May Challenge~ Under The Sea~ Vote for your Favorite!

We have some amazing entries for your consideration in this month's "Under the Sea" challenge. This challenge was conceived by Brenda of Millcreek Collection and inspired by the movie The Little Mermaid. Brenda challenged each of us to create a extravaganza of at least 4 different hand-created textures with an ocean theme (you can view the complete challenge rules here). With that in mind our teamies went to work and the entries this month are absolutely stunning!

Our first entry was this creative piece by Carole of Caroleaxium. The wee details on this are so wonderful, and the stone seems to be the perfect color of the deep blue sea!

Here is a really lovely seashell necklace by Nickie of Caoimhe Lily in copper. The hinge adds a fun touch so that is can be worn closed and then opened for a surprise found inside!

Clarity of Scrollwork Designs really outdid herself with this fabulous mermaid necklace! The colors and textures are beautiful, and it is really a unique design!

I just fell in love with this turtle brooch by Lori of StonePeace. I think she did a fantastic job capturing the likeness of a sea turtle, and the different textures really add great dimension to the piece!

This seahorse brooch by Brenda of Millcreek Collection is so full of depth and texture. I love how she was able to add the layers of the seaweed and plant life, and included a lovely accent stone.

Here is a really interesting sea themed charm necklace made by Vicki of Kaleida Eclectics. She has added several elements including swirls and balls, beads and sea themed charms!

This is one of three amazing copper cuffs made by Julie of WabiBrook Studio. She really took the challenge to heart, and explored painting her copper with fire to achieve lovely color combinations, and the use of riveting to add some pretty pearls!



Gloria of Hemlock Hollow made this tiny copper treasure chest with an assortment of gems, pearls and beads spilling over the top. I thought it was a really creative approach to this months challenge!

Who doesn't love Jellyfish! This necklace made by Addie of ScrapMetal2 really captures the feeling of a jellyfish floating along in the ocean current. I love all of the intricate tentacles that she added, and the sea themed charms finish it off nicely!

More fabulous jellyfish! Claire of Brightstar109 came up with a fun and original idea for the challenge with these jellyfish earrings, and the added bits of dangling chain really give them movement!

This entry by Heather of MistyRidge features a pretty sea themed scene that can be worn as a pendant or a brooch! I love how she used different metals to add depth, and the pearl really adds a nice finishing touch to it!

Our last entry for the challenge was by Jessica of Abella Blue....another jellyfish piece! I love the contrast of the silver against the copper, and the beads added are just the perfect color to finish it off!



As usual our teamies really outdid themselves and picking a favorite will be a challenge in and of itself! Remember to vote for the piece you think best embodies the challenge parameters while displaying the most original, out of the box design. It will be a hard choice as they are all so unique and different! Everyone did a fabulous job stretching their creativity and their metalsmithing skills for this month's challenge and my hat's off to all of you!

Voting begins now and runs through midnight on Monday, the 31st. Please restrict voting to team members only since this is a team challenge. Good luck!

*A very special THANK YOU to Sylvia Anderson who is so much more organized than Clarity and has been kind enough to do the lion's share of the work on this month's challenge post in addition to her recent work on the much-improved blog layout. THANK YOU Sylvia!