Tuesday, June 09, 2009

Channeling Morticia

As I mentioned, I've been in a wintry, gloomy mood lately. Possibly due to the weather...? Anyway, it's affecting my designs.

I've had a vision in my head for weeks of a dark floral necklace done in blacks, grays and whites - the kind of thing Morticia Adams might wear.



Somehow, it didn't quite live up to the picture in my head. I'm trying to figure out what went wrong...maybe I didn't use enough gray beads to bridge between the black and white flowers?

Also, I couldn't get gray leaves like I wanted so I ended up using a VERY dark green (almost black) and I'm thinking there's not enough contrast between the black flowers and the dark leaves. And the white pearls I used for "buds" seem to stand out TOO much.


I thought the black chain was kind of fun to play with as a design element, but then it made it tough to come up with a coordinating clasp. I ended up using gunmetal, but I'm not sure it's really working.



I like the earrings, though.

And then I made this design:



Much cheerier, but not really a "summer" necklace. I don't know how I ended up with such a wintry palette, but at least it's pretty.



Isn't this focal bead amazing? I bought it years ago from Carol Fonda and Monty Clark at a bead show and it's been hiding in my stash ever since then. I came across it when I was doing the great BEAD CLEANOUT (Contest! Free Beads! Don't forget to tell your friends!!) and decided I had to finally use it.

The clasp is a Bali-style "S" clasp set with an amethyst.

And just to not leave everything on a totally gloomy note, here are some bead pics:


More Little Crow beads. Believe it or not, my son picked out this set. I was trolling around my favorite sellers on eBay and he came in the office and wanted to see what I was doing. I thought he'd be totally bored and leave after I explained, but he ended up sitting in my lap and pointing out things he thought I should get. This set was his favorite so, of course, I HAD to buy it. The fact that the beads are gorgeous didn't hurt.



And at the total opposite end of the spectrum are these sweet and girly beads from Brilynn on Etsy. They are destined to be earrings, I think.

Have a great day!

KJ

7 comments:

Kaos Siberians said...

The kidlette has great taste in beads!

Marie Cramp said...

Your Morticia necklace is very nice. I agree with your comments on the contrast though, it is hard to see the flowers and the pearls do stand out quite a bit, but it is still elegant and chic. I love that focal bead!! It is amazing. The necklace you made with it is great too, a winner for sure!

TFS
Marie

Gypsygoods said...

Love the Morticia Necklace! Very Stunning!

Silver Parrot said...

Sparkle - that's "kidLET" KidlETTE is the feminine and, as previously discussed in this blog, he is DEFINITELY a boy (his momentary interest in beads notwithstanding).

Silver Parrot said...

Marie - thank you. I think if I'd used different color leaves, it might've worked better.

Silver Parrot said...

Gypsy - thank you. Glad you like it!

pam T said...

OMG LOVE LOVE LOVE the "Morticia" necklace and earrings! great style!