Beaded Necklaces

With so many talented people making and selling jewelry, I admit to finding it somewhat of a struggle to create and maintain a unique voice. One reason that I go thrift store hunting is knowing that nobody else will be working with the same materials that I find. Oh, but then I'll go to one of the big bead shows telling myself that I'm only going to buy metal supplies, and it's inevitable. Some of the beads will start calling my name, and I find that I just can't resist. They are simply too luscious and I always end up buying some. When I use the beads in necklaces, I work hard to make combinations and patterns that are uniquely me. I was drawn to these lapis tear-shaped beads which I paired with faceted amazonite discs and sterling wire wrapped pearls. I love this combination of various white pearls with red coral and crystals.

I think of these two as summertime captured in a necklace. The faceted briolettes are chalcedony, and they pair beautifully with pearls

I splurged at a recent bead show and bought a strand of faceted amethyst briolettes. The purple was was so rich and beautiful that I didn't even pretend to resist. I combined the amethyst with sterling, pearls, and peridot.

Even though anyone else could have bought these same beads, I like to think that I am the only one who came up with this particular combination (I hope!).