Beauty of Spring Necklace

Artbeads declared February and March as their months of ‘The Beauty of Spring‘ for their blogger community. I was asked to design my jewelry or creation with my own individual interpretation of Spring and here is the necklace I created. Leaves always make me think of spring because that is the time that they appear, signalling that summer is on it's way. I found these gorgeous copper plated ivy leaves by searching "leaves" on Artbeads. They inspired me to design this necklace. I received three leaves and each of them is unique and beautiful for a one-of-a-kind piece of jewelry. The other two leaves will be finished as earrings to match the necklace.



The small round copper "beads" in the spiral twist neck piece are actually 3mm copper Swarovski crystal faux pearls. I've been working with their pearls for a year now and I absolutely love them for their beautiful sheen, consistent size and colour. I believe that they give my jewelry a "step up" in elegance.



The necklace also features Opaque-Lustered Turquoise Toho seed beads. They were chosen for their colour and the consistency of size. The central core of the spiral is size 11/0 Triangle Toho beads. I like to work with triangle beads where I will need to pass a thread through many times. They also add interesting texture to the piece. These quality are my favourites to work with.

All of the supplies in this necklace were given to me by Artbeads.com in return for a review of the product.

Blogging for Beads with Artbeads

These three items are the latest I've received from Artbeads in return for blogging a product review.

The pearls are 4-4.5mm Pink Rice pearls and the colour is absolutely gorgeous. It's a lovely pastel/baby pink and they have a very smooth almost satiny finish. As far as them being "rice" pearls, to me, they are almost "potato" pearls as they are fuller and rounder than I expect rice pearls to be. I have plans to use these in a necklace that I think would make a lovely gift for a young lady to wear to her graduation.

The three small sterling silver heart charms are lovely. They are small and dainty and would make a beautiful addition to a charm bracelet, necklace or earrings. I'm very pleased with them and look forward to including them in a piece of jewelry soon.

The sterling hammered 3D heart hook and eye clasp is a bit of a disappointment to me. I'm not happy with how the hook fits into the heart because it will hang asymetrically. I'm going to have to be inventive coming up with a piece of jewelry that I think it will suit. That said, the stamping, shape and size of the clasp are fine.

Any of these three items would be perfect to include in a piece of jewelry suitable for Valentine's Day! I'm thinking...have a heart! What about you?

New Pearl Necklace

It's finished! I'd made this necklace before but this time I used fresh water rice pearls instead of button pearls and I love the look of them. The last one sold quickly and I'm hoping this one will do the same. One of the differences is that instead of the gold toggle fastener, this one has a square Swarovski crystal button.



I'm also enamoured of the 24K gold plated delica beads. I need to order more!

Just Done & Sold

I've been working on this necklace for a while and a friend saw it while it was in progress. She said it would be a perfect birthday gift for her daughter. The necklace portion includes fresh water pearls that I picked up while on my road trip this past summer along with the gold charlotte beads. The pendant is different on both sides and can be removed from the necklace giving it lots of versatility for ways to wear it.