Beading Back in Time - Early Human Blog Hop Challenge

Hey everyone!  No, I haven't dropped off the face of the planet - for the last month I've been super busy preparing for a surgery that I had on Wednesday last week.  I thought during my recovery period there would be tons of time to get caught up on my backlog of blogging, facebooking, etsy posting, etc...but the reality has been that all I want to do is sleep.  So, here I am, after my second nap of the day, finally posting about our upcoming blog hop challenge!

 Do you remember a few months ago when my friend Sherri Stokey of Knot Just Macrame and I hosted our first quarterly blog hop challenge?  No?  Well, if you would like to refresh yourself, check out our posts here and here...and don't forget to look at  all the participant's finished pieces again!  Both of us were so pleased with the effort that everyone put into this challenge, and we're excited to introduce the Spring quarter challenge:  Beading Back in Time:  Early Human Blog Hop Challenge!

Sherri says I'm the short one...what's that all about?!?!

The challenge will work like before, with the exception of the timeline.  Last time we focused on inspirations from before the dawn of humankind.  Now we are seeking out inspiration from the very earliest discoveries of humanity, up to 3500 BCE (yes, that is a bit of an arbitrary date).  This timeline will encompass anything from the evolution of modern humans, to the decline of Neanderthals, the Paleo-, Meso-, and Neolithic "stone age" periods, and everything else in between!  Please check out Sherri's intro post HERE!

There are so many ways you could be inspired by this theme!  Cave paintings, stone carvings and sculptures, primitive textiles and fibers, and early beads are just a few of the things I've had floating around in my mind.  I definitely want to use these beads in my piece this challenge:

These are hand drilled quartz beads from the Neolithic period!  Just holding them is a fantastic feeling - beads and bead creation have been a part of human culture for SO LONG...it gives me goosebumps to think about!

I hope you will stay tuned for the reveal of the BBiT: Early Human Blog Hop Challenge on May 1st! Hopefully I will be able to post a few more updates during my recovery period...we will just have to see how the nap schedule works out.  Don't forget to check out my bi-weekly posts over on the Art Jewelry Elements blog too...I just posted one yesterday about my collection of vessel beads!  Thanks for looking!