionshandcrafted.blogspot.com
Lesley Watt http://thegossipinggoddess.blogspot.com
Lynn White http://lynnwhitejewelry.com/Lynn_White_Jewelry/Lynns_Jewelry_Blog/Lynns_Jewelry_Blog.html
Joan Williams http://www.lilrubyjewelry.com
