People never tire of the heart in all its decorative forms. This silver heart is a favorite. It’s lovely enough to stand on its own, flanked by a long line of petite silvery beads. Each bead, whether, disc or barrel shaped, is set apart by a tiny black spacer, giving emphasis to their shape and design.
This piece is also close to choker length, but with a little bit of slack to allow for the modern, geometric look of chunky, creamy amber Calcite and cool pale, green rectangles of Serpentine Stone. They are set apart by pewtery discs of tiny engraved lines, reminiscent of Frank Lloyd Wright’s designs.
If you’re looking for “fall colors”, this one’s for you. A hand-made goldish tin star hangs between two rust colored, handmade fish. In their wakes, there’s a long trail of mini beads, tiny pearls, gold tone faceted spacers, oblong cubes of russet colored jade and pale, mother of pearl tubes beads.
A gentle choker length is perfect for the big amber, art glass focal. It sets a bold, yet respectful mood. Four gold glass discs and smaller amber beads, stagger between puffy brass highlights and thick, transparent rondelles which keep the gold and amber from getting too carried away.
Cinnabar is one of many ancient Chinese arts, nearly lost during the Cultural Revolution. We have lots of red coral beads, faceted gold toned accent beads and clear round, iridescent, glass balls. Basking in the center is an antique gold finished focal bead. A mix of transparency and red.
Working with this necklace of blue lapis lazuli, (one of my fave gemstones) and gold, I couldn’t help but recall the boys in my 5th grade class in their Cub Scouts uniforms. Centered by a translucent, blue veined, gold cored focal, tube shaped and round lapis stones line up to strut their stuff.
This smaller scale necklace is nearly choker length, but definitely in the realm of subtle greens. Green jade and aventurine beads range from whitish sea foam green, to pale peridot hues, to rich green, like you see in some old Chinese carvings. Tiny silvery spacers add to the smaller scale.
Some people like smaller scale pieces with lots of color and originality. The center section features oblong, deep green jade pieces, flanked with whimsical silvery fish and fleur-de-lis amid pairs and trios of dark, iridescent pearls. It’s finished with an easy to handle toggle clasp.
This could also fit in the earth tone category with the soft sea green/earth green center whelk shell and its big litter of baby seashells. To counterbalance the back-to-nature feel, I added sea green facet beads and silvery seed pearls among a few understated silvery spacers.