Saturday, January 23, 2010

Show Stopper Necklace

This is another of my more recent creations. It definitely makes a statement. What I love about it is that, even though it is made with purple pearls, it amazingly coordinates with a number of other colors. Obviously black and white work really well with this piece. Because of the irridized colors incorporated into the necklace, it is also gorgeous on turquoise, browns, navy, greens and especially with denim blue and tans/taupes! It totally changes depending on what color you put it with. It will dress up that little black dress and goes equally well with a denim jacket. I was even surprised by this.
This necklace is an eye catcher. Because the strands each have a nice weight to them, they fall nicely in place, yet it has movement because each is separated. The shiny, irridized beads catch and reflect the light.





I have been studying my bottle of purple pearls salvaged from an abandoned, broken necklace for some time. The former style was a double strand of purple pearls with a hook closure. In that form it definitely screamed purple. Although purple is one of my favorite colors, I felt that used alone this necklace would be very limited. I had some round beads from another reclaimed necklace that incorporated a variation of sizes, shades and both shiny and satin surfaces. I thought these added interest to the plain pearls. I also had some new and recycled irridized beads that seemed to fit in the mix. I felt it still needed some punch.






When I laid it out on my bead board, I added some turquoise glass beads in a variety of shapes. That seemed right to me, so I connected the strands. I attached them to an antique gold chain I had purchased.


The necklace can adjust from 17 1/2" to 20". The strands vary slightly in length, but are roughly 4 1/2" long. This necklace is a definite show stopper!

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