Marimekko-Inspired Necklace: July Pretty Palette Challenge

I confess: when I saw the inspiration for Halcraft's July Pretty Palette Challenge, I was a little unsure where to go with it. The inspiration for the challenge was this fabric designed by Marimekko, and the coordinating color palette is shown below.

If you've followed my blog for any length of time then you probably know that I LOVE COLOR. Bold colors do not scare me at all. However, this bold palette was not a group of colors that I would generally gravitate toward, nor think to put together in one one piece (at least not in these particular hues). And to be honest, I'm not a huge Marimekko fan. Don't get me wrong, as a former design student and art historian I can certainly appreciate the hallmarks of the Marimekko design house: bold colors, simple lines, repeating patterns, and two-dimensionality. But when it comes down to it, sometimes I just prefer a little more depth to the design.

That said, I relish assignments like these: to translate a concept or design style into a physical piece of jewelry (blame it on my architecture/art history nerd brain), so I knew I still wanted to give it a shot. And I'm so glad I did! I ended up creating a piece that I never would have dreamed up before, and I really love how it came together.

When the July challenge was posted I had already begun work on another idea, and coincidentally it involved flowers. I had been wanting to create some dimensional flowers as earrings, then decided instead to make a necklace, and already had all of the wires cut to create the flower frames. I hemmed and hawed about how I could rework the design and eventually came up with something that somewhat fit the Marimekko inspiration.

Now I know that these 'flowers', being 3-D and having scroll-y, ornate edges, are pretty much the opposite of what I just listed above as being typical of Marimekko. But hey, I did have the 'bold color scheme' going on. So I figured I would also try to focus on the 'flatness' and 'simplicity of design' qualities instead and refrained from any of my usual ombre or plethora-of-colors within each flower, and the only sparkle in the entire piece is from the crystal beads in the centers of the flowers.

[Note: you can click on the 'Tutorials' tab above for links to how I create my wire frames and embellish them with beads.]

In similar fashion I tried to keep the side connectors and toggle clasp as simple as I could (but you know I couldn't leave them completely devoid of color, so there are some tiny agate and bamboo coral beads). All of the wire focal elements, side connectors, chain, and toggle clasp are completely handmade using German style wire.

The flowers feature aventurine, bamboo coral, quartzite, jade, and crystal beads. The color palette we were given didn't include white, but the original inspiration fabric had sprays of white dotted flowers scattered throughout and I really wanted to include that detail, so I created the fringes made of glass pearls and more quartzite. For the blue of the color palette I used some beautiful (reconstituted) lapis beads around the sides of the necklace. All of the beads except the agate beads on the toggle, the tiny green crystals (around the outer edges of the green flower), and the glass pearls are Halcraft beads from Michaels.

  

This necklace may not embody the whole spirit of Marimekko, but I'd like to think it's a nice tribute to the inspiration fabric if nothing else. I also think it would be really fabulous recreated as a bridal necklace with pearls and fancy crystals (and maybe some pyrite for the slightly edgier bride? Or a few colorful accents in the bride's wedding colors...?). Hmmm, maybe my next project?

What do you like about Marimekko designs? Would you pair these colors all together in one piece of jewelry? Any interest in seeing a bridal version? I'd love to know.



Possibly linking up with:

Fabulous Party at Lou Lou Girls
Show and Tell Link Party at Flamingo Toes
Your Whims Wednesday at My Girlish Whims
Link Party Palooza at Tatertots and Jello

Vintage-Inspired Multi-Strand Necklace

  

This necklace started out as an idea to use up leftover beads, and the design was inspired by a vintage necklace I saw a character wear in a Hallmark Channel mystery movie.

(Actress Sarah Strange in one of the Garage Sale Mystery movies from the
Hallmark Channel, wearing the inspiration necklace for the piece I created.)

My original plan had been to use up the many leftover silver and black beads I had from my New Years Eve necklace and earrings set, but of course as I laid out my design and things evolved I couldn't find just exactly the beads I wanted from my stash, so naturally I had to buy some new beads. So much for my plan to try and use up some of my overflowing bead collection!

I think the silver luster glass, antique brass and rhinestone spacers, and crystal bars really give this necklace a vintage feel, even if none of the beads are from a bygone era.

I created the crystal 'bars' by stinging together graduated sizes of icicle-shaped glass crystal beads and wire-wrapping them snugly together to hold their straight shape.

The silver luster glass beads add an elegant sparkle, and when paired with the antique brass and rhinestone spacers definitely have an old-world feel.

 

In the interest of not buying even more new supplies and trying to use up what I had on hand, I created a couple of simple wire connector elements for the sides. These look much too modern for the vintage vibe I wanted, so I tried to help them mesh with the design a little better by embellishing them with small silver luster glass rondelles.

The chain and toggle clasp are handmade as well, and I kept the decoration on the toggle simple to better tie in with the side connector elements. As usual I used German style wire for all of the findings, chain and wrapped components.

 

This necklace was difficult to photograph because of the contrast between the clear crystals, the shiny silver, and the opaque black beads. And I don't think any photograph can accurately capture the level of sparkle this necklace brings when the light hits it.

