A Necklace Fit For a Mermaid: the 'Caribbean Sea' Necklace Gets an Update

I wear my handmade jewelry fairly regularly. But, sometimes I do find that certain pieces receive less love than others, or become forgotten altogether. When that happens, I usually either take the old piece apart to create new jewelry, or try to revamp it somehow to make it more appealing to my current style. That was the case with the necklace above!

 

If you've followed this blog for awhile you might remember my 'Caribbean Sea' Necklace (pictured above) from the spring of 2015. I created this necklace when I had just started experimenting with wire-wrapped focal elements, and while I did still wear it occasionally, I knew that my jewelry design style has evolved in a slightly more detail-oriented direction since then. It was a prime candidate for a revival!

I knew I wanted to embellish the wire focal frames, and I wanted more depth of color. Adding in some purples fit right into the ocean-theme that had inspired the original necklace, and I also decided to add some iridescent beads and some tiny sparkling crystals to give it a slightly glam feeling. With so many layers of beads and chain I knew it would either have to go the gaudy or glam route. I tried to go more for glam, but I suppose that's in the eye of the beholder!

I also realized as I was revamping this necklace that the new color scheme fit perfectly with Halcraft's August Pretty Palettes Challenge. While the sea-theme is a little far from the challenge's blueberry-inspired theme, at least both took their cues from nature, right?

 

If you compare the updated necklace (directly above) with the original necklace (the second photo shown in this post) you can see there are two new strands of purple beads--the top strand, which is a series of purple faceted amethyst beads interchanged with crystal-embellished handmade copper wire chainlinks, and the bottom strand of purple quartzite beads, which hangs just above the silver wire focal elements. The wire focal elements have been embellished with a slew of tiny beads in shades of purple (amethyst), blue (aventurine), turquoise (agate), and green (aventurine), as well as some lustrous, iridescent coated faceted round beads and some smaller crystals. All of the beads are Halcraft beads from Michaels, except for the faceted amethyst and turquoise agate (Hobby Lobby) and the glass pearls (from Michaels, but not Halcraft).

All-in-all I'm pretty happy with how this update turned out. It's a bit bulkier than the original version, and while I can definitely tell I'm wearing a necklace when I have it on, it certainly doesn't feel heavy. The color palette is so much more well rounded, and the small bits of sparkle and luster really make it feel more glamorous...it feels more reminiscent of a mermaid to me now, then simply a Caribbean sea!

What do you think of this color palette? Should I add more some more sparkle? I'd love to know your thoughts!

'Caribbean Sea' Wire Wrapped Layered Necklace

Annnnnddd...it's another cheesy name. For the win. At least the necklace isn't cheesy. Well, at least I  don't think it is. In fact, this piece is another mega win in my book. But then by now you probably know how much I love chain and layers and mixed metals and bright colors. So of course I'm totally digging it.

It's another piece inspired by my Bombay Dreaming necklace, though I made more changes to the style and layout with this version than with my Twilight Skies version.
 

You might notice that the layers in this version lay much closer together. I also did three rows of beads and two layers of handmade chain with glass pearls (no plain, store-bought chain layers), so this necklace is much fuller than the previous two.

I love the mix of copper, silver, and antique bronze wire paired with the blues and greens and pearls.

I used glass pearls in 4mm, 6mm, and 8mm sizes, as well as a variety of glass, aventurine, and quartzite beads in shades of pale green, turquoise, pale blue, and cobalt. I titled this piece 'Caribbean Sea' since it contains so many of the beautiful shades found on a tropical beach--copper, bronze and silver like grains of sand, and shades of green, turquoise and blue like tropical ocean waves.

All of the wire forms are handmade (using the same process as I detailed in the Twilight Skies post). I kind of think this wire form is sort of reminiscent of a sea anemone...can you see it? I think it compliments the 'sea' theme nicely. (BTW, this was totally an accident. I didn't purposely create the wire shape with sea anemone in mind...I just wanted to try a new shape, and BAM. Sea life.)

The antique bronze connectors in this piece are handmade as well, although since the chains I attached to them are so much fuller in this version I think now that I should have made the connectors a little bigger...they're a bit small to hold so many large beads and chain links, and I think they get a little lost amid the connection chaos. 

