Aren't these colors luxurious? I always love receiving my challenge kit from
our host, Andrew Thornton. He puts wonderful goodies together for us to be
inspired. I immediately was drawn to the mystery component, a polymer clay
butterfly wing made by Andrew. Here it is!
And this is what else was included
I am addicted to wax linen, so I pulled that out of the kit right away for my stringing
material. And that large pink flower was calling my name. I still am super busy in my
ceramic bead studio from being away to Bead and Button, so I knew I would only have
time to make 1 piece, so I would design a necklace, of course! I really loved the gem
stone chip mix, but the wax linen was too thick for the bead holes. So plan B....green
seed beaded chain with wax linen knotted "spacers". I always, OK 95% of the time,
have to add at least one of my handmade ceramic beads to the design. I glazed a green
8mm spacer bead for the middle of the flower and made a white and pink porcelain toggle
with a handmade toggle bar, for the clasp. Here it is!
Here's a close up of the clasp and pendant:
The trick to getting the flower to lay flat is to bend your wire (I like 20g) in half
and put the middle point through the back of the flower and small bead. Bring it up about
an inch and bend it 90 degrees with your pliers. I then use my fingers to swirl the wire
over the bead hole. At the back of the flower you have the two wire tails. Take one
down to attach the pendant and take one up to attach to your design. Hope that makes sense!
and put the middle point through the back of the flower and small bead. Bring it up about
an inch and bend it 90 degrees with your pliers. I then use my fingers to swirl the wire
over the bead hole. At the back of the flower you have the two wire tails. Take one
down to attach the pendant and take one up to attach to your design. Hope that makes sense!
I really enjoyed this challenge and I am really happy with the way my necklace turned out.
I hope you like it, too! Please hop around the following designers blogs to see what
they designed with this lovely bead mix. And if you'd like to see more of my ceramic
bead creations, you can visit my etsy shop at www.fireflydesignstudio.etsy.com
Shaiha. http://www.shaihasramblings.com/
Alison Herrington http://alisonadorns.blogspot.com/
Tammy Bowman http://innermusejewelry.blogspot.com/
Marybeth Rich http://forestofjewels.blogspot.com/
Ann Schroeder http://www.beadlove.wordpress.com
Andrew Thornton, Laurel Ross, Nancy Noyes-Ward, Kathleen Enniss-Reid, Lisa Mendum, and Debbie Rogers http://andrew-thornton.blogspot.com/
I just love this necklace! You really did justice to that beautiful focal that Andrew sent.
ReplyDeleteI do love your necklace! The flower (which also called my name) looks fantastic with Andrew's mystery component. I love the closure you made. It all looks great.
ReplyDeleteCool idea! And thanks for the quick tutorial! (I do get it) Its a lovely necklace and I wish I had been inspired by the wing, too. I just can't seem to do it justice like you did! So glad you had some time to play along!
ReplyDeleteYour necklace engineering is indeed inspiring! Thank you for sharing the process with us. I love that you used both of the bold focals together in your lovely design and included your own hand-made components as well. Truly one of a kind!
ReplyDeleteIsn't that lucite flower just delicious? I was so happy to work with it too, but had a bit of a challenge to get it to lay flat. Thank you so much for your tutorial on how to do it, I will remember that for next time. Your hand made bead and clasp are beautiful and they really look wonderful on your necklace.
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean about being busy due to the show. I'm still catching up! (It was nice seeing everyone though! Including you!) I think you did an awesome job on your necklace! It is so light and airy, almost like vines grew that way. Your ceramic pieces go beautifully with the piece and really POP! Nicely done as always! Thanks so much for participating!
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