Vernal Visions Challenge Entries

The deadline to enter the Bead Mavens' second challenge is midnight tonight. The theme for this challenge is "Vernal Visions," which is all about the vernal equinox and the start of spring. For my first entry, I thought of the cherry blossom trees that always bloom right around the start of springtime. I sought to mimic these little flowers with Czech glass lentil beads and Japanese seed beads, and came up with a satisfying little flower design which is self-supporting and holds its shape quite well. 

Collected together with bronze bugle and round seed beads for the stems and branches, we get a long, blooming branch of a Sakura tree:

For my second entry, I thought of another special event that takes place right around the start of spring, my mother's birthday. When I think of my Mom I always think of pearls, and I was itching to work with some lustrous keshi freshwater pearls that don't really fit into my usual geometric style. They became the fringe on some round beaded beads, which I complemented with pink Light Clusters beaded beads. Since both beaded beads can be strung through multiple openings, I strung through them using two lengths of beading wire in a crisscrossing pattern, with additional pink and peach freshwater pearls:

A little detour gives the necklace its focal, and an overall Y-shape:

Thanks to the Bead Mavens for putting on this fun challenge! Check out the rest of the challenge entries here. 

What's your favorite springtime design?