CianciBlue: September 2014

Once again, I am participating in a challenge hosted by Lisa at Pine Ridge Treasures - as I'm sure everyone knows, I love her challenges! This one is a little different though, it's on the Facebook group she runs. This one was all pearls, I had two colors, blue and white. I love pearls. Real pearls, glass pearls - I just love pearls. I forgot to take a before picture, but here is my beading board while I was working on the necklace:

The necklace pattern is called Coronation Day Necklace by Evelina Palmontova, featured in the Aug/Sept issue of Beadwork Magazine.

Here are some pictures of the finished necklace, here is a full shot of the front:

And a shot of the back of the pendant. I plan on wearing it both ways, I love that this side shows off the pearls a little more.

And a closeup of the front of the focal:

I LOVE this necklace, I've worn it 3 or 4 times so far, the drape is lovely and it is so pretty. I am really glad I decided to try the pattern. It was much easier than I thought it would be. I used 4mm and 6mm blue glass pearls, 4mm blue Swarovski bicones, 3mm and 4mm gold Czech fire polished beads, and size 8, 11 and 15 seed beads. Clasp is a simple hook clasp. Everything except the pearls is from my stash, .

Now I needed to do something with the white pearls. I had this gorgeous leaf chain from Bead and Button and I came up with these.

I just love that chain. I really should have bought more. I appreciate your comments, let me know what you think! Please hop on over to the Facebook group to see what everyone else did!

Once again, I am joining up with Lisa at Pine Ridge Treasures for a blog hop. This one is called the Blue Fantasy Blog Hop and since blue is my favorite color I was really happy to join her.

Here are the beads Lisa sent:

Can you say Heaven? I was thrilled to say the least. Just look at all of that blue. And the paw print bead - you can't get more perfect for me than that. Lisa is always very generous with her kits. There were a ton of beads. And I also have a ton of blue beads, so I had no shortage of ideas for them. I ended up with 4 necklaces and a pair of earrings. I still have beads left but I'm not sure what I want to do with them just yet. Lets start the pictures, hope you have some time and something to drink!

The ceramic paw print was first. I paired it with some sea glass that I'd gotten from Lisa previously, and I some Czech crystals I had. From the kit I used the spacers, the pretty silver links and some of the round beads.

Here is the back, I used some really pretty blue peanut beads here.

And a detail shot of the front

Here is a full shot of the necklace.

The paw print is from Firefly Design Studio

For the next piece, I went into my stash and found a Goddess focal that I'd gotten from Glass Onion before they closed. I've been trying to decide what to do with it. I used some sari silk, also from Glass Onion and some beautiful Larimar Blue Crazy Lace Agates that I had recently gotten from Lima Beads. From the kit I used the spaces and the teal crystals.

I had a lampwork bead that I'd also been saving for a while, trying to come up with something that did it justice. I used a lot of the beads from the kit in this one, and some white chain that I had.

Here is the back:

The focal is double sided and will turn on the headpin so either side can be seen.

Here is my favorite side:

I almost added some blue rounds to the ends of the chain but my husband said stop, so I listened to him. I think he was right. Here is a full shot of the necklace.

Next up is a polymer clay focal that I had gotten from Barbara Bechtel. It is just gorgeous. I used some gold colored spacers and gold chain, the crazy lace agates from Lima Beads again and from the kit I used more of the teal crystals. I had it done with sari silk instead of the chain, but I took it apart because it didn't hang right. Here is a close up of the focal so you can see how beautiful it is:

And the whole thing. The back is a simple lobster claw clasp with a chain so it's adjustable.

Finally, here are the earrings I did. I had the birds from Lisa in a previous hop.

Thanks for staying with me for this long post, I hope you enjoyed seeing what I came up with. Please take a look at what the other participants did with their beads:

Your hostess: Lisa Lodge, A Grateful Artist

Kim Dworak, Cianci Blue ----------------->>>>>> You are here

Karen Grosset Grange, Ginkgo et Coquelicot

Veralynne Malone, Designed by Vera

Jo-Ann Woolverton, It's a Beadiful Creation

Heather Richter, Desert Jewelry Designs

Carolyn Lawson, Carolyn's Creations

Candida Elkins Castleberry, Spun Sugar Beadworks

Shaiha Williams, Shaiha's Ramblings

Eleanor Burian-Mohr, The Charmed Life

Gloria Allen, Wings and Beads

Laurie Vyselaar, Lefthand Jewelry