Thursday, May 31, 2012

Challenge of Literature - Hosted by Erin Prais-Hintz


Hello Y'all and welcome to my second blog post for today. (If you are looking for the Tiny Tin Challenge click here)

When Erin announced that she was hosting another challenge and this one would be based on literature, I said what the heck I will give it a try.  I knew exactly what series of books I was going to base my pieces on.
I chose Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum novels.  I love this series of books I have read all but 17 and 18 and I have those downloaded onto my kindle waiting to be read.  I love these books!  These books have made me laugh out loud and bite my finger nails in suspense of what will happen next, and even cry at times.
The antics Stephanie Plum and the other characters, such as Lula an ex-prostitute, who happens to be my favorite character next to Stephanie of course, get into are gut busting hilarious.  The on again off again love affair between Stephanie and Joe Morelli, a handsome Italian Homicide Detective with Trenton, NJ Police Dept., has been going on between the two since they were in high school.  To throw a little spice into the mix Stephanie has a serious crush on a tall handsome Cuban Carlos Monoso aka Ranger, who is the number one bounty hunter for Stephanie's Cousin Vinnie.
This series starts out with Stephanie looking for a job.  Her Grandma Mazur, a very colorful character, recommend that she go see Cousin Vinnie that owned a Bail Bonds business.  Stephanie was to late for the filing clerk job so Connie, Vinnie's secretary, gave her the job of bounty hunter and Stephanie's life would never be the same.  If you have not read any of these books, I recommend that you get one and read it, but be careful once you read the first one you will want to read the next and so on.  Here is a list of the Stephanie Plum novels-

Stephanie Plum Series (in order written)

I based my challenge pieces on Stephanie, Lula, and Connie.  I based my pieces on what I knew of these characters from Janet's descriptions of these three women.  Here is what I created.

First up Stephanie...


Stephanie is not a very flashy character she mainly wears tank tops, t-shirts, and jeans. This necklace is light weight and will go with just about any thing. It would look good on Stephanie whether she was dressing down or up.  Stephanie is a natural type of female, but not your average type of female that is why I chose to use potato and dagger fresh water pearls in red and bronze.  Between the pearls are gunmetal color metal 4mm beads and gold colored 3mm bi-cone beads. I connected the two strands of pearls to a gun metal colored chain, then I added a silver tone heart shaped toggle clasp.


Next is Lula...


Lula is the complete opposite of Stephanie.  Lula is large and in charge! Lula is very flamboyant Black woman and loves to show it in her outfits.  I picture Lula with big and chunky jewelry.  I created this necklace using these large green stones that measure 21/2 inches long by 11/2 inches wide.  I also used 12mm Aventurine and 15mm silver tone filigree beads I added some 4mm green crystal bi-cones, bead caps, spacers, and a big funky toggle clasp.  I had two of the large green beads left so I made a pair of earrings to go with this necklace.

I did not have headpins long enough for these large beads so I took some 22 gauge silver tone wire and made a spiral on one end and the 4mm crystal bi-cones and 12mm Aventurine beads then wire wrapped the earring wires onto the earrings.  They are heavy, but that would not matter to Lula as long as they looked good.

Last but not least Connie...


Connie is Cousin Vinnie's out spoken secretary.  Connie is your typical Jersey Girl that likes to dress in Jersey Girl fashion.  I created this necklace with Connie in mind.  This necklace is just enough to make a statement and not be all in your face.  I used 22mm round pink stone beads and paired them with fancy cut rectangle wood beads, between the big beads are 6mm round brown shell beads. and silver tone spacers. I used a grape leaf shaped toggle. 

I hope that you like what I have created for this challenge and that you will pick up one of these books and read about these wonderful and colorful characters.

Here is the list of the other participants, please go by and see what wonderful creations they have created.


Erin Prais-Hintz
Rebecca Anderson
Rose Binoya
Lori Bowring Michaud
Shannon Chomanszuk
Marlene Cupo
Jenny Davies-Reazor
Kim Dworak
Beth Emery
Therese Frank
Amy Freeland
K Hutchinson
Jennifer Justman
Susan Kennedy
Linda Landig
Lisa Lodge
Lisa Lowe
Kirsi Luostarinen
Beth McCord
Melissa Meman
Sharon Misuraco
Tracey Nanstad
Melinda Orr
Kashmira Patel
Alice Peterson
Sally Russick
Niky Sayers
Pam Sears
Amy Severino
Tracy Stillman
Emma Todd
Melissa Trudinger
Lesley Watt
Shai Williams

Thank you Erin for hosting another great challenge.

Happy beading Y'all,
Therese





38 comments:

  1. I love what you did for this challenge, Therese. I love the Stephanie Plum books and I agree that Lula is my favorite! But, Grandma comes in a close second. All of these pieces fit the characters perfectly.

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  2. Oh, wow, Therese - I didn't read those books, but I really want to now :) From your jewelry, I like Lula's character the most (is she some kind of Mommy from Gone with the Wind?). From your description - the characters have been matched perfectly with their jewelry! Love it!

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  3. Oh my, I so want to read this series now! What a creative idea to make necklaces you think the characters would wear! LOVE IT! Your pieces are dynamite!

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  4. What great pieces! I love that each one was created based on the personality of these charachters!

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  5. I have read all but number 18!!!!! Love those books....they take me away from my hum drum world! I love your designs...they are true to character, especially Lula's! I can picture that necklace in my mind with Lula wearing it with some way-too-tight, spandex animal print dress!!!! These are wonderful interpretations!! Thanks for making me smile today!

