This latest Artbeads challenge really spoke to me. I immediately had an idea which would incorporate a polished shard of fossilized walrus ivory from St. Paul Island, Alaska. I have quite a collection of this lovely material from a local native man that I met a craft show several years ago. His relatives on St. Paul live a subsistence lifestyle and make a portion of their income from collecting and polishing this naturally shed ivory. Vintage glass beads were also on my mind. I went the the Artbeads website to select some lovely brass items to complement the ivory and glass.
In the vast Findings category at Artbeads, there is a section called Links, which is where I found and fell in love with antiqued brass diamond deco elements. Now to find some coordinating brass beads. There were a couple of lovely choices in the Beads category.
I wrapped the ivory shard with some brass filigree from my stash and suspended it from a brass ring (also from Artbeads Findings category). I added a rusty antique skeleton key and a few vintage glass beads in pink and green. Keeping with that color scheme and working in a asymmetrical manner, I continued to add beads and brass elements up both sides of the necklace. This necklace had to be long to balance the large components that I was using -- it would have looked silly at 18" or even 20". The final length is about 26". The measurement from the top of the circle to the bottom of the ivory is another 4 1/2" -- this necklace makes a statement!
Laying the necklace flat, I was able to capture some of the details a bit better:
A close up of the ivory section of the piece. Here you can see the beadcaps I found on the Beadcaps page at Artbeads. They are embracing an olive green vintage glass bead.
A better view of one of the beaded segments and the yummy diamond deco pieces:
And one more shot of the whole piece which really showcases the warmth of the ivory and brass:
It's worth mentioning that shopping for this piece at Artbeads was made quite simple by one's ability to shop by material. I could go directly to the Base Metal category and find matching components so easily.
Disclosure: Artbeads invited me to join their blogging community. I receive these products free of charge in return for honest reviews. I have not been paid for doing this.
In the vast Findings category at Artbeads, there is a section called Links, which is where I found and fell in love with antiqued brass diamond deco elements. Now to find some coordinating brass beads. There were a couple of lovely choices in the Beads category.
I wrapped the ivory shard with some brass filigree from my stash and suspended it from a brass ring (also from Artbeads Findings category). I added a rusty antique skeleton key and a few vintage glass beads in pink and green. Keeping with that color scheme and working in a asymmetrical manner, I continued to add beads and brass elements up both sides of the necklace. This necklace had to be long to balance the large components that I was using -- it would have looked silly at 18" or even 20". The final length is about 26". The measurement from the top of the circle to the bottom of the ivory is another 4 1/2" -- this necklace makes a statement!
Laying the necklace flat, I was able to capture some of the details a bit better:
A close up of the ivory section of the piece. Here you can see the beadcaps I found on the Beadcaps page at Artbeads. They are embracing an olive green vintage glass bead.
A better view of one of the beaded segments and the yummy diamond deco pieces:
And one more shot of the whole piece which really showcases the warmth of the ivory and brass:
It's worth mentioning that shopping for this piece at Artbeads was made quite simple by one's ability to shop by material. I could go directly to the Base Metal category and find matching components so easily.
Disclosure: Artbeads invited me to join their blogging community. I receive these products free of charge in return for honest reviews. I have not been paid for doing this.
2 comments:
It's really lovely and quite vintage in feeling.
And a stunning statement it makes Vicki! The metals you chose really bring out the beauty of the ivory. I love your design and the length too! It's absolutely gorgeous!
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