Thursday, October 15, 2015

Jeannie Dukic's 9th Do-Over Challenge

Well...apparently all the "excitement" (translation: terror, time-consuming appointments and tests) surrounding my upcoming knee replacement surgery has affected my short-term memory.  Jeannie's Do-Over reveal was Saturday, the 10th.  In my MENTAL calendar, it is this coming Saturday.  I have my done-over piece made and photographed...just the blog post to write...I was going to set it to post at 1:00 a.m. on Saturday, the 17th.

I apologize from the bottom of my heart to Jeannie and to her lovely peeps (Kara!), for being such a space cadet.  I'm completely aware that the beauty and rhythm of a challenge such as this one depend on the participants being present.  Honestly, I don't know why my mind has gone blank on so many things lately...I sure hope it isn't a permanent situation!

I received a necklace from Jeannie that contained a hefty portion of silver-plated chain, lovely MOP shell sticks in creamy white, aqua, turquoise, and a pretty almost-royal blue...all the colors of the sea on a very good day!  Additionally, I was gifted a BEAUTIFUL polymer sand dollar pendant and some sweet starfish polymer pendants (how does Jeannie DO this???).  You know...first step was to photograph the "before" item:

Second step, take it apart and sort the pieces.  Is there something wrong with me that I so enjoy taking things apart?  Why does it give me such a thrill to deconstruct?  I do a LOT of it...I have never, not once, said "This isn't right, so I'll throw it away"!  So I organized the stick pearls according to color, and put the gorgeous faux beach residents nearby.  And I began to ponder.  What to do, what to do?

And this is what I came up with...another necklace! 

I made a long necklace...it slips over the head and is about 36 inches long, not including the pendant.  Going with the beautiful sea-inspired colors and feel, I used small (4 mm) glass pearls for the necklace.  I had separated the stick pearls according to color, and used small groups of each color, set off with small crystal cultured sea glass beads.  Rather than using the silver findings, I went with antiqued copper.  Attached to a hammered antiqued copper oval ring, I attached one of the polymer starfish, and five assorted lengths of small antiqued copper chain, each with a pearl attached to the very end.  I love the way the chain drapes and falls around the starfish, reminiscent of seaweed. 

Here's a closer look at the focal:

I loved making this necklace, and I love wearing it even more!  Thank you so much for the opportunity, Jeannie and Kara...I look forward to this challenge every time, and I'm sad that this will be the last one!  Please check out the other participants to see the beautiful items they created from some of Jeannie's fabulous beads:

Jeannie Dukic  https://theexchangenexus.wordpress.com/

Rachel Mallis  http://www.mintmonarch.com

2 comments:

  1. Beautiful necklace Donetta. It looks so wearable.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Its very lovely! If have been thrilled to get this necklace to deconstruct.

    ReplyDelete

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