Sunday, April 21, 2013

Do-Over Challenge

Butterfly Fantasy!


Jeannie Dukic sponsors a challenge from time to time, where she offers a piece of jewelry from the early part of her design career to others to "do over." Visit Jeannie's Blog.

Here is what she sent to me.


Frankly, I like the design! But the double strand is rather short,  at least on my neck! And while the butterflies are sweet,they are very insubstantial, and don't seem to interact with the lovely Swarovski crystal beads. I decided to give the whole thing a little substance and expand the color palette a little. 


I colored the butterflies with Vintaj patina. 


Then, I did the earrings too, although they were not technically part of the challenge. I added another crystal when I strung them on a pin. It just picked up the blue a little. 


And here is the finished necklace. It is long, because I used all of the original chain. I added some pink and blue flower and leaf shaped pressed glass beads. I like my butterflies a bit chunkier in the body, so you can see some of the pink crystals wired to the center of each. (And another little bit of wirework, can you see it?) 


Here you see the necklace worn by Sweet Sally Stitch. 

Join the fun by seeing what others have done with their pieces. 

Charlie Jacka  http://clay-space.com/blog
Ginger Davis Allman http://thebluebottletree.com/
Mary Govaars  www.mlhjewelrydesigns.com
Penny Houghton  www.smellynelly.blogspot.com


16 comments:

  1. I love the addition of the color. So bright and happy

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  2. Ah, I wouldn't have thought of using a patina. I learned something new! It really worked well, too. Well done!

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  3. Hey, that looks great! The patina changed the whole thing. A perfect summer necklace with fresh colors and butterflies.

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  4. Ooh that's so yummy! Looks like a completely different piece. Perfect.

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  5. Expanding the color palette and added Vintaj patina's was a brilliant idea Beti. So happy you worked the earrings too, they're beautiful. The butterflies will be in perpetual bliss. Thank you so much for participating and I hope you will join me for the next one.

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  6. I love what you did to the butterflies! You came up with a great redesign.

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  7. I think we had the same chain.. I would have loved more chain too! Longer earings and longer necklace was the way I went too! Love your blue and red rasberry butterfly necklace! I thought this was fun although I looked at what I got for a long time before I broke down and disassembled it!

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  8. I would have reached for the patinas too! They make the butterflies stand out and those earrings are perfect. The length is now perfect to flutter in the wind. Great job.

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  9. I am missing out by not trying patinas yet.. I love how the butterflies look. The earrings are GREAT. I would so wear those..

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  10. I love the colors you added to the set, and the additional beads you added to the drops adds an overall whimsical feel to the design. I'm always a sucker for butterflies, and I love how you incorporated them asymmetrically - beautiful!

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  11. I love that you put patina on the butterflies, it really makes the whole design pop.

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  12. You really took the challenge and ran with it...with such a beautiful result! I've never used patina, although I've bought all the supplies, and you inspire me to get started.

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  13. Brilliant idea - love the patina on the butterflies!

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  14. The patina is beautiful and makes the butterflies stand out, great do over!

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  15. Love the butterflies, good job on the do-over challenge!
    Cheri

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  16. Very pretty. I love the use of color and your Pink and Teal combination.

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