Here's the one necklace that I managed to make last week, Dark Lady of the Depths. I really love how she turned out. She looks even better against a black background, but doesn't photograph well that way.
There are a couple of elements at play in this necklace. One was my desire to make a Goth mermaid necklace. Something about the focal bead seemed rather Gothic, and I don't know if it's the dark pewter, or the aloof expression on her face. I'm very happy with how I achieved a darkly elegant look without using much pure black.
The other element is the silver teardrop pearls. I acquired them some time back. They were part of a traveling bead box that was making the rounds of members of my bead forum. I want to say that they were added by my late friend Helen from FL (not to be confused with my local friend Helen, who is thankfully still very much alive. Apparently people named Helen have a tendency to be awesome. Keep this in mind when naming your daughters!), but I can't be sure of that. Anyway, I liked the color and smooth shape, so I kept them for my own. I've tried to use them in several projects since, and they never quite fit. The shape didn't line up with the beads I wanted them next to, or the shade of grey wasn't quite right. I grew very frustrated, because they were beautiful and I wanted to use them. After my most recent failure to work them into a project, I thought about these blackish Swarovski pearls, and how pretty they'd look with the stubborn drops. When I brought home the mermaid, that settled it. They had to all be together. I added the shadow crystal Swarovski bicones and black mother of pearl chips for extra interest. The result is a very harmonious blend of silvers and black.
I'm over halfway done with a woven necklace that utilizes another Green Girl bead, and I also have plans for a necklace with a cool faux jade vintage glass cab that I picked up in NY. Plus I've been working on my book, and tonight I danced for the first time in a while. It feels good to be doing all of these fun, creative things. Of course, I should have been doing my homework.... I guess I know what tomorrow holds for me!
That's very nice, and every time you wear it, you can think of Helen. Are the silvery pearls glass or freshwater? I've never seen silvery freshwater pearls.
ReplyDeleteThey're freshwater. I've seen them in similar colors at gem show (where there are approximately 50 zillion strands of pearls). I like how it's a subtle hue, not as in your face and obviously artificial as some. I don't know if they're dyed or what, but it's a very elegant look.
ReplyDeleteYou'd know if they were plated, so they must be dyed. I do have some peacock that are shiny like that, I hadn't thought of them.
ReplyDeleteOh, they're definitely not that metallic, they just have the pretty lustre of pearls, in a nice light grey color, so they look silvery.
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