Well, after whining the other day about how tedious the first parts of this project were, the rest went nifty-swifto. And here’s my finished memory necklace:
The significant danglies include: door key; diary key; airplane charm; Virgin and child; evergreen tree; several leaves; dolphin charm; two astrological symbols; a Swarovski crystal; several circles; and a couple of stars. The rest are just pretty dangly things, mostly of glass or metal, with a few semi-precious stones. The main colors of the piece (silver and gold) symbolize richness. The clasp is another leaf and is sterling silver. I didn’t have any suitable dog charms. If I had, you can bet they’d have gone on there.
Here’s the original totem necklace by Chelle Mayer from the book Beading for the Soul. This is where I got instructions and inspiration:
Finally, here’s a not-great selfie showing the necklace “in action.” It drapes a bit differently than you might expect. The longest dangles form three triangles.
Wow, that really looks awesome! I love the colors and the bits and things to look at, it always interesting in every part of it. Did you keep count of how many beads there are (total)?……I would look at the book’s picture and think “that’s all kinds of challenging” and then set out to see if I could do it, as I’m sure you did. But you actually finished it! (LOL) You are keeping it for yourself, right? – isn’t it suppose to be a refection of personal life interests? If you ever find suitable dog charms (or whatever) you can always add them on as you find them.
Go you, hehe….You conquered it!……I’d be working on something that extensive for YEARS, hehe……
That’s really neat, Claire. Yours is much prettier than the original from the book, it seems to have more life to it. I like the triangle emphasis.
It may be caused by the lighting or by the background, but the gold and silver seem to pop out better on the table rather than on the material.
Pat — Thank you. I loved Mayer’s more subtle color scheme, but I figured what the heck; it’s an exhuberant design, so go gaudy. 😉 I appreciate the compliment, but it’s easy to adapt somebody else’s idea; much harder to come up with the original concept, so I think the lion’s share of praise is all for Chelle Mayer.
naturegirl — LOL, yeah, I’m kind of amazed that I finished it, too. It’s the only piece of jewelry I’ve made in the last several years and far and away the most complicated ever. The secret to finishing it was that all the tedium was in the early parts. After that, it was all pure fun.
Number of beads? Oh my. Three gazillion. At least. 😉
I’ll keep it for myself unless I find somebody who really wants it (and who finds significance in Scorpio and Libra symbols; because while I can add items to it, no way can any of these ever come off!). Where I’ll ever wear such a thing, I don’t know. In the woods walking the dogs? At all the wild parties I never go to?
Cool.
More a piece of clothing in it’s own right than an accessory.
🙂 Yeah, but I’m not going to run around naked except for that necklace. It might upset the neighbors.
It’s not such a long drive to Rooster Rock, is it? Might be a bit late in the year for that.
I’m impressed with that beadwork. I’m pretty sure I couldn’t do something like that. Lots of knotwork with fine thread? Does it scale up to using paracord?
Meanwhile Vets are removing Barrycades in the Capital. I assume the mainstream media is more interesting in whatever Miley Cyrus is twerking today.
Wonderful job on the necklace! I especially like the leaf clasp. I might be tempted to wear it backwards, like a shawl, to show off the clasp. And I can’t believe you don’t have any dog charms! I hope Robbie doesn’t know that.
The “dog charms” are clinging to the sweater/shirt/”whatever women call that item of clothing” below the necklace. Just like I am always wearing “cat charms” on my clothes.
Very nice job on the necklace!
Smarty. What I MEANT was wearing a plain top would probably allow the piece to be the focal point of an outfit.
Of course, those native lasses in Grandpa’s National Geographic collection often had little more than large jewelry pieces to adorn their bodies.
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I first bought your initial publication to learn more about guns. And now look at what you have done to me! Got me thinking about womens clothing and bangley things.
IN PUBLIC, NO LESS!
It looks great!
Hope you never get close to a magnet, or fall overboard with that thing on.
Claire, you don’t have to wear it – it could always be framed and hung on a wall in your house….it’s art…. !
Any chance you could make me one out of paracord, chemights, button compasses, fishhooks, fishing line, leaders, D rings… OK, just thinking out loud.
Kent — LOL (and so true) on the “dog charms.” I wear them all over my clothes every day (so much for my favorite color, black).
A.G. — Think of it as being a Renaissance man! The Roman goddess is lucky to have a guy who can relate to both firearms and aesthetics.
Graystone — Not too worried about the magnet, LOL. But I’ll definitely watch myself on boats.
jed and EN — Paracord! Oh my. You’re giving me such ideas …
Karen, Jennifer, naturegirl — Thank you. And hey, hanging it on a wall is a thought. Even a better thought, perhaps, than paracord.
Nice self portrait.
Well, in re. paracord, it’d be like doing macrame, I think. Of course, the manly paracord artists have to call it a ‘cobra knot’, but starting with a simple lanyard, it’s easy to think of how to work beads or hollow somethings into it. If I had something of a suitable diameter around here, I’d’ve already tried it.
So, something like this is what I have in mind, as a simple place to start. Hmmm, maybe I’ll drop by Orr’s and see if they have anything appropriate. Bone or horn, preferably.