Head-to-Head Challenge

My friend Sonya (SAS Jewelry Designs) and I have decided to try a Head-to-Head Challenge - here's how it works:

• each participant must incorporate one (or more) matching components into the finished piece
• the finished piece must contain an element of freeform beadweaving
• participants will blog at the beginning of the challenge, showing the chosen matching element(s)
• monthly progress reports will be blogged
• The finished piece will be revealed on our blogs at the 3 month deadline

Sonya is the Queen of blog challenges, and has a slew of them on her calendar right now, so I'm glad she was willing to take on one more!

Since she and I are the only players this round, we worked together to pick a component for the challenge that we were both excited about working with:

It's a  speckled ceramic red triangle, in a beautiful, autumnal, deep orangy-red. Love it!

And... that pic makes it look huge, so I took another one:

That's a little better.

After years of working for corporations, constantly under the gun with deliverables and other deadlines, I am not so big on deadlines anymore, which is one reason I don't enter many challenges (the other reason being, I am not big on rules, either - preferring to create organically, letting the materials guide the process) - this challenge suits me to a T. The deadline is a long way away, and I can work on this when the mood strikes! Plus, I get to do freeform weaving, my favorite (no rules!) - but can also add any other design elements/techniques I choose. Freeform really needs to happen organically, so I'm glad I have a long time to let this project develop.

I love freeform weaving, and have been wanting to start a freeform piece for over a year - This is just the kick in the butt I needed! Freeform is so liberating - you don't have to think outside the box, because there IS no box!

The deadline for this Head-to-Head challenge is January 14, and Sonya and I will be posting our updates on Nov. 14 and Dec. 14.