Today is the big reveal for the Pearls, Pearls, Pearls Blog Hop graciously hosted by Shel at MiShel Designs.
I love pearls, especially baroque or unusual ones. When I first started making jewelry, pearls were my favorite thing to buy and also to use. One of my favorite necklaces is a long continuous strand of assorted pearls and seed beads like the necklace above. It can be worn as a single necklace, doubled, tripled or wrapped many times around as a bracelet. Even though I love pearls and have a large selection, I have trouble using them in my designs - and especially photographing them.
I made a bracelet for the blog hop. This was not really what I intended, but one thing turned into another
and this became one big, happy accident. I'm happy with the bracelet, but I'm especially happy with the things I learned while making the bracelet.
The pearls are 3 - 3.5 mm round AAA white pearls that I purchased in a bulk buy online. They are very nice quality, but certainly not perfect. I have at least 4 strands like this in my stash, so I must like to buy them a lot. They are paired with gold filled findings and flat blue dyed jade rectangles that I received in an order the other day from Fire Mountain Gems. The stones are strung on elastic, and I love that this bracelet slides on and off without needing a clasp.
The overall look of the bracelet is pretty elegant and demure, much more so than I intended. I was trying to simply combine the pearls into a long rectangle, similar to an identity bracelet. What I found was that the 3 rows of pearls were too long to lay nicely - which is when I decided to add the two gold spacer bars. I've never used spacer bars before, but I love the way they transformed this piece. As soon as I added them, the 3 rows of pearls picked up a curve that hugs the top of my wrist. I love that! It makes the bracelet perfectly comfortable and worked well with my plan to use elastic.
Now, there is as much wrong with this bracelet as there is right. Some more things that I love: the blue jade with the pearls. It gives such a regal feel - as if they are sapphire or kyanite. I love the elastic since I don't think anyone would expect that this is a 'stretchy' bracelet.
The things that are wrong and need to be redesigned... Well, I hate the loops where the pearl bars are connected. When I make this style again (and I will!), I will try flat paddles or a loop that is less obvious and won't get caught on things. Also, because pearls have such darn small holes, the wire I used is 24g. I know that won't hold up to a lot of wear and tear, so I would need to either do some reaming or use glass pearls or other beads with larger holes.
Please visit the other participants in the blog hop since I'm sure there is lots of great work and variety. I hope you enjoyed my pearl bracelet - I know I enjoyed making it, and it really gave me some great ideas of things to try in the future.
Pearls! Pearls!! Pearls!!! Blog Hop Participant List:
Comments
Beautiful pearl creations! I love the varity of colors in the long necklace. The blue color of the jade go very well with the white pearls in your bracelet.
Therese
Lynda
Enjoy the hop ;)
and the bracelet is beautiful! what a gorgeous blend of structure and flexibility.
Jackie
I love the necklace with all the different color and shaped pearls. I would totally wear this one on a regular basis!
BTW - my blog veradesigns.blogspot.com
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