About Me

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JLynn has been in the Art, Craft & Jewelry industry for over 30 years ~ promoting creativity through Education and Media. As a published designer, JLynn is known for her colorful Art, Artisan Jewelry, Altered ART Wood Tiles. Online since 2004, a former eBay Power Seller, on Etsy, and Amazon. Family, Art, Nature and Kaleidoscopes are some of her inspirations

Saturday, May 5, 2012

We're Hopping today with ChocoLatte BROWN

WELCOME to the Crayon Color Challenge once again!
Our apologies that Blogger chose yesterday to have a major hiccup with some blogs...unfortunately, our Color Challenge Post "vanished" into thin air - but on the plus side, all of your lovely comments remained!
So if you were one of those that missed seeing our design yesterday,
we thought we would share ONE more time!
  
A special thanks to Sally - it was fun to be a part of of her Crayon Color Challenge and we are looking forward to "catching" up over the next couple of days.   The purpose of the Challenge was of course to pick a monochromatic hue and design with it...and our color was...

BROWN


I love BROWN...because it brings to mind many favorite things...two of which are Chocolate and Coffee!  I went through my vast collection of Focals, Gemstones, Artisan Glass & Ceramic Beads and found a beautiful and romantic set from Gaea with a glorious mix of browns.

The set had this beautiful Heart focal in it...it's a very deep dark chocolate color with a tad of that grunge black/brown/grey colors running through it.  When I originally started designing, I had a Bracelet design in my head...however - I'm one that always goes with the flow and as soon as I started "playing" with the focal...along with a group of Swarovski crystals, Smoky Quartz and Jasper gemstones, and some Wire Lace Ribbon in a Mocca Brown...this pendant emerged with long fringe dangles.  Since I was keeping with the Brown theme, it only seemed fitting to design with Vintaj Natural Brass chain and findings.

I love the Rustic and Romantic feel to this set...

All of the ceramic beads have that warm, old-world, Victorian feel to them and when I picked up the remaining ceramic beads from the set...I just had a vision of how fun it would be to have some asymmetrical links in between some chunky, classy etched oval chain pieces.  The simple beauty of ChocoLatte is that when I started designins, I had nothing concrete in my mind...so it was fun to allow my emotions and hands the complete freedom to simply sit back and design.
I can't begin to tell you how much fun it was to "try out" different chain combinations and lengths with this piece.  I had a variety of chain styles out on the design table to create multiple strands...however, in the end I decided to go with a simple double strand to frame out the top of the focal area...and then compliment that with a long single strand in between the links.  If you have never worked with Wire Lace - give it a try!  With the thinner pieces, you can clip them without worrying too much about raveling...and if you have the large Wire Mesh Ribbon lace - you can stretch it out to look like a wave.  For this piece I tried both...but ultimately just wanted a bit of texture, so opted for the thin Wire Lace Ribbon as a petite accent.

Two coordinating beads in the set allowed me to create these lovely pair of earrings to compliment the ChocoLatte Necklace.  Keeping with that romantic, old-world style feel...I added complimentary dangles as I did in the necklace, along with Key Charm dangles with the thought "Key to my Heart"

And if you are a fan of Gemstone Lore...
The two gemstones included in our ChocoLatte design set are:

~Jasper~
Is said to bring stability and courage to balance your emotions

~Smoky Quartz~
 Is said to relieve sad feelings and stress, while building self confidence

And here's the complete set of ChocoLatte!

And on the off chance you haven't had a chance to visit all the blogs of my fellow designers participating this Hop - here is the listing of links!

