Beauty of Spring Necklace

Artbeads declared February and March as their months of ‘The Beauty of Spring‘ for their blogger community. I was asked to design my jewelry or creation with my own individual interpretation of Spring and here is the necklace I created. Leaves always make me think of spring because that is the time that they appear, signalling that summer is on it's way. I found these gorgeous copper plated ivy leaves by searching "leaves" on Artbeads. They inspired me to design this necklace. I received three leaves and each of them is unique and beautiful for a one-of-a-kind piece of jewelry. The other two leaves will be finished as earrings to match the necklace.



The small round copper "beads" in the spiral twist neck piece are actually 3mm copper Swarovski crystal faux pearls. I've been working with their pearls for a year now and I absolutely love them for their beautiful sheen, consistent size and colour. I believe that they give my jewelry a "step up" in elegance.



The necklace also features Opaque-Lustered Turquoise Toho seed beads. They were chosen for their colour and the consistency of size. The central core of the spiral is size 11/0 Triangle Toho beads. I like to work with triangle beads where I will need to pass a thread through many times. They also add interesting texture to the piece. These quality are my favourites to work with.

All of the supplies in this necklace were given to me by Artbeads.com in return for a review of the product.

Beads on Fabric

My life has been so crazy busy for a few weeks now and I'm not getting much time to bead...however...

There is a group I've joined in town. It's the PR Fine Arts and the division I'm involved with is quilting. Because I'm a beader, they asked me to do a class introducing them to beads on fabric. This photo is the "sampler" that I worked on in the class while I showed them some basic things they could do. We also did a beaded button as it's such a fun, quick and easy project.



The following two photos are a project I've been working at for a few days. It's actually a small amulet bag, big enough for a credit card and maybe a bit of money. I haven't yet decided what I'm doing for the necklace part, but I have to say that I'm really having fun playing with sewing beads to fabric.

Aqua and Silver Necklace

Another necklace is finished! This one has been sitting on my livingroom coffee table for quite a long time. I started it and when I got about half way through it, I decided that I wanted to include some Swarovski crystals and I kept forgetting to order them. Finally they arrived and have been waiting for me to get back to the necklace. At last, I put my mind to it and got it finished in the last few days, little by little, bit by bit.

The Russian Spiral stitch that I used is one of my favourites to play around with and see how it comes out with all different sorts of seed beads. This one is basically bugle beads (I always have trouble remembering the name of these - "trumpet" kept popping into my head!) and Toho seed beads. I love the sparkle that the silver lined beads create and it's just the thing to go with the crystals. It's for sale in my Etsy shop if you take a fancy to it. You'll also find more details about it, length and such, there. You'll see a couple of other photos of the necklace as well.





If you scroll down a couple of posts here to the batch of earrings I recently posted, there is a pair that would go perfectly with this necklace. It's in the bottom photo of the post, in the bottom left hand corner.

The necklace is for sale in my Etsy shop.

Let It Be - Turquoise

There is no denying that I'm loving the combination of the colours turquoise and copper. Not long ago I posted a necklace that I thought might be mine. When it was finished, I had yet another turquoise stone that I wanted to do something with. This is the "something" that I did. I named it Let It Be for two reasons. It's one of my favourite Beatle songs and also, I was thinking, "if I could have only one necklace - Let It Be Turquoise!" And it's quite an accomplishment for me to be completing things now as summer is here full force with temperatures up to 38C on my deck late afternoon. I just want to be out in the sunshine, working in my garden!



This necklace is available for sale in my Etsy Shop.

Maybe My Necklace

This necklace has been in progress for a while. In the beginning I thought I wanted to put a copper closure on it. I searched around the internet and bought a few pieces of copper but just didn't find one that I felt worked with the two bead colours. Finally a light bulb came on and I made a beaded toggle closure. The last stage of the project was figuring out how I was going to handle that large turquoise stone that I wanted to use. I'm very happy with the final result and I'm thinking I should be keeping it for me.



My granddaughter was here on the weekend and she was admiring the turquoise and topaz rope. I mentioned to her that I was adding the turquoise stone and that turquoise is my birthstone. Then I remembered that she and I are both Sagittarians but that I am December and she is November. And she reminded me that her birthstone is topaz. So the necklace has some symbolic significance for us. I may need to keep it.



As I said, I'm very happy with the final result. I've been saving that gorgeous turquoise stone for a long time. Waiting for the right necklace to pair it with.

This One's for Me!

Turquoise is one of my favourite stones. Probably because it's my birth stone. I've got quite a collection of turquoise stones and I've been surprised to learn that they come in so many different shades. I've been collecting beads to go with them and finally decided to sit down and do something for myself with them. This bracelet in freeform peyote stitch is the result. I chose to add in some beads that pick up on the dark lines through the turquoise stones.

Glass Leaf Pendant Necklace and...

I've gotten over my inspiration block and completed a couple of new pieces. The first one was inspired when I was looking through my supplies. I'd forgotten that I had the glass leaf and when I found it, POOF - inspiration! Taking my cue from the colours in the leaf, I created a princess length spiral rope neck piece in two shades of blue beads and added gold triangle beads to pick up on the gold in the leaf. The leaf pendant can be removed so that the necklace can stand alone.



The second piece was inspired by the turquoise chips. Turquoise is my favourite stone and I thought I'd use them in a bracelet for myself. Again, using the spiral rope stitch, I included the turquoise chips in the center of the bracelet.

The Amazing Vanishing Necklace

I'd been working on this necklace for several days. While I was in Vancouver last, I bought the glass pendant bead and was looking forward to creating something. The necklace is another spiral rope in three different turquoise beads with a clear aurora borealis core bead. The pendant can be removed, so the rope can be worn alone. I contemplated adding a silk rope as well and had taken the necklace with me to show a friend over a coffee in her store. I also wanted her opinion about whether it was "finished". I was wondering if I'd add some fringe to the bottom half of the pendant. Couldn't make up my mind.





While I was there, another friend came in looking for a gift. As she was browsing through my jewelry that was already in the store, I showed her this necklace. She snatched it from my hands and said: "I'll take it!"

So before I'd even decided it was finished, it was sold. It vanished! And it wasn't till I got home that I remembered that I hadn't even photographed it yet! Fortunately, this morning when I dropped in on her, it hadn't gone to it's new home yet, so I was able to get a picture of it!