December Bead Challenges

Happy New Year!!  We ended up with surprise Christmas snow that was beautiful and not too cold - the best kind!  Baxter is growing by leaps and bounds and keeps us all pretty busy, thus my December Bead Challenges are just getting finished now.

Sarajo Wentling's challenge for December was two superimposed photos her husband Eric took.  This is what winter looks like around our place if you sub fir trees for the deciduous ones!

Eric Wentling

This photo reminds me of winter early mornings when the rain has stopped, the clouds are beginning to clear, and the sun peeks through.  These mornings usually have a good amount of frost over everything!  I've been playing with some frosty glazes and one was perfect for capturing the colors of those mornings.  I decided to make earrings using a couple of disc beads glazed with it and paired them with ice crystal quartz, some wintry looking pearls, and sterling silver.

Head on over to Sarajo's blog to see how she and others interpreted Eric's photo.

The only other challenge I finished this month was for Art Bead Scene Studio.  December's challenge artwork was a 1924 still life painting by French artist Suzanne Valadon.  

I love the richness of the background tapestry!  And even though winter is just beginning, the tulips made me wish for my tulips that fill the flower beds.  I used terracotta for these beads and painted them in the majolica tradition.  See how others interpreted the painting in jewelry and beads here.

I kept two for myself (for some earrings to dream about spring on) and put the other four up in the shop at stoneypointstudio.com.

Stop by tomorrow for my first fibers post of the year and a knitted hat pattern!

Happy Creating!  Deborah