 

The design for this piece was meant to be simple and striking, rather than one of the crazy colorful and detailed mega-pieces I usually make, and it was nice to give my fingers a little break. I'm fairly happy with how it turned out--I think this necklace is simple enough for daytime work wear, and yet definitely fancy enough for an evening out. 

What do you think, do you get a vintage vibe from this necklace? How would you wear it? I'd love to know!

Possibly linking up with:

Fabulous Party at Lou Lou Girls
Show and Tell Link Party at Flamingo Toes
Your Whims Wednesday at My Girlish Whims
Link Party Palooza at Tatertots and Jello

New Year's Eve Necklace and Earring Set: December Pretty Palette Challenge

I've been majorly slacking on blogging this year. But I've still been creating jewelry; I just keep up better with Instagram than blogging--you can usually see my newest creations there long before they make the blog (I'm @everyday_bijoux1 if you want to follow along).

Anyway, when the December Pretty Palette Challenge theme was announced at the end of November, I immediately knew I wanted to participate. Champagne? Old Hollywood glamour? Um, heck yeah. Sparkles and metallics and fancy. Be still my jewelry-loving heart.

Right from the beginning I knew I wanted some sort of lustery metallic as my inspired-by-champagne bit, 'fancy' beads that sparkled as my inspired-by-'glamour' bit, and a black and white color scheme as the inspired-by-old-Hollywood bit (think old black and white movies). So, I rounded up all of my 'fancy' (read: faceted) black, white, and silver luster glass beads and played around with some ideas. I used all the beads pictured above in my necklace and earrings, all of which (except for the large faceted black onyx rounds on the left) are Halcraft beads I found at Michaels.

I also decided to use copper wire to contemporize my design a bit. Even though the silver beads are luster glass and not actual metal, pairing their silver luster with the copper wire feels a bit like mixing metals.

I created three wire focal elements, two matching connectors to be used on either side of the necklace, two earring frames, and a toggle clasp using 20-gauge wire for all of the frames and wrapping them each with 26-gauge wire and copper-colored glass seed beads. (Click here for a how-to on creating wire focal elements.)

Next up, I embellished all of my frames with pretty black onyx and glass beads that were prefect for sparkling and reflecting light off their faceted surfaces. (Click here for a how-to on embellishing wire frames with beads.)

With the wire focal elements finished all that was left was to add some beautiful, sparkling white and silver glass beads and some embellished chain links, and then put everything together. I love, love, love how this piece turned out. It always amazes me when something actually turns out the way I've envisioned it in my head.

Here are some close-up detail shots of the necklace and earrings:

I think this set would be really fun for a fancy New Year's Eve party (or any night on the town, really)--bubbly required, of course. [Or, since this necklace is sort of a party all by itself, maybe I'll just stay home and wear it with my pajamas and watch Holiday Inn, and then I can say I was at a party anyway without having to embarrass myself by falling asleep at 10:30pm on someone else's couch during their New Year's party.]

 

What do you think, would you wear this to a New Year's event? Do you like the bright copper wire paired with the silver luster glass? I'd love to know.

Sarah

Possibly linking up with:

December Pretty Palettes Reveal at Halcraft
Fabulous Party at Lou Lou Girls
Show and Tell Link Party at Flamingo Toes
Your Whims Wednesday at My Girlish Whims
Link Party Palooza at Tatertots and Jello

Update: Queen Anne's Lace Bracelet and Earrings

Back in February I participated in the Halcraft Pretty Palette Challenge and created the Queen Anne's Lace necklace and earrings set below:

I was quite happy with how the necklace turned out, but (as I mentioned in the original post) I wasn't really satisfied with the earrings--they were just too big to be easily wearable, and I knew I wanted to remake them. I thought perhaps I could create new, smaller earrings and instead use the large wire-wrapped frames from the original earrings to create a bracelet. And I finally did!

I took the two original earring frames and remade them into one central focal element (an exact replica of the focal components in the matching necklace) for the bracelet, and then added several chains of glass pearls on each side to connect to a handmade toggle clasp.

I created a pair of earrings to match the set, although they do not directly mimic the focal elements of the necklace and bracelet. They are much more wearable--lighter and smaller--though I'm not sure I feel that their design meshes with the necklace and bracelet well enough. I really don't want to remake them AGAIN though, so this is how they'll stay.

The wire components are all handmade with German style copper wire, and the beads are a mix of quartzite, shell, agate, crystal, freshwater pearls, and glass pearls.

I think my favorite part is the freshwater-pearl-and-jewel-encrusted toggle clasp on the bracelet! It's the finishing details that can really make a piece special, like handmade clasps and artistic earwires. Overall, I think these new pieces will create a really beautiful set when paired with the original necklace:

A set perfect for a bride with a pink-themed wedding, or maybe the honoree at a sweet quinceanera celebration. Until then, I will happily find every occasion to wear these fancy pieces in everyday life for no reason at all.

Do you enjoy wearing matching jewelry sets? What do you think about the earrings not perfectly mimicking the necklace? I'd love to know.

Sarah


Possibly linking up with:

Your Whims Wednesday at My Girlish Whims
Show and Tell Link Party at Flamingo Toes