Cynthia used the pearls in her project and because of the size, was left with an over abundance of these beautiful pearls. Cynthia decided to have a blog hop and send out six of these pearls to six people willing to play around with these beauties for a blog hop, count me in. Now I have no business signing up for any blog hop at this time of the year and I've been scrambling as I'm sure everyone else has been with their busy schedules. I came up with an idea awhile back for these gorgeous pearls but as I'm prone to do, I waited until almost the last minute to execute. I actually thought the hop was last weekend - the same weekend as my jewelry open house. Scrambling around, I put together the focal for my piece.
Awhile back I was rooting around in my stash and I found some sterling silver wire that I forgot I had. I also discovered some sterling silver squiggles that I bought some years back that I also forgot about. I made a structure for my piece with the heavy gauge sterling wire, wire wrapped the pearls and added them to the structure. My first attempt wasn't working out as I had planned - the pearls and squiggles were too close together and didn't stay put on my structure. Also stashed away in my stash of beads, tools and long forgotten gems was a coiling gizmo. I used some of the thin gauge wire that I discovered in my stash and made some short coils to use as spacers between the pearls and squiggles.
I am pretty pleased with the finished focal however I'm still unsure as to how I want to finish off the necklace. Having an extra week for the reveal allowed me to order some soft grey seam binding that I thought I would use but I'm not sure that's what I want to do. I'm also toying with using some black leather for the back portion but of course I don't have black leather to use so my project in incomplete.
Big thanks to Cynthia for allowing me to participate and please check out these other participants to see what they came up with for the hop.
Cynthia http://antiquitytravelers.
Cynthia http://antiquitytravelers.
Linda http://lindysdesigns.
Christine http://onekisscreations.
Hi Linda,
ReplyDeleteI love the focal piece and it would look gorgeous with whatever you decide to use as the neck strap. The coil spacers were a great idea to keep everything in it's place.
Merry Christmas,
Therese
Love where this is going Linda! the squiggles look so festive - perfect for a holiday necklace!! you can't go wrong with either the ribbon or the leather (I used ribbon on the first, and leather on the second :) Thanks for joining the hop and having a bit of fun with these Whoops beads
ReplyDeleteOh, what a fun statement piece you made with the pearls. I love how everything kinda fell together (with the exception of the finishing) I can see the seam binding in the picture and it is lovely, but I do bet the stark of the black leather would finish it off perfectly. This piece is fun and quirky, but still so professional and elegant. Wonderful!!
ReplyDeleteLove how everyone's is so different. Yours has a more casual vibe I think and especially would with leather. Kind of that leather and lace thing...
ReplyDeleteI love those squiggly swirls you created to complement the pearls. The necklace is sure to look amazing on and receive many compliments. I look forward to seeing how you finish it off.
ReplyDeleteLinda ~ The funky vibe of the squiggles and the pearls on the wire is fantastic! You had a good vision for these beads. I think the black leather would tie it all together beautifully ~ cool and edgy. The grey ribbon adds a nice softness too ~ more romantic. I looks forward to seeing what you choose. It was a fun hop!
ReplyDeleteGood heavens, Linda! LOVE what you did with the pearls! (And totally enjoyed your blog post too!)
ReplyDeleteHi Linda, Your focal is beautiful. The wire squiggles add texture without overwhelming the pearls. Good job. I think the black leather would give it an edgy look.
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