New Necklace Designs

It seems like forever since I sat down and created a necklace. The old muse flew the coop AGAIN about a month ago, and I haven't seen hide nor hair of her since. I got tired of sitting around moping about it, so I opened up the gemstone drawers and started throwing stuff on the table. These are the result.



I created this faux bone pendant a couple of months ago. This is one of three remaining pendants from a large batch of faux bone clay. I think it has a Southwestern look and feel, so I added some denim Sodalite, green Chrysoprase and antique copper accents. This is based on an older necklace designed titled "I Wanna Be A Cowgirl", revamped and all grown up.



The pendant featured in this necklace is one of my personal all-time favorites. It is an image from a collection of Ancient Lace tapestries which I transferred to translucent clay backed with a medium copper metallic clay. I framed some champagne Czech glass rondelles with antique copper filigree bead caps, which I think give it a really old world look. I also added more faceted, copper speckled Czech glass beads and some really nice Cosmic cut Swarovski crystals. I think this is the topaz color, not sure... it's been awhile since I bought them.



This pendant is the last thing I created before the Muse took a hike. The necklace is called "Sheba Exotica Necklace." I had these really neat carved horn bone talons which I purchased at Etsy several weeks ago, and thought they would look really good paired with the large Fire/Crag Agate rondelles and rounds. The rounds are big honkers, 16mm! This is really a statement piece. I think I'll submit it to some jewelry design magazines and see what happens. It isn't easy incorporating these faux talons into a design. I looked for some inspirational photos, but the only place I could remember seeing them was in the movies on a bunch of cannibals, so I put Fleetwood Mac's "Tusk" on the cd player, jacked up the volume and let it belt out a beat to inspire me. The cannibals danced, too.



The pendant featured in this necklace is made from scrap clay in a metallic celedon color. I stamped it with my new favorite stamp, which looks to me like faux dinosaur bone, but how romantic would that be to call it peacock blue faux dinosaur bone? Not very, so I called it Rustica Peacock Blue Necklace. Hee Hee.



This is my version of a Skinner blend. I guess I shouldn't call it a Skinner blend, since I don't do it the same way. I just keep folding two separate colors (no neat triangles for me) together and running them through the pasta machine until I get what I want. The larger "rice" beads are from same batch of clay, I just kept on rolling until I got a solid color of dark copper. These are the most "organic" looking beads I think I've ever made. They just kind of folded over on themselves. My OCD self must have left with the muse. It didn't scream at me to make them perfect or exactly the same.