Hello, everyone! It would seem that I have completely lost my mind, as is evidenced by my commitment to the Year of Jewelry Project on facebook. The idea is that those who join the group commit to make, photograph, and post a newly made piece of jewelry every week for the entire year. They even post weekly themes to keep your muse awake and active.

I think the group is closed now, meaning that they are not accepting any more members, but the photo albums are available for browsing. I highly recommend you check in every week or so to see the theme and what everyone is up to. Maybe you can work up the madness to join us next year!

This week’s theme was “A Personal Talisman for my Year”. I’m not much of a talisman person, but I did make a necklace for my younger sister that featured a particular talisman of hers – Elephants!

The little elephant bead was made by Heather Powers of Humblebeads. Seriously, check out her stuff – it is amazing!

The rest of the little dangles are made of an assortment of things from my stash. There are crystal bicones, magatamas, frosted glass beads, and some pretty blue/gray stones I can’t identify. Oh! And there are two matching polymer clay wobble beads that Heather sent with the elephant. The back is finished with a large aluminum chain to give it enough length to sit mid-bust without adding too much weight.

I’m hoping the future challenges work out as well as this one did!