Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Early Bud Under a March Frost

Hello, Fellow Beaders!





This is the piece I produced for the Artbeads.com blogging program. Here in Maine, we're more than ready for some sunshine, so "The Beauty of Spring" was a theme I could definitely relate to!



The 22-mm peridot Swarovski Cubist focal piece was such a wonderful source of inspiration that I had great difficulty in deciding what to do with it. This focal piece was very easy to work with because of the way the hole was drilled and the size of the hole, accommodating a number of attachment options. My original plan for this piece evolved and I couldn't have been happier with the result.

As you will see in the detail below, I complemented the Cubist focal piece with both 6-mm faceted peridot Swarovski cubes and 4-mm faceted peridot Swarovski cubes to balance the look and highlight more "early buds." As with the focal piece, I adored working with the Swarovski cubes and due to the versatility of these little darlings, any number of combinations could have been achieved.

I'm really into the use of color right now and I love color transitions. That's why I wanted this look to invoke a feeling of early spring by using medium-dark green on one end and crystal-white on the other. The crystal faceted bicones on the "winter end" of the necklace remind me of the late winter frosts that try to sabotage beautiful early spring buds. As you can tell, I had a great time with this piece. Thanks again, Artbeads.com!

Happy Beading!

Disclosure: 22-mm peridot Cubist (product code 6650-PER22) as well as 6-mm/4-mm peridot faceted Swarovski cubes (product codes 5601-PER6/5601-PER4, respectively) were kindly provided free of charge by Artbeads.com as part of their blogging program. The author has not received any payment from the above and any posts about their products represent the author's personal opinion only.

2 comments:

  1. You did a great job on this ! Love the way the various shades of spring green blend from light to dark. My gramma always called those first buds of spring on the trees and bushes a 'hint of mint' and this necklace captures that perfectly. What kind of clasp did you use?

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  2. Thanks so much for the comments, Ladies, very inspiring! Lynn, I love the "hint of mint" phrase!

    To answer your question, I used S/S cones with a S/S "S" clasp. Thanks for asking that because it made me realize that I didn't photograph the piece from every angle. I guess I was so excited, I just wanted to get it out there!

    Have a terrific day!

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