A Year-Long Project!

Late last fall, I decided to join another round robin, this one with the ArtCharms yahoo group, so it's for bracelets rather than fabric.  The idea is that each participant starts a bracelet with a theme and one charm, then sends it on to the next person.  Each one adds a charm until it comes back to the originator with twelve handmade charms in December of 2013.  We were to include a small notebook or journal so each person could document what they made, as well as a box to protect your bracelet on its journey.  

Everything needed to be in the mail today, so I've been thinking about and planning for this for a while.   I chose the theme "Mother Nature: Goddess of the Earth" since I'm drawn to earthy colors, leaves, flowers, natural materials etc.  I had bought 2 different chain styles in advance (the top two in the photo below) but when I sat down to put the clasps on,  they felt too flimsy for such an awesome project.  So I quickly went onto the artbeads.com website and fell in love with the little leafy chain at the bottom, which goes so well with my theme.  Because of the holidays and the delays with the mail, it just came TODAY so I very quickly put everything together.

 But while I was waiting for it to come, I decorated my journal!  I had some leftover sheets from the Sketchbook project I did in 2010-11 so I made a cover out of an old gift bag (stained green with thinned paint and decorated with copper gel pen).

 I also painted the inside pages with shades of blues and greens.  This took longer than I thought, and I made a huge mess by spilling a dark blue ink, which I then didn't want to waste, so I tried to scoop it back up, and water it down.  My pages are kind of splotchy and random, but I suppose you could look at it as being "natural" and fitting in with the theme!

 Then came the box.  I picked this little thing up at the dollar store, figuring it's just utilitarian, not for show.  But then I saw all the cute boxes others in the group were making, and I also coincidentally had saved a round cheese box from a wheel of Brie.

 So I put two and two together and came up with the fabric-covered box below! I almost like it as much as the bracelet!  I hot-glued in a little batting cushion with a round indentation perfect for nestling the bracelet.  I used acrylic gel medium to adhere some lacy leaves I had in my stash.

Below is a close up of the bracelet with the clasp I selected and two charms (I couldn't settle on just one!).  One is a fabric leaf with painted edges and two little bead and bead-cap flower dangles, and the other is a polyclay seashell look-alike with a copper goddess symbol attached.  I can't wait to see what other treasures it will collect along the way!

Now I'd better get to the post office!