CC7A :: Indian Summer

It is my month to host our CC7A hop (Creative Continuum of Seven Artists) created by Alicia over at All the Pretty Things. 

As host, we have all had our turn at picking out a photo for inspiration and creating our own color palette. So for my inspiration I decided to use a photo I took from our place in the Adirondacks. It is one of my favorite spots; standing out on the end of our dock and looking down the lake. 

The photo is from last year in September. Which is when we go up to close the camp for the winter. Our camp is what is called a summer camp because it is not insulated. Which means that when the temperatures start to dip into the 30s at night it just gets to be too cold to be up there. And so by September we board it up for the winter and wait until spring to reopen.

As sad as it makes me to close it up, I do love the trip up this time of year. You can start to feel Fall rolling in with that crisp feel in the air. Fall has some of my favorite colors in the vibrant hues of moody skies and changing leaves. I love all the rich, deep oranges and woody browns. I know it is short lived, but Mother Nature really does put on a show! 

This year I did not make it up to our camp, but instead had a wonderful visit from my sister. September is her birthday month, and she decided to spend it with me! Well at least for one week leading up to the special day. I asked her before she arrived what baubles she wanted me to make for her this year, and she said something in an orange tone - check! And that was absolutely perfect for my September CC7A challenge! 

Her birthday jewelry this year was a combination of special beads pulled into a necklace. I used small round carnelian beads from India my mother-in-law gave me, another carnelian tube bead my friend Christine gifted me and then added one other special touch I had from our mom. I still have a few odds and ends left from our mom's jewelry box that I sparingly use. For this piece I used a small oval focal in a mother of pearl. It gives a nice little swing to the bottom of the focal to this necklace.

I wanted to create something a little different for my sister. This is a lariat style with one long piece of silver chain. I put a large hoop on one end and a tubular focal on the other that slides through the hoop. You can see she wears it up at the throat and lets the focal hang down; just as I designed it. And I think it looks wonderful on her! I also made a sweet little pair of matching earrings in Carnelian faceted, onion cut beads. You can see her wearing both of these pieces plus the cuff I showed you in my last post. I asked her to take a quick picture over on Facebook of her new pieces and she posted this picture back at work where she is all decked out in her new trinkets!

Thanks for letting me host this month Alicia, and for picking my favorite month for me! And now on to the rest of my teamies: Alicia, Therese, Christine, Sally and Monique.