Sunday 6 October 2013

Luck of the Irish

Wow! A necklace, I hear you say! Well, you hear me say at any rate. Sometimes, I get real necklace block - I've blogged about it in the past, and it's something that I have improved upon over the past year or so. But after my busy summer, and then my move over to Belfast....well, my brain has been reaching for its comfort zone, at least in terms of designing, and so bracelets, bracelets, earrings and bracelets it has been. 

Last night, I was chatting with some of the member of my Curiosity Club in our FB group, and asking them what challenges them in designing. Symmetry/asymmetry were two things that seemed to challenge us in equal measures; flat beads, certain colours.....it got me thinking about what challenges ME, and I decided to work a few of these challenges into one piece. It's easy to work within one's comfort zone, but sometimes the most satisfying designs are those in which you pushed the envelope and tried something a little different. 

And here you have it: the piece containing three personal challenges. 


1. It's a necklace. Not so much of a challenge for me anymore, but right now when my brain is full and a little tired, it is definitely more of a challenge to sit down to a necklace, rather than a bracelet or earrings.

2. The Lucky Horseshoe pendant from Heather Millican. I have had it for some months now, and really - how cute is it?! But for the life of me, I couldn't work out how I could get it to hang in a way I was satisfied with. 

3. The lime-green Picasso faceted rounds, which were one of those purchases where for some reason, my monitor colours were different from the finished beads. Or maybe I just didn't look hard enough at the listing. Wouldn't be the first time....

I'm not usually a fan of a yellow-y green. But one of the things we were discussing last night was pushing ourselves out of our comfort zone, particularly in terms of colours. An inspirational source I cited was www.design-seeds.com (check it out if you haven't already - awesome stuff!), and something I truly maintain is that you can work with any colour, if you find the right palette and proportion. Here, pairing the limey green beads with the turquoise coins really works for me. And I've linked those two greens with a deeper green Picasso-finish seed bead, separating the coins. 

I also solved my horseshoe dilemma by hanging it first from a lampwork disc from Helen Chalmers (more teal there, to link with the ceramic coins), and then in turn from a branch component. Something of a nod to a saloon door there, for me. And the green, the luck, the daisy...(not quite a 4-leaf clover, I know, but almost!)....it had to be called Luck of the Irish, didn't it?! That'll please my Mum too - it was her name suggestion! Thanks Mum :-)

If you fancy a little bit of Irish charm in your life, this necklace is now for sale in my etsy shop. :-) 



7 comments:

Malin de Koning said...

Hey Rebecca, well necklaces ... a challenge for me too in a way. But I too have pushed myself over the last period (I wrote about it on my blog a few days ago). And I'm on a roll now. I think at least ;-). And don't I have quite a few beads or art beads in my stash that's been laying around there for a good while without me knowing what to do with them. Sometimes I decide to give them away, or swap them. Sometimes I finally just find a use for them that I like. It is very satisfying to overcome blocks like that, isn't it.

The necklace you made is really lovely!!!!!!!!!

Unknown said...

This is just darling and will go with almost any outfit - what a treasure

CraftyHope said...

Congrats on facing your challenges head on and whipping out a super cool necklace! way to go!!

Claire Lockwood said...

It's a beauty! Lime green is the green I feel most comfortable with! I was thinking last night that I need to set myself some flat bead challenge!

Keith@ Vintage Crab Jewelry and Crafts said...

Great necklace!

Unknown said...

You nailed your own challenge! Love the colorcombo and how you've used the pendant!

Alice said...

How brave to put all your challenges in one piece. And it turned out beautiful!

I am comfortable with earrings and bracelets, but necklaces require a lot more thought and cause me the most frustration. Thanks for sharing!

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