Beginnings... and Surprise Endings

Some folks have asked me to explain what inspires me at the beginning of a project. Is it a specific color? A particular bead? A "light bulb" moment in the shower? Well, my answer is "yes": all of the above, though the moment of inspiration varies from project to project.

This past week, I chose to use some mottled blue jade teardrops I bought at the last bead show. When I first saw them, my brain fritzed and short-circuited. They were beautiful - and a whole strand of them together, well, it was A Moment. I brought them home and didn't do anything with them, that is, until now. My plan was to make bead embroidered earrings. Oh, they would be spec-TAC-ular!

I finished the first one and it was apparent they were to big for earrings. I made the second, since the stone was already glued down.

When finished, I laid it next to the first piece, and realization hit me like a brick - these would be great strung together. Good thing I'd glued more of the jade stones down!

To soften the final piece, I wanted to make smaller elements to place between the jade medallions. I have some mother-of-pearl coin beads in a very soft blue. Perfect! I made a pretty round piece, and when I put it between the two jade elements, my reaction was, "Uh.... no."

Didn't really like the stark white seed beads in there and, again, too big.

I tried again, but kept it even simpler, and "Hazzah!" Just what I was looking for.

A few hours later, I had enough pieces to arrange the final layout.

Satisfied, I used freshwater pearls to attach everything together. The finished result, 18 hours after I started, is romantic, soft, and very elegant. Do you think it's too late to see if Kate Middleton might want it for her Big Day???

Oh, and don't worry... that medallion I decided not to use gets to shine in it's own piece as a simple pendant.

copyright 2010 Shibori Girl