A couple weeks ago after a fun weekend with her pal Nancy of Rabbit Muse, they posted necklaces they made after buying the same exact beads at Michael's. Lorelei asked if maybe others would like to join in a similar challenge, and many of us said yes. Here's what Lorelei picked out from her Michael's and I found nearly the same at my Michael's:
Rules were we had to make a necklace, could add a focal and clasp of our choosing, and could add only 2 additional beads from out personal stashes. Easy Peasy I thought, and bought a large silver leaf pendant at Michael's with the idea of doing something asymmetrical with it. I also has just received my latest tool in the mail, a steel hole punch, which would make my multi-strand idea work with the large focal. But see that white chain in the picture? This would become the bane of my existence! because here is what my first attempt turned out like:
Wasn't working for me at all. So much so that I ignored it for a couple days. But during that couple days I pulled out some books and magazines I hadn't looked through in a while, and came across the inaugural issue of Bead Trends, and the featured designer, Deon Thomas, of Tribal Jewelry, has a necklace with dark wood, green, and a large white focal that did work together:
Ah Ha! More of the brown, and use green and white as an accent - that was the ticket. I traded in the silver foil lined clear seed beads and lime green lined clear seed beads I had been using for these two beads - a very light topaz glass and these odd, lady bug shaped beads in brown with splotches of green I had never used before because they were just - odd:
And after all of that self-imposed torture, here is the final result:
And here is where to find all of the other challengers - enjoy the blog hopping!
Mary Harding
Hilary of Fryestyle
For My Sweet Daughter
My Life Under the Bus
Kristie of DreamSomeDesigns
Linda's Bead Blog & Meanderings
Copper Diem
Andrew Thornton
TyneBodenNecklaces
Raida of HavanaBeads
Erin of Treasures Found
Molly of BeautifullyBrokenMe
Beading by Malin de Koning
AuntieAnnie
Gr8Findings
Deborah M Purdy
Spirited Earth
Erin Siegel Jewelry
beads by breul
Cynths Blog
Nayas Organized Chaos
Crafty Hope
Rosebud For the Love of Beads
Jamberry Song
Peacock Fairy
Elysian Studio Art
Designs by Debi
sweet girl design
2catchahummingbird
ooooooh pretty! I love the multi-strand! I think the focal is perfect! Great inspiration you found too! nice work, thanks so much for playing along. I hope you join in for the next one!
ReplyDeleteI agree the white chain threw me for a loop as well - I stared at it forever!!I love your solution : )...Happy Blog hopping!!!
ReplyDeleteGreat job with the final result! Love the large leaf focal. It ties in the multiple strands perfectly!
ReplyDeleteLove that leaf and how it woks with the multi strands.
ReplyDeleteShannon
Oh, wow! That leaf pendant just makes this necklace shine! Gorgeous design! I could imagine the fairy queen wearing this, slipping through the forest with a bewitching grin. :3 So beautiful!
ReplyDeleteVery pretty! Love the leaf pendant! Thanks for sharing! :)
ReplyDeleteBeau-ti-ful!! I love your solution for the chain. Ingenious!!
ReplyDeleteA total show stopper...your redo was spectacular :)
ReplyDeleteWOW!! I love the chunkiness of your design and that leaf closure is to die for- where o where did you get that?
ReplyDeletethis is soo great..i am laughing over your brilliant idea for using that DWchain, if you had not told me the czech beads were lady bugs i would never have guessed..they add a very nice texture ..love the multi stands as well.
ReplyDeleteMe, too! I enlarged the photo to see how you'd used the different elements and voila! There was the chain. How clever! And effective at the same time. I mean, it looks good like that, sets off the other pieces very nicely. I love the multi-strand look, too! --SallyA
ReplyDeleteFantastic -- I love how you disassembled the chain to use the links as spacer beads. Brilliant!
ReplyDeleteGorgeous! Clever use of the white chain.
ReplyDeleteI also made a 3-strand necklace. Love yours!
ReplyDeleteThree strands, great idea! And that focal is simply gorgeous! Wasn't this fun?
ReplyDeleteWow, plan B turned out great! I love the multiple strands and the leaf focal!
ReplyDeleteLove the leaf pendant and the way you solved all those difficult components. Great.
ReplyDeleteI really like the leaf, and the design of the back of the necklace. Thanks for sharing some of the struggles you had during the process: it resulted in a great piece!
ReplyDeleteVery pretty! Amazing focal. And I'm a big fan of the multi-strands! Great job.
ReplyDeleteWow - you totally nailed it. Love that piece!
ReplyDeleteOh, wow! I love the final result! You did great!
ReplyDeleteFun focal - very pretty necklace!!
ReplyDeleteThe multi-strand has so much rich texture! The addition of a large focal on the side is very hip. You've pulled together a piece that's very fashionable. Bravo!
ReplyDeleteperfect! just stunning.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great necklace! The focal is perfect, and the way you used the white chain links is fantastic (I wish I had thought of that - lol!). Beautiful!
ReplyDeleteI love it! It's perfect. The leaf and cone are wonderful. :)
ReplyDelete