When you HAVE to make something with THAT!

Have you ever had a moment where as a creative person you see something and think "I HAVE to make something with THAT!"? I'm guessing you have, and also that you have then taken 'That' home, stared at it, wondered what to do next, and cursed your weak will-power...

Yes, I have my share of "I'm sure I'll use this one day..." things sat in boxes, but sometimes, your creative gut knows when something is right for you.

For some time I'd been glancing longingly at the Swarovsk crystal scarab beetles in The Bead Shop Nottingham, but I'd stayed my hand thinking "What will I DO with them?!" Then I decided that they're complimentary to colours I often wear, and in a size and shape which lend themselves to a range of uses, so I bought some, just to see where fancy took  me. 

Around the same time I impulse bought a set of wing charms from Nicole de Bruin Charms, figuring that they would make great... things... lots of things. Lots of potential! Agh! What to make? Being in pairs, and a range of styles and shapes, they're prefect to experiment with.

Roll on a few weeks, I pick up a new very posh purple frock, then realise that this dress needs a set of matched scarab beetle and silver wing jewellery. How fortunate that I have all the parts already! ;)

Working with a specific dress I was able to trial and error around it- I knew the neckline, and also that I'd be bare armed, so knew what necklace length I wanted, and that a wrap bracelet would balance things out a treat. Laying out concepts and moving parts around, what began as two different necklace ideas became one layered necklace.  

A final addition was a winged stick pin- meaning than when not worn with a dress, those earrings and bracelet can have a matching flash of jewellery on my lapel or tie.

Sometimes your creative gut knows your styles, knows your colour preferences, knows your skills, and bowing to that instinct can lead to pieces you'd never have been able to plan for.

So the next time you see something, and think "Oh, I HAVE to make something with THAT!" but aren't exactly sure what you are going to make, use this blog post as an excuse to help you validate buying it. 

(From test shots, to the finished outfit. I'd like to thank my husband, who, when I asked him to take a photo of me all dressed up, managed to get more shots of me gesticulating wildly than posing nicely.)