Shiny Things Gallery | Search
Total matches for necklace: 83
Bite Me
I think I spent as much time waiting for supplies to arrive as I did actually putting them together. It started so simply, this: finally using some beads that I had been keeping together for... years... as well as a few new ones I'd traded for recently, and I'd wanted to try something new with the multi-strand thing. Then, as is The Way of Things, Getting Ideas made it all a little more complicated, and some things I'd wanted to make use of didn't work out, so I got different ones, and finally this is a thing that's complete!
I was initially inspired by diamondback rattlesnake patterning and then just kind of meandered from there. Obviously I enjoyed adding "fang" beads and some "droplets" of red pearl at the bottom, but the actual title of the necklace drifted into being a little before that. Gotta entertain myself somehow, you know.
Really happy with how this turned out even if it did take F O R E V E R to space out every individual row to fall exactly where/how I wanted it to. Nine rows of beads, where seven of them had to work perfectly with the one above and below it, but the top and bottom gave me a little wiggle room up until the very end when everything got attached to the clasp. Which, by the way, is successfully comfortable against the back of my neck. But, it's been designed specifically so that the clasp can be changed at the buyer's request, because it took me quite a while to decide on a slide clasp as opposed to various types of multiple trigger/spring clasps. It was an adventure I'm not sure I want to repeat, is kind of the point, but I'm still glad I did the thing.
Currently available to buy!
Dreaming of Spring
Well. I failed the assignment to do something simple with these components, but I did manage to something different and interesting. Also admittedly the actual inspiration for this whole thing was being deeply offended by a necklace that was made of real silver but fake turquoise. Yeah, this'll... show you, probably rich designer who hasn't done your own jewelry making in who knows how many years. ...Lucky.
Anyway. Most of my gratitude for these truly gorgeous materials goes to a friend who traded me shinies for shinies (and leather! and cookies!). It took a long while of staring at the shiny pile before deciding what I wanted to do. Generally I cringe at the idea of just putting things on a string, because I... cannot do something that bores me. So I complicated. Things. But in an interesting way! And I wanted to do earrings again anyway, so. Many many simple things all jumbled together in labradorite, malachite, turquoise and silver. And predictably trying to get all the colors and flash to photograph was very difficult, but additional challenges.
Also I guess there's technically a whole lot of illustrating things I've learned and ways to improve the strength and comfort of supposedly simple things. It's where the complications come from!
Currently available for sale.
What It Wants
The heart wants. You know how it is.
Upon fully disassembling a bag of random shinies given to me, I made plans to use bits and pieces. ...I then immediately lost track of those plans and have been doing whatever I want since, but this one kind of begged to happen. The rhinestone heart centerpiece was just on a boring silver chain, and what good is that? It deserves more. Most of the beads were the ones gifted to me, but there are plenty of others I've had for years that could be tossed in. Hey, I tried for simple, I mostly succeeded.
Currently Available.
Goes With Anything
The title is somewhere between a joke and a completely sincere statement. I mean, what does a shock of pink and black not go with?
I'd been wanting to do something with these beads for weeks, but I just didn't have a centerpiece. That came from a surprising source, an acquiescence giving away a literal bag of tangled old jewelry. I untangled and disassembled all of it into component pieces, and this amazing fused glass piece was one of those things. No artist name attached, no company, just a lovely glass pendant to make use of. All of the other beads are resin (the black beads with delicate silver "cracks"), glass, dyed and natural rose quartz, and Swarovski crystals. The spring ring clasp is a heavy duty silver piece I've had for years upon years. I'm deeply pleased by how this drapes when worn.
Currently available to buy.
I Could Strangle You With a String of Beads
Long, long ago, I came across an article with a very dismissive tone which stated that working with beads was inherently useless. Beads were not useful for anything but decoration, and therefore it was kind of ridiculous to choose to work with them. My thought upon reading this article... is the title of the piece. I've never come across it again despite looking, though I have found similar articles. None have had the same dismissive tone, luckily. Makes me wonder if it was edited at some point, but some years later... at least there's this.
Admittedly, it's exactly what it looks like: I dug through my bead drawers and tried to come up with a decent selection of different beads to string together into a lariat necklace. With a Swarovski skull dangle at the bottom, of course. My sentiment remains, with or without the article existing.
(For sale.)
Domesticated Rainbow
I just. Needed to use some of these beads that I have coveted for years. But also it has been The Year of 2020 and we need more mf rainbows.
Initially it started with a rainbow 2-hole bead mix and then somewhat exploded from there. Not to mention the "yeah, sure, why not, all the things" decision of jet black and clear crystal AB Swarovsky beads. While I'm not usually too fond of regular strung necklaces for so many reasons, I tried to use a few techniques I'd picked up to make sure the multiple strands could properly distribute the weight, with a few holding knots between heavier sections to make sure nothing would be accidentally pulling the whole thing apart. I'm also very fond of those "prismatic beads" near the center (see the close up photo) because they actually reflect the full spectrum, it's just that trying to photograph them tends to get one color or another. Because of course pictures would be difficult.
Sold.
Distant Shores
It draws you in, sometimes. That call from distant shores.
This was a "tinkering project" in the middle of so very many more. I've had this agate pendant for an awfully long time and just pulled it out of a drawer to set on my desk. The little pieces came together slowly: labradorite beads, seraphinite beads, abalone chip beads, acrylic "silver crackle" beads, and silver. I briefly contemplated gold, but... nah.
Generally I'm very happy with the result, but I was using a different clear enamel coating to bring out the color on the pendant and it shows brushstrokes. Guess I'll know for next time. So far so good on the other elements of the enamel test, but. Argh.
(Available for sale.)
Programming Harmony
I finally justified the beads I picked up at an antique store! Ahem. Well when I ran across a couple of circuit board pieces encased in resin, I kept digging for a few more things, then set it all aside for a while. Desert Bus for Hope 2019 was apparently just the right time to dig them out again, add a bunch of other things I had to the mix, and come out with this. Even cyberpunk uber-hackers need a little flash, right?
As for the name, the poem All Watched Over By Machines Of Loving Grace by Richard Brautigan had a bit of an impact on me, long long ago when I was just discovering that science fiction had an endless clinging hold on me.