Ramona came to live with Jeff and myself way back in the day in July of 1999. She was seen jumping from the window of a car in the Wal*Mart parking lot where I worked as a courtesy desk girl. It was hot and many customers expressed concerned for her saftey on the 90 degree+ day out on the pavement. Someone had purchased her a bottle of water and put the cap down for her to drink a bit. She seemed tame enough, so I picked her up and brought her inside and put her behind the desk to call animal control.
Since it was Friday, no one at animal control was available. I decided to take her home just until her owner called to claim her. As sweet as she was, I was certain that someone would call distraught over the fact that they had lost her. The call never came. We drove to the shelter with her in our car, but I was already in love. Ramona was meant to be a part of our family.
So I finally have the results of the design challenge that I did with Hillary, of Happy Hippy Jewelry on Etsy. It was our July design challenge (a little belated), and my first design challenge ever. Basically, we gave each other a theme and then let our imaginations run wild. Typically, this type of challenge is done in a large group with everyone using the same theme and then a winner is announced, but we modified a bit for just the 2 of us!
Hillary's theme that I chose was "Summer Romance," and this is what she came up with. I have to say that I love that the "couple" are in my 2 favorite colors....Let's Gooooo Mountaineers!
Here's what she had to say about it: "I really tried to represent the coming together and intertwining of two separate souls with the blue and yellow wire wrapped pendant. I added the pink and floral accents to emphasize the idea of romanticism and to add a little bit more of a "summery" feel." She elaborated more on her design process by saying this, "I made the pendant first and really wanted to represent two unique persons entangling themselves and falling in love. I couldn't decide if it was finished and even asked for advice from other crafters, who gave me some great suggestions. I discovered how well the pink went with the bright blue and yellow just playing around with different things. I played with several things and ultimately went with it because it helped soften the overall impact of the high contrast colors without making them "disappear". Pink is also a great color for romance and the floral beads looked appropriately "summery" to me. Ultimately, I think I ended up with something very romantic but unusual and unique, which is what i always strive for."
The theme Hillary assigned to me was "weather." Here is what I came up with!
This is a 3-piece bath towel set that includes a full sized bath towel, a hand towel, and a washcloth. I first thought of using a cloud, sun, and raindrop. Those just didn't work well together. They weren't very much fun. Almost a little sad. So I picked the cutest of the three, the raindrop, and created around that. The umbrella and boots gave me the ability to add some color and interest into the project while still sticking to the theme. I have to say that the rain boots, I thought, were going to be a bit out of my comfort zone as far as getting them to look normal. It didn't take me too long to figure out how I wanted to attack them, and I think they turned out pretty stinkin' cute! This item is listed at my shop on Etsy, 15 Pieces of Flair.
There are 3 of us lined up to do another mini-challenge for August with a September 8th deadline. It will feature Hillary of Happy Hippy Jewelry, Liz of LiDDesigns, and me, Angie, of 15 Pieces of Flair. Our theme this time around will be the same for all 3 and will be....drumroll.......Hollywood Glam! I'm very excited about the prospect and will keep you all posted.
On Etsy, they encourage you to become part of one of their teams. Each team has different requirements and functions differently. I chose, about a year ago, to become a member of the Retro Handmade team. It is designed for those who do throwbacks to retro-feel designs/items or even possibly use vintage items within their creations. There must be a handmade aspect to your shop, not just vintage or retro items.
A few months ago, we decided to start doing a monthly design challenge. I didn't participate in the first few, but was feeling plucky this month. Only one other person was feeling up to the challenge, so we decided to do our own mini challenge. My co-conspirator this month is Hillary from Hippybeads. She chose the theme "weather" for me to use. I chose "summer romance" as her theme. Our deadline is fast approaching, August 8th. I've created a design and have put the wheels into motion this evening. I'm very excited about my design. The item will be for sale in my shop upon completion.
Stay tuned to see what my partner and I have come up with!