I added some more hand-formed copper wire chain around the back of the necklace to keep it from feeling too bulky around the neck and used a pretty 6mm glass pearl to connect it to the bronze wire connectors and chains below.

I finished off the necklace with a silver toggle clasp to keep with the mixed metal look. One of the things on my 'To Do.........Someday' list is to come up with some unique handmade wire wrapped toggle clasps, but until then, some of those store bought toggles are just so lovely I can't resist using them.

I love the pretty mix of colors and the full, beaded layers of this piece. So many textures and colors and sizes going on all at once.

I also made it a bit shorter this time, so it doesn't hang quite as long as the last version--and I like this length so much better! It makes a really beautiful statement necklace, and because the chain is all made from lightweight German Copper wire, the necklace itself is light and not heavy at all around the neck. Perfect for summer wearing (or fall or spring or winter).

 

One of the things I like most about this necklace is that, excepting the clasp, the entire piece is handmade! I didn't include any store bought chain this time--it's all made of hand formed wire links. I'm excited to give this necklace a spin in the near future. The mix of metals allows it to be worn both casually or more formally, so I really I can wear it anywhere!

Do you make your own wire clasps? What do you think of mixing bronze, copper and silver? Are you totally tired of my ocean-inspired jewelry yet?? I'd love to know.

Sarah

Linking up with:

Your Whims Wednesday at My Girlish Whims
Friday Finds at Minted Strawberry
Link Party Palooza at I Heart Naptime
Motivational Monday at Curly Crafty Mom
Show and Tell Link Party at Flamingo Toes
Worthwhile Wednesday at Crafty Allie

Themed Jewelry: 'Ocean Dreams' Chain Bib Necklace

I don't generally make themed jewelry. I often take color and/or design inspiration from natural phenomena but I don't usually showcase them in such a blatant manner. I made an exception with this necklace, though, when I came across the awesome locket featured above.

I love water--like, LOVE IT. Especially the ocean. I grew up less than two hours from the Pacific and went to the beach regularly. The Oregon coast is my favorite place in the world! And now that I live in the desert southwest, I miss it something awful. So when I found this octopus locket and then the coral-shaped (acrylic) dangles, I was totally inspired to create some sort of ocean-themed necklace. I took design inspiration from the chain bib necklaces that are super trendy right now and gathered some beads from my stash that remind me of the ocean--in shades of coral (cherry quartz), blue (dyed shell and quartzite), abalone, and glass pearls.

I stuck with chain in shades of gold to keep with a summery vibe. I handmade lots of wire chain links to form the beaded strands, and added in some store-bought chain to fill in the gaps and add some variety of size.

And of course, the main feature of this necklace is the fabulous large octopus focal...which is actually a working locket. I have a major thing for lockets (though I don't know why...maybe it's the old-fashioned nostalgia?).

Bib necklaces are by nature a little on the gaudy side, and I worry a little that the locket sort of puts this one even more over the top. So, I made it easy to remove the locket portion and wear the bib without it as well.

I used a simple toggle clasp to finish off this piece--I thought the little swirl design on the toggle was reminiscent of a nautilus shell. I also think toggles are generally easier for fingers to work than tiny lobster clasps, at least when putting on a necklace that needs to lay in a particular manner and not be shuffled around a lot.

All in all, I think I'm pleased with how this necklace turned out--very close to what I originally envisioned in my head (because sometimes that just does NOT end up happening, you know?).

As a themed necklace it's not really a piece I'd wear on a daily basis, but it's certainly fun for a summer event. Although I'd never actually wear it with a yellow shirt...I'm sorry for the color clashing in the photos above and below! I just wanted to show how it lays when worn and didn't really think through the fact that I was wearing the totally wrong color of shirt. Yikes.

What do you think of themed jewelry, yea or nay? Do you love the ocean like I do? What fun jewelry are you making and wearing for summer? I'd love to know.

Sarah

Linking up with:

Friday Finds at Minted Strawberry
Link Party Palooza at I Heart Naptime
Motivational Monday at Curly Crafty Mom
Show and Tell Link Party at Flamingo Toes
Your Whims Wednesday at My Girlish Whims
Worthwhile Wednesdays at Crafty Allie