Artisan Clay Design Team - Pennsylvania Girls

Hi all.  Welcome to my January Artisan Clay Design Team reveal post.

Kristie Roeder, the magic hands behind these wonderful stoneware and recycled glass pieces of art, challenged the team to start out the new year.  She picked pieces for all of us sight unseen.  I lucked out with this blue and white pendant that's bright and summery and happy...perfect for the doldrums of a mediocre, muddy winter.  Plus, blue and white are my high school alma mater's colors, so I figured this little project could do double duty as a birthday present for one of my hometown buds as we move into our "over 40" years.  haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa  

Right away, I thought it'd be easy...it's blue, for crying out loud.  But, alas, matching the tones of these blues was harder than I thought it would be.  I think the darker one looks like the crayon called "cornflower" and the lighter one is a clearer version of the same.  You can see in the pic above that I started towards fibers that were in the right color family for this design.  I picked out some white-washed, pale wood disks and then re-discovered my little crystal hoard...that's when the design took a different turn.  

I have experienced a dearth of inspiration, lately, when I sit at the bead table.  But, one of my fave designers of late is fellow Team member, Staci over at Staci Louise Originals.  She just has a cool way of putting unique bits together into a composition that doesn't seem like it should work but just does!  So, I used her designs as inspiration for this piece...I hope she sees it as a suitable tribute. :)  

There's one other art bead included in the design:  that little blue lampworked glass round is from Sue at Suebeads, another Design Team member.  

That brings the total number of Pennsylvania girls involved in this project to four...Kristie, Staci, Sue, and I all hail from the Keystone state.  How cool is that?