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  6. I have never heard or read the books you speak of, but I love how you made individual pieces for the characters. I feel I know them a little and the jewelry sounds and looks just right for these engaging sounding people in the book. Neat job!
    Jenni

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  7. You know what Therese? You are truly a bead goddess. You can rock some gorgeous seed beads and totally turn around and blow my mind with your strung creations! I can totally see each character as she wears it and well this is me bowing to your creative mind!

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  8. Therese! I have that whole series in my kindle too! I have only read the first three though! But you have nailed the jewelry for these characters - just perfectly! I love all three but I love the piece you created for Stephanie the best!!!

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  9. What a great hop! And those necklaces are gorgeous! makes me want to read the books to see what these characters are like!!

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  10. Therese these pieces are great, and brilliant inspiration too

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  11. haHA! I can just picture the characters from these. What a great job (esp. Lula's! *grin*)

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  12. Wow! All of these necklaces are incredible and I am totally in love with Stephanie's.

    And I already have these books in my TBR pile.

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  13. They are both lovely! However the green one really speaks to me. I just had to keep touching the green stones in the piece yesterday. So pretty!

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  14. Those are both so pretty! I love the one with the pearls, especially!

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  15. Therese - I love the approach you'v taken to this challenge...I don't know these books at all but I get a very visual image of what these characters are like form your lovely designs and descriptions. Great work.

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  16. My husband and I discovered these books when preparing for a road trip. We love audio books, and have listened to a couple in this series. They are wonderful!! I came here to see your Tiny Tin challenge, but as soon as I saw "Stephanie Plum" I had to keep reading. Beautiful jewelry! I think you are spot on for each of their styles! Now I HAVE to add all of them to my e reader!

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  17. I've read all these books, too. And I think you totally got them all, especially Lula. She so big and bold and the beads you picked are HER! I think it would be great if you could get this set to Janet Evanovich. I think she'd love them! Great job here, Therese!

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  18. Therese - I am not familiar with these book, but from your description of the characters, I think your jewelry matches very well! Lula is my favorite. I love the green color and the shape of the earrings. All the designs are pretty - I'd wear them all.

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  19. I love that you dressed up the characters, what a great approach. I don't know the books but I'm guessing I'd probably love Lula from you jdescription of her. That necklace is my favourite, I have such a hard time designing around big stones like that - but I love what you've done with them.

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  20. I have never heard of this series of books, but after your description, I will have to check it out! i love that you connected with the characters enough to be able to create a piece for each of them. I love those wooden rectangle beads, very unique. Well done Therese!!

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  21. What a terrific way to approach the challenge! I haven't read all the books in the series, but completely loved each one I have read. The necklaces are great representations of the characters, and how appropriate that Stephanie's is sweet and tough and has some gunmetal that doesn't have a caliber associated with it!

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  22. I want to be Stephanie!! You of course did a beautiful job on all of the necklaces. Those big stones....love the color!! I love to read and now I have the kindle....not enough time!!

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  23. Therese You have blown me away! I love the three different styles, and can surely tell the character by each's look. Super Job, my friend.

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  24. Oh Therese! I love these! I am not familiar with the books, but from your descriptions these necklaces sound perfect for them!

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  25. From your character descriptions, I'm most like Stephanie, and I love her necklace (the gold bicones are an inspired choice - the perfect bit of shine), but I could also see me sporting Connie's piece - love the colors and I'm envying those wood rectangles!

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  26. I love your character descriptions and that you've created jewellery to match their individual personalities...now, to check out the books.

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  27. I haven't read this series yet but I want to. Saw the movie and thought it was pretty funny. My boyfriend said the books are funnier. I love your necklaces! You can see the personalities in each of them! And I love the colors you chose. Beautiful.

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  28. I'll have to look into these series of books! If "Cousin Vinnie" is a character, they have to be good! What an ambitious idea to make the 3 necklaces! They surely do represent the variety of personalities with their individual beauty! Fun to see! You might like Lisa Scottoline's series about the all-girl attorney office, very suspenseful and lots of laughs!

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  29. What fun! I love that you took your favorite characters and dressed them up! I can just picture who these women are and their personalities from the beads and colors you chose for them. I have not read these but I will be keeping them on my list! Thank you for playing with me in this Challenge! Enjoy the day. Erin

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  30. Those are all statement pieces! What a trio!

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  31. I can't believe how many great pieces you made! Fun :-)

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  32. I loved reading your post it made me want to read the books. Great job!

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  33. I haven't read these books, but it sounds like you captured the personalities of your favourite characters with your designs. They sound like a fun trio of ladies.

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  34. Therese - those pieces absolutly freaking stunning ;) I have not read this series, thought about it, but after reading your descriptions of the characters and seeing the pieces you created to represent those characters I am going to get the books!!! All three of them are unique and gorgeous and I wish I could reach through the monitor and just touch them - so drooling right now! Awesome, awesome, awesome!!!

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  35. I really like your idea of creating jewelry with certain characters in mind. What a great source of inspiration. I haven't read this series before but your recommendation almost makes me want to!! Great job on the jewelry.

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  36. Therese - perfect! I love how you created the three pieces, they match the personalities perfectly! I haven't read all of the books, but a lot of them! Fantastic!

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  37. I haven't read the books but the movie that came out One for the Money with Katherine Heigl was kinda cute and had me interested in reading the series. Now I really want to read it. Thanks for renewing that interest :0)

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