Last week, I blogged my 1st design I created for Artbeads.com "What's Old is New Again" design challenge, and this week, I'd like to share my 2nd and last design with you.
Drum roll please..... LOL!
I call it, "Jessie's Butterfly", in remembrance of my late Aunt Jessie. She gave me the butterfly a long time ago, which used to be a pin. It's vintage brass and tiger cowrie shell. I chose to use soft browns and of course, antique'ish gold components. And since my favorite color is purple, I chose to incorporate Faceted Briolette Roundelle Crystals in the stunning color of purple velvet into my design. But...I messed up on the size of them! See the square bead frames? I was going to put the roundelles inside of them, but when I received them, I realized they were too large. So after searching my stash of beads, I ended up using small round amazonite gemstones. I think they blend well with the other colors, and they really accent the gold bead frames. By the way, I found those cute bead frames in Artbeads selection of Base Metal Bead Frames.
Here's a close up of the butterfly. I'm not sure if you can see it, but there are light hues of purple in it. Since I didn't trust myself with this very old and precious piece, my hubby (being the brave man he is-lol!) volunteered to cut the pin off the back and smooth it down. He did a great job too! I was going to hang the butterfly from the loops of it's antennas, but didn't think it would hold well. So I ended up connecting jump rings to both sides of the antennas, then attached them to a simple wire design I made with 14K gold-filled wire.
I selected this beautiful Antique Gold butterfly toggle for closing my necklace. I searched Artbeads Gold-plated Clasps and fell in love with this one as soon as I saw it! Besides it blending perfectly with my necklace, the details on it are amazing! I attached the toggle and the beaded strands with Crimp Ends and End Caps. They are perfect for the Satin cord I used. The cord is brown, but to me its a beautiful soft bronze color. The brown bead is `brown silk` from Artbeads selection of Czech Glass Flat Barrel Beads. I love the smooth texture and the soft color of it! The faceted bead on the end is a Czech Glass Roundel Bead in the gorgeous color of `transparent champagne.` It sparkles so pretty with all it's facets and adds a beautiful touch to my necklace!
Thanks to Artbeads vast selection of superb supplies, I was able to create a beautiful necklace that I will treasure forever!
I participate with Artbeads.com blogging community, as an `Design Partner`, therefore, I receive products free of charge in return for honest reviews. I have not been paid for my endorsement, as it pertains to the products received. Thank you.
