Mushroom and Toadstool Design Challenge

three miniature mushroom necklaces

The November theme for the Art Elements design challenge was “mushrooms and toadstools” which is one I’ve been hoping for since I don’t know when. I love mushrooms and toadstools as design elements and art themes. There’s a tremendous diversity in wild mushrooms and then there are “fantasy” mushrooms from imagination. Tragically, I was in some kind of creative funk this month and didn’t do the theme justice. (note that this post, for reasons i don’t understand, didn’t publish in November, or somehow disappeared, so I’m re-posting in December.)

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Gothic-Themed Design Challenge

Gothic skull planter and coffin boxes

The theme for this month’s Art Elements design challenge was gothic. Gothic architecture is something I know practically nothing about. According to the interwebs,  it’s characterized by pointed arches, stained glass windows with elaborate tracery (yeah, I didn’t know that term until Google explained it to me), and flying buttresses.  Think Canterbury Cathedral and Notre-Dame de Paris.  Gothic fiction, on the other hand, is a genre with which I am very familiar.  It’s characterized by the supernatural and horror, with elements of dangerous or tragic romance.  Think Mary Shelley, Bram Stoker. Edgar Allen Poe, and H.P. Lovecraft.  My designs this month were inspired more by gothic fiction than architecture.

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A Creatively Eclectic Month

Embroidery hoop with blue banded snout weevil stitched on cotton fabric.

September was an eclectic month for me creatively. Technically, all months are creatively eclectic for me because my style is a little bit of a lot of things and I dabble in an assortment of media and techniques.  But this month was particularly wide-ranging, at least in finished pieces.  I think I was under the influence of a weird combination of overwhelmed by ideas and under-motivated to start anything.

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Mandala Theme Design Challenge

Six stones painted with dot mandalas.

The theme for the Art Elements design challenge this month was mandalas.  If you’re like me, you’ve probably admired the often intricate patterns of mandalas, which can be found in tile or stone mosaics, textile patterns, jewelry designs, paintings and more.  You’re probably also aware that mandalas originated as more than art:  they are a symbolic diagram used in sacred rites and as an instrument of meditation in Hindu and Buddhist Tantrism. I don’t pretend to know much more about mandalas than this, but I joined in the design challenge because mandalas fascinate me.

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Hollow-Themed Art Design Challenge

Embroidered seashell wreath hanging on the wall.

The theme for the July design challenge from the Art Elements team was “hollow.”  Hollow can mean something that has a hole or empty space in it. It can also be the term for the space or depression itself.  One suggestion for the challenge was to consider whether we wanted to represent the empty space itself, or to fill the hollow space with something.  Of course, I wanted to try both variations on the theme and had several ideas.  Spoiler alert, I only finished one idea.

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Summer Solstice Themed Design Challenge

Green Man and Dryad stash tins

The theme for the Art Elements June design challenge was solstice.  Here in the Northern Hemisphere, June is the month for the Summer Solstice.  The Summer Solstice is heralded by many as the first day of summer.  That’s not technically what solstice means, but I can’t seem to stop any of the people I know from referring to it that way.  For the sake of accuracy, the Summer Solstice is the day on which the Sun reaches its northernmost point on the celestial sphere, resulting in the longest period of daylight (which some call the longest day)  for those of us above the equator.

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Butterfly Themed Art Design Challenge

Three painted butterfly pendant necklaces flat on wood

Butterflies were the theme for the Art Elements design challenge this month.  Butterflies are symbols of change and transformation.  The Art Elements Team has made some changes to the monthly theme challenges, including moving the reveals from a blog hop to a photo album in a Facebook community.  I’m choosing to blog about my themed projects anyway because, frankly, if it weren’t for the monthly challenges, I would have to come up with content ideas all on my own.  

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Bees Themed Design Challenge

Collection of boho necklaces with bee pendants

Bees are the theme for the Art Elements design challenge this month. Bees are awesome for so many reasons, and I could easily spend a year’s worth of blog posts expounding on all the things I admire about them.  There were so many ideas for how to interpret this theme based on all the things I love about bees.  But there are only so many creative hours in a month, and so, there are only so many bee-themed projects I can share with you today.

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Gnomes Themed Design Challenge

Gnomes were the theme for this month’s Art Elements design challenge. Gnomes are a type of fae creature and are earth elementals. You’re probably most familiar with gnomes as garden decor or as the spokesperson for a certain online travel booking website. As a long time fan of gnomes, I had so many ideas for exploring this theme. Alas, I only managed two of them.

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Letters Theme Art Design Challenge

Modern embroidery flowers and "nope"

The theme for the February Art Elements design challenge was “letters.”  As our hostess for this theme noted, that word could be interpreted either as the symbols of an alphabet or as written communications, like the kind sent by snail mail.  For my interpretations, I used alphabet symbols to stamp words in polymer clay and I embroidered letters onto fabric. I also used letters to make the words in this blog post.  Because I’m clever like that.

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