Operation: Buried in Beads began when I decided it was time to clean and organize my bead collection. I quickly became overwhelmed by the amount of bead clutter that I had accumulated and joked on Facebook that it might be easier to use up all my beads than put them away. We all had a good laugh, but the truth is that I did have an awful lot of beautiful beads just sitting around, and it really seemed a shame. They needed to be made into jewelry.So I've been quietly working on this goal, occasionally posting about it on Facebook. My latest Artbeads.com project (which I can't post yet because I need to mail it to someone and I don't want to spoil the surprise) kicked it off by not only using all of the things that I had just received from Artbeads, but also some nice stone beads, and then I put everything away right afterwards. This was followed by the two skull projects, and now today's two necklaces (which I'll talk more about in tomorrow's Etsy post).
The above necklace is one of two that I made today, and it serves as the perfect illustration for the importance of this personal challenge. The lampworked beads are from the first purchase that I ever made from MZ Glass, so they've been in my stash for years. They're accompanied by some glass from last year's NY trip and lava from the Rings & Things show in May. Old and new came together in a beautiful way, and I put a little dent in my pile of beads.
the textures are so great together, and the colors are striking.
ReplyDeleteHi AJ, so glad I was browsing through Facebook this morning and found your blog post. Good work with those lava beads, they're different and fun to work with, arent' they? (I enjoy how surprisingly smooth they are, too...)
ReplyDeleteCheers!
--Dave
at Rings & Things
Thank you, Julie! I was going to add more color to the necklace, but nothing quite matched the focal so I kept it simple and I think it worked out right :)
ReplyDeleteDave! Nice to see you here at my blog :) I LOVE the lava! It does feel so much smoother than it looks, and since it's porous, I can make big chunky necklaces and not give anyone neck pain ;)