I’m so excited to announce that I’ve made it to round #6 of the Jane By Design Style Challenge! Yahoo! Major thanks to all of you sweet readers for helping me make it this far! Again, the challenges have been a lot of fun, I’m so excited to be continuing on in the interview process!
So for challenge #6 Jane, Gray’s assistant, sent me an email asking what does the future hold for the world of fashion. She said it will depend on people like myself, and that the ability to be inspired by everyday life is an essential skill needed in order to succeed. She also so that the ability to translate inspiration into something fresh, and unexpected that could take the fashion world by storm is a rare gift, and that for this challenge I needed to take a long hard look at who I am and the world I’m surrounded by for inspiration.
Ultimately, my challenge was to get into my Jane By Design truck and pull out the bags of pretzels in it. I was then told to get inspired and create something using the pretzels that will amaze Jane and Gray! So what did I do? I made jewelry with it!
Two main inspirations in my daily life are nature, and amazing bloggers. I can be walking around outside and just instantly become in awe of my surroundings. Sometimes I can’t even believe how beautiful this amazing world is that we live in, and it often takes my breathe away. I often pick up twigs, leaves, and other little gems that I come across and dream up pretty things I can make with them. Lately I’ve noticed a huge trend in nature inspired jewelry, and I was more than excited to transfer the inspiration I’ve been receiving from it into a few amazing pieces of pretzel jewelry.
I was inspired by mismatched sized crystals with this one. I added the white beads for a natural pop color!
With this ring, I was really inspired by twigs wrapped together. Multiple finger rings have been so on trend lately too!
This sweet little pretzel reminded me of a peace sign. Peace and nature always go hand-in-hand!
I’m completely obsessed with this panel piece as well! I loved the honeycomb look of these pretzels, and thought it would be fun to make a statement piece using them. Again, the shaped reminded me so much of nature, and also of the honeycomb jewelry trend I’ve been seeing popping up lately. One of my favorite jewelry designers, Stone & Honey, has a line of honeycomb inspired necklaces, and her line immediately came to mind upon seeing the shape of these pretzels.
I also made a honeycomb style bracelet to complement the necklace. With this one, I’m really loving the salt flecks that add a little bit of natural detail to the bracelet, and, of course, the natural, wooden look of the pretzels. If pretzels weren’t so fragile, I could wear this bracelet every day!
Much of this jewelry was also inspired by the gorgeous pieces that a few of my favorite bloggers/jewelry makers create. Moorea Seal, Kate Miss, and The Blue Balloon all make these lovely, nature inspired pieces. For a few years now they have all been so inspirational to myself with blogging and other aspects in life (I’m so thankful for all of their little corners of the interweb!), so after I had decided to create jewelry using the pretzels, all three of their amazing shops immediately came to mind.
I’m loving the silver and white detail on this last piece. The overall looks reminds me of these charms I used to make out of wooden sticks when I was younger. Nature and I have always been friends, and I feel like it’s going to continue making a huge influence in the fashion world throughout the new year and well into the next! I’m so happy with how this collection of pretzel jewelry came out, and I’m excited to actually make a few of these pieces out of more sustainable materials!
So now that you’ve seen what I’ve created using my inspiration and unexpected items, head on over to the Jane By Design Facebook page and leave a comment letting me and the sweet people at ABC Family and Jane By Design know ways in which you were inspired to make fashion out of unexpected items. Don’t forget to say that Chelsea from Tea Talk sent you as well! It would TRULY mean so much to me! Also, If you’re in need of some inspiration, check out this video clip from Jane By Design!
I’m SO loving being involved in this awesome challenge, and feel so honored to have made it this far! Thanks again for all of your support, and here’s to hoping I make it to the next (and final) round! I really, really want to continue on in the interview process!
Also, the Jane By Design premiere is tomorrow! Don’t forget to check out the first episode on your local ABC Family channel!
-Chelsea xo