JJFV Bead Exchange Challenge

I organize the "Jewelry Junkies of the Fraser Valley" meet up group.  
It is a membership based group and we meet once monthly
 to share in a project, bring our own project to work on etc.  
We are an amazing group of Jewelry Junkies (JJ's).  

We had a bead exchange in December 2011 and the challenge was to 
design jewelry with the beads we received.  
Everyone was to bring beads worth $15 and
 no one was to see who brought which beads or who got the beads - very secretive.  
We had until our February meet up to design something.  

The RULES:
We had to use all the beads we received.
We could add our own wire, string, beads, findings etc.
If we couldn't incorporate all the beads into one piece, we could make more than one piece.

I will post pictures of the beads I received, share the challenges 
I had and show what I ended up designing.


Very secretive packets for our beads
These are the bags one of the JJ's made for us to conceal our beads for the exchange.
We put them into a basket and everyone had a chance to pick a bag.  
If you picked your own, you tossed it back in and picked another one.


Beads received in Exchange

My Bead package include: * 3 black lampwork beads
* 3 maroon lampwork beads
* 1 blue with silver bead and
* 1 donut bead.



The challenges I faced were:

1.  Never having worked with a donut bead.  I Google to get inspiration.  
In the end, I wanted to design something I hadn't seen.

2. I'm used to working with warm tones since I work mostly in copper and the cool colors were a challenge.
3. The beads didn't all coordinate - which gave me the opportunity to create another designs.


I designed the pendant so it could clip on or off of the chain or ribbon.
I originally came up with the design below but it just wasn't sitting right for me.
I looked more like a character with arms and legs,
 and that wasn't where I wanted to go with the design.

What to do with a donut bead?

Back to the Drawing Board
I just had to try something else, so the day before the challenge, 
I ventured into my studio and ventured back to the drawing board.



New & Improved Design

I found a beautiful silver chain I had in my stash of goodies.
I attached it in the center of the chain, added a black bead to each end.
I made a twisted wire clasp to which I centered the 3rd bead.
I was much happier with this design and this was the one I put in for the challenge.

SILVER PENDANT NECKLACE



Last 3 Beads
Left with 3 maroon beads, I decided to make another necklace.

The focal was similar in that it was a donut bead.
The 3 dangle beads worked on this focal piece.
I had a stash of wired components I'd previously made with twisted and coiled copper wire.

COPPER PENDANT NECKLACE


Front of Focal Bead I used the Herringbone Wire Weave

Back of Focal Bead so it is finished on both sides.

Up for voting

I had to make the clasp as interesting as the piece so I coiled wire for the final wrapping.
This balances with the weight of the necklace and doesn't get lost in the design.

AND THE WINNER IS...
JJFV 1st Annual Bead Challenge Award created by Johanna.
I hope to get a little plate engraved
And the lucky winner is...
I won the First Annual Bead Exchange Challenge.  

I was shocked as every entry was beautiful.

Along with the cleverly created trophy designed by Johanna,
I also won a nice bottle of Merlot Wine

What a fun challenge and we were all really pushed out of our comfort zones.

I feel comfortable using a donut bead in future designs. 

I made a few modifications to the necklace.
I removed two of the wire components and moved a few others around.

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