AJE February 2014 CoM Challenge Reveal ~ A Love for Autumn

It's reveal time again! For February's CoM challenge on AJE blog, Melissa Meman made us all a gorgeous and colorful fluttering heart focal—each one is formed in copper, enameled in rich hues, and decorated with little sprinkles of glass frit. A perfect choice for February!

Here's the one Melissa picked for me…
In my favorite color—orange! And so vibrant and shiny. I had been toying with an idea before it arrived and was pretty sure that was that. But then, when I unwrapped it, I had a totally different idea…

Because suddenly it wasn't just a heart, it was a heart-shaped leaf in stunning autumn colors…

Yes, I'm talking about the back! For a girl who loves autumn the most and who receives a "leaf" focal what else can she do? She must to go with it.

Just look at those colors! Glowing yellow-gold, a speckling of rust brown, and rich oxblood red. It's a bright autumn leaf, glowing with one last effort before it fades away and is forgotten in the harshness of winter.

Yes, I am swooning over it.

And yes, I did use it backwards—Melissa, I do hope you won't be offended or upset that I didn't use it as you had originally intended. I think it's so much more than the back of a heart—it's the inside of a heart and in this heart (mine) is held a deep love for autumn.

Okay, enough babbling from me—let me show you what I made and you can tell me if I did right…

I kept the design fairly simple. Inside the "leaf" I wire-wrapped a little bouquet of cloud grey czech glass flowers with vineing tendrils.

Each flower has a tendril at the center and a tiny purple seed bead—I love purple and orange together.


I hung the pendant on a double strand of seed beads—it's a mix of grey iris, purple iris, and metalic purple.

More wire wrapping, dark stained wooden beads, and rosy-orange faceted czech glass.

Deciding how to finish off the back of the necklace took me the longest. I was originally going to paint some leather, but couldn't come up with a design that really complemented the focal… so I finally settled on a piece of vintage fabric from my great grandmother. I absolutely adore the bold pattern and colors of this print, but I don't have a whole lot, so I've been hanging onto it for something special. It was perfect for this necklace!

The colors were just a little more vibrant than I wanted, so I tried tea dyeing for the first time—I've been wanting to try out this technique for ages! I made it long enough that I could easily slip it over my head without any closure and wire-wrapped the ends.

And that's the end of my new necklace story… except for the part where I will wear it—a lot! I really am so happy with the way it all turned out. Thank you so much for stopping by and Melissa, thank you for a most gorgeous focal!


Be sure to check out what everyone else dreamed up with Melissa's pretty hearts!




* * * And don't forget… * * *
There are only 3 days left to enter my leather feather giveaway and get free shipping on all orders in my shop!

Go here to enter the giveaway.

Use code FLYFREE at checkout on all orders through March 5th.


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13 comments:

  1. I love the design of your necklace. It has lots of features that are unique--like the seed beads and wire tendrils in the flowers and the seed bead necklace that is doubled. Also, turning the heart over and using the back side for your design was brilliant!

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  2. Holy Smokes! What a way to look at this! I also love autumn and seeing how you took the heart and changed it to a leaf is remarkable!!!! I love love love it!

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  3. I just love it! The colours and especially all the little flowers with the wire tendrils....! It all comes together so beautifully :)

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  4. I just love how it all came together! It could almost make me a love of autumn.

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  5. I love that you were creative and used the heart in a different way! The colors are beautiful and how wonderful that they're you're favorite!

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  6. What a wonderful piece! Love all the textures and how you attached the beading! You put a big old smile on my face plastered to the screen looking at all the details...LOL Awesome!

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  7. Wow! I don't mind that you turned it over at all! Gorgeous idea and necklace!!! Thank you Rebekah!

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  8. Great work, you are so creative, I love all about the necklace, it's wonderful!!!

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  9. Outside the box! Leaf pendant! Gorgeous. The fabric is great with it too! I only wish I could have seen it before the tea dying...

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  10. I love how your mind works! I especially love how you did your beaded strands, with the wire wrapping at the top. And the back of your "leaf" looks exactly like a brilliant autumn leaf! I love the sprigs you added. The cupped shape is really beguiling. (And the cool thing is since the back is so gorgeous too, it could be reversible!)

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  11. Gorgeous!!! Love the way everything sits on the reverse side, such a clever idea!

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  12. absolutely blooming lovely. what a clever idea to use the reverse side. Love the colours though on my monitor it looks a lot more yellow than orange. Love those tendrils. One of my fave things to do with leftover bits of wire.
    I bet it looks smashing on you.

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  13. This necklace is gorgeous. I love the way you used the heart. I too see a leaf and the little wire-wrapped flowers with tendrils in the center is so sweet. The tea dyed fabric is the perfect finish to the very earthy, rustic necklace. Love the pop of color with the purple seed beads, too.

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