August Pretty Palettes Reveal

Hi all,

This lovely pond is the inspiration for this month's design on the Halcraft blog.


Peaceful, isn't it, among all the restless confusion of the world.  I think we all need a spot like this to sit and enjoy the quiet.

Here are the beads that I picked up for this challenge.

Instead of the green seed beads that Molly chose, I went with a blend of aquas in a 8/0 size.  I also added some turquoise Picasso Czech glass daggers.  They were just too pretty to leave in the store!  As usual, I head toward blue in my greens.

A couple of weeks ago, I remembered a stone donut that I had in my gemstones and intended to use it for my design.  Well, I could say that I changed my mind on using it, but the truth is I lost it somewhere in the layers of my craft "studio"!  Someday, I'm sure I will find it again, but not so far!

So, for the focal, I used a filigree button and a square wood bead that I had.  I dabbed the shiny pink filigree with some brown alcohol ink to mute the color.  I strung the button and beads together with brown waxed linen and left tails to which I added a few more beads.  The necklace is strung on black beading wire with a blend of the ceramics, wood beads and rhodonite in a choker length.

Water Lily

Here's another photo on a new stand I bought at Michaels:

I hadn't used the large rectangular wood beads, so I decided to make a second necklace.  For the focal here, I used a wood cut-out bead from a previous Pretty Palettes project.  I used the brown waxed linen on this necklace, too.  It's great for an organic natural look with the wood and ceramic beads.

Here's my second necklace:

Peaceful Garden

I still want to make some earrings with the turquoise daggers, but that will have to wait for another day! 

Stop by the Halcraft blog to see the beautiful designs from this month's inspiration.

Happy creating!
Terry