Saturday, August 1, 2009

Show me PEARLS! (2)

It seems the pearl bug has got into me!

This is another freshwater pearl necklace I’ve made within past months along with Mermaid’s Glow and Pearly Spell. How did I start the design?


The creamy white pearls used for this necklace are of fantastic quality. Round, smooth, lustrous, thick-nacred. Simply adorable! But the inspiration actually came from the sculptural flower focal. The combination of delicate petals and vibrant colors in sunny orange, white and red made the flower more interesting to look at and a one-of-a-kind item. So I recreated the Around the Green style which I felt best to present its charm and the loveliness of the pearls. I added tiny faceted carnelian rondelles and a pair of Bali flower spacers to give interspace between them. And to complete the design, I used Swarovski bicones and flower sterling toggle. Done! The finished piece is so loveable. It's elegant yet classy for any occasion.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Show me PEARLS!

Next to Swarovski crystals and artisan lampwork beads, I have a special love for… pearls! Yes, pearls!!


These naturally-colored creamy peach keishi pearls are beauties to die for! They are thick-nacred, lustrous and have smooth surface for the most part. I love them so much and couldn’t think of a better idea than bringing them into spotlight of everyone’s sight as they deserve it. To make most of their fabulous appearance, I used up almost the entire pearl strand (there was only one pearl left as the wire didn’t go through its tiny holes) but alas the length was a little too short for a necklace considering the size and type of the pearls. So I added a few Swarovski crystals in silk color to reach a desired length and a small set of floral lampwork beads for extra visual interest to the design and voila! There are two ways to show off the pearls. When it’s worn like shown in the photo, you’ll get the look of timeless elegance. When it’s worn with the clasp on the chest, you’ll get the elegance style with additional sparkles and modern feel. Curious? Click here to see what I just described.

I’ve used similar type of pearls for another necklace displaying beauty of elegance and glamour. The design aims to feature the luminous purplish-pinkish tone (and a little bit of creamy peach too) of the keishis so I set them in the middle between variety of Swarovski crystals in coordinating colors. The result is like this.