My Second Take on Sara Rhoades' Award-Winning Design. . .

Wayyyy down below, I wrote about making my version of the grand-prize necklace in the Bead Star 2011 special issue. The original necklace, created by Sara Rhoades, is lovely!

This time around, I used natural polished hemp, hematite, turquoise, coral, freshwater pearls and turquoise-dyed howlite. What do you think?

Try, Try Again

I was jazzed a few months ago when a Facebook acquaintance saw a picture of a necklace I'd made for a mutual friend and asked me to make one for her, too. Yes! Word-of-mouth in action!

I asked a few questions to make sure we were on the same page. The necklace I'd made for our mutual friend included steampunk elements and was about 52" long so the wearer could double or triple it. I'd used lots of upcycled materials in it, including chains from older necklaces and in various metal finishes.

From our Internet discussion, it sounded like she wanted a similar necklace but with turquoise and coral accents.

I made one over the next few days and mailed it to her.

I was pretty excited to hear about her reaction.

Well. . . We hadn't been on the same page. She didn't want steampunk. She wanted sterling silver. She's petite and wanted a much shorter, smaller necklace. She was sending me money (along with the returned necklace) to pay for my time and materials and asked me to make her something else.

After wiping my ego off the floor, I rallied and made a trip to a store one hour away for sterling chain, nicer turquoise chips and other special touches. In another couple of days, I mailed off a second necklace. THIS one was a winner. She thanked me profusely and told others about how much she loved her necklace.

Win/win!

. . . And here is the knotted necklace, based on Sara Rhoades' gorgeous design in Bead Star

As I mentioned in my previous post, I bought the new Bead Star 2011 Special Issue magazine a couple of days ago. Featured on the cover is a grand prize design by Sara Rhoades. This necklace, which I call Turquoise and Coral Wanderings, is based on Ms. Rhoades' beautiful design.

In place of leather cord (called for in the directions), I used waxed cotton cord. I substituted black hematite beads for some of the pearl dangles called for in the directions as well, and I used small turquoise nuggets in place of turquoise heishi as used in the original. Other beads include white freshwater pearls, turquoise-dyed howlite, dyed coral slices, and three turquoise-dyed howlite daggers. Silverplated wire and silverplated headpins are used for wraps, and the clasp is a large silverplated lobster clasp.

This was a delight to make! Hats off to Sara Rhoades for her gorgeous design!

This version of the necklace measures approximately 22".