Well, I didn't win again this time, but I can post the full reveal of my own Use the Muse 3 project.  Congratulations to everyone who did win, and to those that entered a project as well.  The entries are every bit as wonderful as I expected them to be.  If you haven't looked yet, check out the winners and the entrant galleries on The Beader's Muse website.  Grab a cup of your favorite warm beverage and get comfy-you'll be there awhile!

Aargh, 2 more days to wait until the Big Reveal of Use the Muse 3!  I'm bouncing off the walls waiting to see all the gorgeous entries, and of course hoping that I'm a winner this time around.  What do I love so much about this contest you ask? 

Well, this is such a great opportunity to grow as a bead artist.  Scarlett puts together wonderful kits for the contest which make me itch to get my hands on them.  Her sense for color and materials is great which makes it easy to start dreaming up a project even before you see what the Muse is.  Having a mystery component makes it an interesting challenge.

These 3 contests have pushed me to use materials I haven't worked with before, and to make the best use of them.  It also pushes me to try new techniques, which has really helped me grow in new directions as an artist for which I am profoundly grateful.  You don't realize sometimes that you're stuck in a rut making the same types of things until you start trying new things.  Suddenly whole new worlds of ideas open up and you wonder why you've never thought if them before.

I also love seeing what 150 other people can do with the same set of materials.  The vast amount of talent in our beading community never ceases to amaze me.  I never get tired of seeing the amazing work of my peers, or hearing about someone's delight when they've been successful trying new things for their own piece.

If you haven't checked out Scarlett Lanson's website you really should.  Not only does she have her own beautiful pieces on display, she's worked tirelessly to bring us galleries of the first two Use the Muse contests, and on Thursday, December 17, we'll get to see the newest batch of creations and hopefully know when Use the Muse 4 will be starting.  Still waiting impatiently...

Well, after getting my butt kicked in Scarlett Lanson's Use the Muse 2 contest, I hope that this will be a better submission.  The Big Reveal is still several weeks away, but I can't resist showing a sneak peek of my project.  When I saw the triangle beads I knew it had to be a cuff bracelet since I've made a couple of other cuffs with them previously.  What I always forget is that I tell myself after each one that I'll never do another one because they take for-freaking-ever to do, and this one was no exception.  I quit keeping track, but I think I have a good 15-20 hours invested in this project.

The previous triangle cuffs I've made were in square stitch and on a loom, so this time I decided to try peyote stitch.  It worked equally as well, though at first I was worried it wouldn't be flexible enough.  Thankfully that wasn't the case.  I wasn't sure exactly how I would embellish the bracelet until I received the kit.  Once I saw the Muse, I knew the name of my piece straight away: Autumn Garden.  Usually naming pieces is a chore, but this was pretty obvious for me.  

Happily, I was also organizing a Fall Colors-themed challenge swap for some of my friends in the Beading Daily forums, and 2 people had included some Lucite leaves & flowers in their contributions which fit the theme of my bracelet just perfectly.  Sadly the flowers didn't work quite the way I wanted, but I had some beads left over from the kit so I made a matching pair of earrings to wear with it.  They weren't part of the contest submission, just for me.

The hardest part, aside from working my thread through the triangle beads to add embellishment, was the clasp.  My original thought was to use one of the oval copper pieces and make a toggle with it, but it was too small for the piece.  I ended up using my friend Kay Sommers' toggle clasp tutorial as inspiration for my own.  I tried to make a bit of a leaf shape for it, and the loop half is a bit of a funky shape.  You'll have to wait for the reveal to see that part.

Enjoy, and keep checking The Beader's Muse site over the next few weeks to see the Big Reveal of Round 3.  While you're waiting, look through the galleries of all the gorgeous entries from rounds 1 & 2.  With any luck there will be a round 4 to look forward to as well.