You may have remembered the wonderful mix of beads I received from Artbeads.com several weeks ago. Well, as you can expect, I threw in some antique mother of pearl button from my private stash. The final product is finished!
The challenge: Summertime
The materials: Glass beads and metal charms
Designing this piece was a walk on the beach...literally! As soon as I saw all the components piled in front of me, I grabbed my sketchbook and furiously drew this design. I wanted a design that captures the asymmetrical shifting ocean on the beach as well as a variety of design techniques.
One side of the necklace features Czech glass pearlized beads in emeralds and ocean blues, with hand knotting between each pearl using variegated blue/green/purple cotton. They were super easy to string with a hole large enough to accommodate the cotton (most pearls have tiny holes that are difficult to string). Mixed among the pearls are two components of crocheted Czech pressed glass beads and Vintage glass beads using the same variegated blue cotton. I have only crocheted seed beads in the past and found crocheting with the chunkier Czech and vintage beads quite fun. I even took the surplus beads not used in this piece and crocheted bracelets to match the necklace.
The other side of the necklace contains three strands to counter balance the weight of the pearlized and glass beads. Two strands of antiqued brass plated chain feature more Czech glass pearls, pressed Czech beads and an antique carved smoky mother of pearl button from my collection. Add to that a bead woven rope of antiqued bronze glass seed beads.
Together, the four strands compliment each other, and yet they stand out on their own.
The clasp is hand wired and designed to clasp in the front just above the focal, both for ease in clasping and another element of design.
The focal consists of a hand wired antique carved mother of pearl button from my collection and featuring more Czech pressed glass beads in turquoise with Picasso so that they resemble stones straight from the ocean. In reality, I had to keep reminding myself they were Czech glass beads and not actual carved stones, they were so realistic! Shift the eyes down further and you get to the main focal of the piece.
A seashell from my private collection was hand drilled to allow for a spray of ocean charms. The charms were individually wired with brass wire along with more turquoise with Picasso Czech glass beads to give the effect that the tiny sea creatures were spilling out of the shell in a wave of water. If found the charms very impressive in detail, especially the starfish.
Altogether, the necklace is a stunning piece, versatile for both casual and more formal ensembles. I'm toying with the idea of giving this to my mother. What do you think? Give it to Mom, have a giveaway or offer it in my shop?Artbeads.com is offering tons of specials right now, so be sure to head over and be taken away into bead heaven!
Disclosure: Artbeads kindly provided, free-of-charge, the materials reviewed above within the frames of Artbeads.com Design Partner blogging program. The review of the materials in this article is based on my own honest, personal opinion of working with them. I, the author, have received no payment from Artbeads.com for this review.
