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Total matches for necklace: 83
Nine Dragons Collar
Legends insist that the Five Great Desert Temples are guarded by nine dragon siblings; two to each directional temple, the eldest one in the center. They are fair dragons, now, and certainly would not do harm to anyone who approached without mallice in their heart; but they will defend their land and each other from fools. The treasure, you see, is what changes with every telling. Is it gold? Jewels? Knowledge? Power beyond human comprehension? No one has ever managed to return to tell.
Last time I was in Georgia, I went dragon hunting. Which is to say that my (very patient, supportive) partner in crime and I spent 15 minutes combing through a huge bin of cloisonne beads just to find these tiny articulated dragons that I had never seen anywhere before. I had to have them! They were all just a touch beat up, and I kept one that had been broken (he's fixed now, though). The ones used in the necklace were cleaned up a little and reinforced, but all of the little nicks and bends were kept. They've got more personality that way.
I don't really want to talk about how much time it took, because I just plain did not start counting and I refuse to look back and see how many days I was working on it. The upper part was a very "I wonder what would happen if..." thing that took way longer than I expected due to reinforcing absolutely everything for stability, and then the netting that lead down to the dragons... just kind of happened. And of course I wanted to practice more with beading around cabochons, so. Yes. Um, I don't know what happened, but at least it's shiny?
Normally when I do this kind of netting, I go over every diamond meticulously to get them all to be that perfect diamond shape... but this time, I left a few "loose". It's a stylistic choice; the dragons themselves look like ancient treasures, so I wanted the rest of the necklace to reflect that. It's not any less strong or solidly built, it just looks "a little old". The same "stylistic choice" exists with the ever so slight angling of the fiber optic stone so that it catches the light more easily. It's supposed to be magic, after all.
The one problem with having a scrawnier neck than anyone you know is trying to model a collar that's technically just a little too big for you even on the tightest setting. Ah well, I tried.
(For Sale)
Date: 16 October 2012
Past the Illusion
Sometimes there is something even more wonderful, even more radiant, even more unimaginably magnificent hiding just beneath the surface. Go ahead and tease them.
It started with a button. A beautiful, strange, utterly irresistible button. I bought it the moment I saw it because I could not fathom walking away from that button. And then those two cylindrical beads to either side, mirroring the button's peacock hues while throwing in a few tricks of their own. The other beads just sort of... gravitated toward it. I can't explain; I've had these elements for well over two years and it finally decided to come together now. Who am I to question?
There is some serious freaking sparkle here. There's just no way to get the full extent of how amazingly shiny this button-turned-necklace-centerpiece is or how everything else just seems to drape perfectly off of it. It's over-the-top and elegant all at once. Glamo(u)r-punk? (Seeing as how I was on a steady musical diet of The Killers, The Psychedelic Furs and Planet Funk while I was making this...) I'm just so happy it all came together.
I will be completely up-front, however. At times, no matter how careful you are, how many precautions you take, a glass bead will still decide to shatter at the worst, possible, moment. That happened here. At the end. After everything else was reinforced. And so I sought a creative solution. And since I'm willing to bet no one can see the mistake, and it in no way affects the stability of the piece itself, that's all I'm going to say. Success.
(Sold)
Date: 19 June 2012
Heartless Tag Pendant
I couldn't make a Nobody symbol without making a Heartless symbol. That's just not done.
Made up of 213 glass beads individually woven together by hand, then backed in such a way as to make the panel itself sturdy but still flexible (so there are no hard edges).
(For Sale)
Date: 12 June 2012
Nobody Tag Pendant
After the successful Shadow Portrait experiment, I wanted to try something a little simpler... and what better than a classic symbol of both magnificence and hilarity?
Made up of 213 glass beads individually woven together by hand, then backed in such a way as to make the panel itself sturdy but still flexible (so there are no hard edges).
(For Sale)
Date: 12 June 2012
Shadow Portrait
Well, I've been wanting to bead this particular thing for a long time now. Unfortunately the "extreme light and shadow" colors I chose only work at certain angles... but I still like it, so yay.
Made up of 766 glass beads individually woven together by hand, then backed in such a way as to make the panel itself sturdy but still flexible (so there are no hard edges). I am proud. Let me have my moment.
(For Sale)
Date: 12 June 2012
Heartless Tag Pendant
I couldn't make a Nobody symbol without making a Heartless symbol. That's just not done.
Made up of 213 glass beads individually woven together by hand, then backed in such a way as to make the panel itself sturdy but still flexible (so there are no hard edges).
(For Sale)
Date: 12 June 2012
Nobody Tag Pendant
After the successful Shadow Portrait experiment, I wanted to try something a little simpler... and what better than a classic symbol of both magnificence and hilarity?
Made up of 213 glass beads individually woven together by hand, then backed in such a way as to make the panel itself sturdy but still flexible (so there are no hard edges).
(For Sale)
Date: 12 June 2012
Shadow Portrait
Well, I've been wanting to bead this particular thing for a long time now. Unfortunately the "extreme light and shadow" colors I chose only work at certain angles... but I still like it, so yay.
Made up of 766 glass beads individually woven together by hand, then backed in such a way as to make the panel itself sturdy but still flexible (so there are no hard edges). I am proud. Let me have my moment.
(For Sale)
Date: 12 June 2012