Friday, April 5, 2019

Bead Peeps Reveal





Participating in Bead Peeps 5th Annual Swap'n Hop and my pairing with Jennifer Strehler has been fun. She and I have a lot in common. We both have shops on Etsy. My shop is BayMoonDesign and her shop is called Purple Oyster. She loves purple just as much as I do. She associates the color with strength.  I just love purple for its color;  it just calls to me.  Jennifer and I both create jewelry.  When I look at her jewelry, it is clear to me that she selects high quality gems and metals and is very meticulous in her metal working.


Purple Oyster gifted BayMoonDesign





agate focal, lamp work, beads

I received these beautiful beads back from Jennifer in March. Jennifer was very generous in sending me so many beautiful beads.  Immediately, I fell in love with the large art glass flower beads.  I don't know how she parted with them!  They were made by glass artist Russian Любовь Агапкина.  

I put the purple beads aside for a special necklace for my daughter who also loves purple.  I have had a focal for awhile that will work beautifully with the beads that Jennifer gifted me.  
Photo by Jessica Castro on Unsplash

I then set out with the intention of using the gorgeous large glass flowers and the gifted leather in a design. The leather fit through the glass flowers so I saw that as a sign to use it in the necklace.  I also used a few of her ceramic beads, the large agate focal.  I love copper so I used that metal to add some color and brightness.  The necklace went together pretty quickly, but I spent a lot of time on the design.  I ended up starting the design at the back of the necklace. I cut the leather in half and ran the leather with the ceramic beads, copper spacers, and glass flowers through and attached it inside to a copper wire loop that I created.  The knotted leather is trimmed and tucked back inside the flower.  I also knotted the leather where I wanted to hold the beads and spacers in place.  The knots also add color to the necklace.  The hardest part of the design was determining how to connect the leather to the metal.


Floral Necklace by BayMoonDesign
 I want to create a statement necklace to feature for an upcoming Delaware by Hand Memorial Day Show that I am participating in on May 25, 2019 at the Zwaanendael Museum in Lewes, Delaware.  I like to feature floral and nautical pieces there at this art show.   If you are in town, stop by and see my creations.



I sent Jennifer this box packed with goodies for her to use.  I can't wait to see what she created.



A special thanks to our hostess:Linda Anderson at http://www.instagram.com/cherryontopdesign

Photo by Laura Johnston on Unsplash

Grab a beverage and enjoy seeing what others did with their gifted beads. 

Non Seed Beaders

Hope Smitherman http://CraftyHope.com

Seed Beaders

Photo by Courtney Hedger on Unsplash

Thanks for visiting my blog. Comments are always welcome!

18 comments:

  1. It definitely would have been hard not to use those flowers. They are sublime. And, I love the way you incorporated them into this necklace. It has a very natural feel to it with the stone and leather. Beautiful work, Kathy!

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    1. I agree that those flowers are sublime. I am glad I have them out of a box so I can share them with others. Thanks for the kind words--always appreciated!

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  2. This necklace has so many points of interest. It’s gives a very comfortable organic vibe. Well done!

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  3. What a beautiful necklace! I just love how all the elements draw your eyes around. And those flowers...

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  4. Very BEAUTIFUL necklace. I love how it all flows together.

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  5. Beautiful design for the statement necklace. And good job figuring out how to connect the leather to the metal.

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  6. I really love what you did in making the necklace, it's a eye catcher, wear it with pride :)

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  7. Those glass flowers are gorgeous and interact beautifully with all the other elements and shapes in the design! Love the color scheme, too!

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  8. That necklace is a keeper. Beautiful.

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  9. Oooooooo! Soooo pretty! I love how you used the flowers as connectors! So smart! Beautiful work, as always! 💙

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  10. Beautiful necklace! I love your choice to use bright copper to bring it all together it really gives the perfect pop to the darker tones of the rest of the design while keeping it all warm and neutral.

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  11. Those flower beads are lovely and look great with the leather. Nicely done!

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  12. I am all about the flowers love the connector use, pretty design.

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