Hosted by:

Red
 Bobbie Rafferty   http://beadsong.blogspot.com

Orange
 Linda Landig  http://LindasBeadBlog.com
 Cece Cormier  http://thebeadingyogini.com
 Renetha Stanziano   http://lamplightcrafts.blogspot.com
 Tanya Goodwin  http://pixiloo.blogspot.com
 Amy Severino   http://amybeads.blogspot.com
 Rebekah Payne   http://treewingsstudio.com
 
Yellow
 Rose Brisson    http://ahteesblog.blogspot.com
 Heather Powers   http://humblebeads.blogspot.com

Blue
 Rebecca Anderson  http://songbeads.blogspot.com
 Hope Smitherman  http://craftyhope.blogspot.com
 Michelle Buettner  http://MiShelDesigns.blogspot.com
 Alicia Marinache  http://allprettythings.ca
 Charissa Sloper   http://blog.obsidiansoda.com
 Sandi Volpe   http://sandivolpe.com
 Catherine Pruitt  http://boobeads.blogspot.com

Green
 Jenny Davies Reazor   http://www.jdaviesreazor.com
 Melissa Essenburg  http://chinookdesigns.blogspot.com
 Elizabeth Auld  http://beadsforbusygals.com

Purple
 Jennifer Judd Velasquez http://jenjuddrocks.blogspot.com
 Lori Anderson  http://prettythingsblog.com
 Linda Younkman   http://lindysdesigns.blogspot.com

Brown
 Diana Ptaszynski   http://suburbangirlstudio.com

YOU ARE HERE...


Black
 Kashmira Patel  http://sadafulee.blogspot.com
 Birgitta Lejonklou  http://lejonklou.blogspot.com/


HAVE FUN!
~JLynn

20 comments:

  1. Earthy, Rustic, yet Refined - right up my alley!! Love your pieces! And the colors you have chosen are super! Great designs - those earrings are fantastic!!

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  2. GORGEOUS!! Janice, that necklace is truly like a rich cup of coffee, dark and luscious...and those earrings are wonderful! Like you said, the set has such a lovely romantic feel! Beautifully done!


    Thank you so much for taking the time to participate in the hop!!!

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    1. Sally - thanks so much for organizing this fun and colorful challenge. Although Blogger had some hiccups and my post actually vanished half way through yesterday...I have it back up today and will be finally making the rounds to view all the other design participants too :)

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  3. I love brown. The pieces you made are beautiful! I love the different elements and textures. The earrings are the sweetest!

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  4. I love your pieces, they are very cool. I love the pendant. You had some nice beads for choosing brown. Thanks for sharing. Cheri

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  5. What a gorgeous set. I really love that focal with the little dangle accents. It does have that old world feel.

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  6. Janice, I love the details on the heart -- the little bead dangle, the fringe in front -- very pretty!

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  7. Very earthy yet romantic vintage at the same time. I wouldn't have considered combining the various elements, but they worked. Lovely use of the brown palette!

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  8. Hi Janice,
    Serve me up one of those Choco Lattes please, if it tastes as wonderful as your set looks then I will be in heaven! Your necklace and earring set is absolutely gorgeous!
    Therese

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  9. I love your pieces. Brown is one of my favorite colors - probably because it is so similar to orange. Lovely necklace, love the fringe and the earthy look. Great job!

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  10. Thank you all for the wonderful compliments and comments - it's always fun to be part of these challenges :)! Although Blogger had some hiccups for me yesterday (and since I was traveling with my daughter at a Dance Convention outside of NYC with limited internet connection) I wasn't able to recreate the post until I got home this evening - but happy to say that ALL of your comments remained :)
    Happy Creating as always - JLynn

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  12. I was disappointed not to see your beautiful creation yesterday but well worth the wait to come back today. My eye was stuck on that focal with the gorgeous fringe but I love the chain choice and earrings too. Very well done!

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  13. Absolutely gorgeous...so glad I got to see it!

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  14. Love what you have done with brown. Chocolate and coffee are two of my favorite things too. You have shown that it is romantic too.

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  15. There's something wonderfully romantic about your set. I can't put my finger on it, but it's definitely there. Thank you for going into so much detail about the making of your necklace. That's something I failed to do in my post on this challenge. I really love hearing the inspiration behind others' jewelry making. In any case, your set is really beautiful!

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  16. The brown tones in the components you chose are truly rich and velvety. Nice set!

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  17. Your necklace and earrings are very pretty and romantic.

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