Sunday, November 15, 2015

Time Capsule: Creative Challenges

Five years ago this month I was beading non-stop for my Necklace a Day challenge, attempting to create and post 30 necklaces in 30 days. Although it was exhausting, I loved doing that challenge. I learned a lot about the materials and techniques that I was using, and discovered a lot of new designs thanks to the pressure of coming up with quick projects.

Some of my favorite designs were created during a Necklace a Day, including the first herringbone fringe necklace and some very tasty lariats. It’s always interesting to look back on collective projects like these and see how much my style has changed, and wonder if these old techniques could ever be made new again.

Necklace a Day Challenge


I’ll probably never do a daily challenge again, but since then I’ve developed a lot of affection for creative challenges. It’s such a fantastic way to keep new ideas coming, not to mention creating opportunities to fail and learn from it. The successes can be pretty inspiring, too!

My most recent design challenge was a more casual approach. The Egyptian Gods series had no deadlines, just the hope of eventually making a design for each of the most well-known Ancient Egyptian deities. I ended up cutting it short with only two projects to go in order to get started on Ancient Worlds Modern Beads, and once that was complete the challenge had lost its inspirational appeal.

Egyptian Gods Jewelry Challenge


Really embracing the Egyptian themes that I love was incredibly inspiring and gave me the opportunity to create pieces that I really liked. It feels like a good time to start that kind of challenge again. This time, I want to explore my geek side – something that I haven’t shared here much before. The Geekspiration challenge isn’t one I can put a number on – there are just too many possibilities - so I’m going to put a one year deadline on it. We’ll check in and see how many designs I can come up with by November 2016.

Right now most of my ideas are revolving around geek heroines, and designs inspired by their style. There might also be some more obvious inspirations that come along, too. I'm not saying I will definitely do a Minecraft pattern tutorial, but I'm not saying I definitely won't, either. Can’t wait to see what the beads will do!

Geek Inspirations


Mortira

Subscribe * Facebook * Google+

Support Inspirational Beading for bonus tutorials and more!
Send your beading questions to InspirationalBeading@gmail.com

Copyright 2015 Inspirational Beading


No comments:

Post a Comment

Blog Widget by LinkWithin
Fire Mountain Gems and Beads

Inspiration Topics

accessories amulet Ancient Worlds Modern Beads animals April's Army art ArtFire astrology astronomy autumn awards awareness bangle beach Bead Inspired Bead Shops bead soup bead spotlight bead stash Bead Trays beaded beads beading theory beads belt bezel birthstones black blog spotlight blue boho bone book spotlight bracelet Bracelet A Week branch fringe brick stitch brown bugles buttons cabochon ceramic chain maille challenge charity chevron chain christmas collar Collections color Color Ideas color triads conservation craft shows crafts crochet crystals cuff Culled Beads current events Current Faves daggers Daily Sets daisy chain Delicas Destash drops Dutch spiral earrings Egypt Egyptian Gods embellishing embroidery environment etsy exotic fair trade fantasy fashion Favorite Beads Favorite Techniques feminine fibers film findings fire polish fixtures Flashback Test flickr inspiration flowers food found object free form fringe Geek Jewels geekery gemstones geography giveaway glass gold gray Greece green herringbone hex cuts history holiday home decor insects inspiration tip inspired beader Inspired by... Inspiring Links ivory Jewelry Stash knitting ladder stitch lampwork lariat leaf fringe leather lights literature loomwork macrame magatamas Master Class Medallions metal free metalwork Mini Collar a Week mixed media mixture Mood Board MOP multi-color multi-strand music natural beads nature necklace Necklace a Day Nepal chain netting New Beads ocean ombre orange paint paper patterns pearls pendant peyote photography Picasso finish pink Pinspiration PMC polymer clay poster sketch purple quick inspiration rainbow RAW red resin ring Ring a Day rivoli Rome Russian spiral scarf science seed beads shell silver soutache spiral rope spring square stitch St. Petersburg steampunk stringing stripes summer tagua TBT The Elements thread Tilas Time Capsule tools trade beads triangle weave tribal tropical turquoise tutorial two-hole beads Ugly vintage Wear it Twice weather white winter WIP wire wishlist wood World Beaders yellow
Blog Home * About * Beading Tutorials * Advertise

Learn About Sponsoring Inspirational Beading with Project Wonderful
Affiliated With ShareASale.com and Amazon.com