What's Old is New Again - Design #2

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.

"What's Old is New Again" Artbeads Design

I completed this gorgeous necklace a few days ago...but didn't get the photos finished till late last night, so I'm a bit late with my post...but..better late than never. :D

This necklace is one of two designs I created from Artbeads "What's Old is New Again" challenge. Last week I blogged about my package of goodies from Artbeads.com. It explains about the components involved in making my designs. if you like, you can read about it here.

The focal was my inspiration. I purchased it from a thrift shop, and get this, it used to be a pin! I brought it home, cleaned it up and had my hubby cut the pin off the back and smooth it down. I love how the porcelain cabochon peeks out at you through the slightly folded gold filigree. I wanted to add a lil something to the focal, so I attached an antique gold bell flower charm to it. It accents the flowers theme on the cabochon and mirrors the shape of the filigree.

Here's a closer look. You can see how the porcelain cabochon is set into the intricate detailed filigree.

And here's the entire necklace. I wanted to really present the focal, so I connected it to gold-plated pewter link, which is actually called a "3-Strand Multi-Strand Endpiece." It's shape and loops make it perfect for adding multiple strands to a design...or you can use it the way I did. The curves and overall decor of it was exactly what I was looking for. I love the way it just seems to flow with the entire necklace. In staying with the colors of the blue flowers, I strung together different sizes of Swarovski Crystal Beads in faceted rounds of capri blue, which is a stunning vibrant color that blends beautifully with gold, and gorgeous crystal golden shadow. To add some "pop" between the crystals, I used bright gold nugget heishi spacers. I love the shape of the spacers! They are the perfect size too -7mm. The string is satin cord in light-blue, and I love it! It's so soft, yet very strong. I used crimp ends & end cap rings for all the connecting. I was surprised at how easy they are to work with! Those are on my "to get" list for sure! ;) After searching through all the many clasps Artbeads has, I chose a beautiful leaf-shaped toggle. It's so smooth and pretty, plus the brightness of it blends perfect with the gold nugget spacers.

All in all, I'm super happy with the way my necklace turned out! I work with mainly brass, copper, and silver, but after this design challenge, you're going to start seeing many gold pieces in my shop. ;)
Check back next week for my 2nd and last design for "What's Old is New Again." It will involve a stunning focal handed down to me from my Aunt Jessie.
Many thanks to Artbeads for this fun challenge! :)

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.

"What's Old is New Again" Artbeads Design Challenge

Recently, Artbeads.com asked their design partners to create a design incorporating an old/vintage item with new modern elements, hence "What's Old is New Again." So I put my thinking cap on, put in my order, and here's what I received.

What's with the 2 toggle clasps you ask? Well...I'll be creating 2 designs, and I'm very excited about it! The collection of colorful beads include two varieties of Czech Glass beads; Brown Silk flat barrels & Champagne roundel beads and there are some gorgeous Swarovski Crystals in stunning colors of Purple Velvet (to die for!), bright & vivid Capri Blue and sparkly Crystal Golden Shadow. Those shiny gold beads on the bottom left are 22K gold-plated pewter heishi spacers. They look like gold nuggets! The findings above the spacers are crimp ends and end cap rings. Perfect to use with satin ribbon, which is what I'll be using them for. This will be my first time creating with these, and I'm loving them already! They're very easy to work with, and they make a nice touch or finish to your jewelry piece. Visit Artbeads Jewelry Findings for a huge selection in an array of finishes.

Once I made the drafts for my designs, I knew I needed gold findings, and I had an idea of the shapes, materials, and brands I wanted. So with all of that in mind, I took advantage of the option to shop by material and the option of shopping the collections and brands feature. Let me tell you, both of these shopping options was a huge help in finding what I was looking for! I just love all the different ways you can shop on Artbeads! All of the gorgeous findings are pewter (100% lead free) and either gold-plated or antique gold-plated, with the exception of the gold-filled crimp tubes (top middle) and the brass bead frames (bottom left.) The charm above the set of bead frames is a lovely bell flower I found from the TierraCast Pewter brand that Artbeads features. The fancy link on the bottom right is a multi-strand endpiece. I knew I wanted an ornate link of some sort, but I wasn't sure if this one was going to work...but once I got it and laid it out with my design, it couldn't be a more perfect fit! I have to say I'm very impressed with the beautiful craftsmanship of every item, not to mention how much prettier each item is in person.

And finally (hopefully you're still with me :), I'll be using beautiful satin ribbon in each of my designs. The colors are light-blue and brown. They're both really soft and strong and can be found in Artbeads vast selection of Stringing Materials. I love their satin ribbon! In fact, I've already tried out a few different colors with some new designs listed in my shop, and I'll be adding more over the next few weeks. 

I'm almost finished with my 1st design, and I can't wait to share it with you! I really hope you'll come back next week to see what I've created with Artbeads "What's Old is New Again" design challenge.

"Thanks so much for visiting my blog."

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.