Designing For and With an Old Friend

Last August I had the planned opportunity to visit with an old friend from high school, whom I had run in to for the first time in years the previous year.

This visit, I brought an assortment of beads and materials to make her a necklace with her active input as we sat and visited together.

I must say, it is a different sort of a challenge to design this way, although rewarding! The combination of beads and colors is not exactly what I would have chosen, and so it took me quite awhile longer to arrive at something I felt was aesthetically pleasing, after letting it grow on me a bit. I also did not use every type or color of bead she picked out, as she picked an assortment from which any combination thereof would be pleasing to her!

These beads were chosen after my gift to her of a dolphin pendant in what looks to be brecciated jasper, which I had had for about two years. I originally purchased the pendant at a Gem Faire, and searched through the entire selection of this particular carving in order to acquire a dolphin in a color untraditional for a dolphin motif, as well as look within the stone itself for interesting aspects. I love how there's two planes of striations that are at roughly right angles to each other within the stone; imagine the geological feature/forces involved! All to end up adorning my friend's neckline.

My mother is modeling this necklace, as I wasn't QUITE finished with it when my visit with my friend was over. I finished it up the next morning and left it with my parents, as I had been staying there out of town, to give the finished necklace to her. My mother is wearing a deep, deep green dress, but as you can see the colors aren't quite accurate. With each photo, I adjusted it as close to the in-person view of the necklace colors as I could get; the sunstone rondelles are not red, IRL, and the pendant is a touch less bright, as well.

I took some photos in more direct sunlight than others, as I was trying to show the sunstone's sparkle; an impossible task, perhaps, but at least you can get a better sense of the piece by contrasting the color-shifting of the various photos.

Besides the brecciated jasper focal and the sunstone rondelles, the necklace includes primitive-cut smokey quartz briolettes, seed beads in red, sunstone-ish, and blue, Swarovski crystals in several colors, two sterling silver moderately large-ish oval beads, and some non-sterling silver metal spacers from Joann's. My friend particularly liked these spacers, although I generally don't mix sterling with craft-store mystery metal. That said, it's the look that matters, and how happy my friend was with it.

She was really happy with the final result! The sunstone really lights up in the sunlight, even the non-sparkley bits. The smokey quartz, oooh, in some of these photos, you can see the gemmy flash and gorgeous colour they have!

I really had a hard time with the red seed beads; I tried to design the necklace without them, but the design needed something unifying the pendant with the rest of the necklace; I took care to avoid a "patriotic" feel as I was designing; the blue crystals and seed beads easily began to combine with the red seed beads into a Fourth of July-ish feel, which was all wrong for this necklace. Her favorite colors are red and blue, though, and she loves dolphins as I do, so I worked at it until I was happy with it.

It's amazing how something as timy as a seed bead in a bold color, mixed with gemstone and crystal beads, can affect the mood and look of a piece of jewelry!