Saturday, February 14, 2015

Desert Sands Challenge ~ at last


And here it is…
The long awaited Desert Sands Challenge post!
Thank you to Andrew Thornton for hosting and having patience with my tardiness.

I actually did finish my pieces while travelling to Tucson for the gem shows, but had difficulty photographing them without “busts”.

It’s always fun to get a box in the mail from Andrew. This time was no exception. I fell in love with the bronze, gold and ivory hues in this kit.



Not being a bead weaver, I tend to ignore those tiny little beads in the kit. This time I decided to meet them head on and string a multi-strand necklace. The silk strung bead strands and chain with wire-wrapped glass were gathered in Vintaj brass cones and connected with my handcrafted hook and eye clasp.
 










The irregular metallic glass bead told me it wanted to be a clasp. I used Parawire’s smokey quartz to crochet a choker. The cone-shaped etched glass bead adds a fun dangle to the clasp.














There are lots more great components left for earrings, bracelets, etc. And this great pendant crafted by Andrew.
Can’t wait to play with them!


Please check out the other challenge participants.
On Andrew Thornton's blog:

4 comments:

  1. I love both of these necklaces! I'm in love with mixed bead, multi-strand necklaces and fascinated by wire crochet. Lovely work!

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  2. Great designs! I also tend to ignore the tiny beads not being a weaver...loving what you did here to use them! Really nice work!

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  3. I am late to the party! I love your multi-strand necklace and that you stepped out of your comfort zone to play with the seed beads. The necklace looks rich and dense with the chain and bead strands. Great job with the parawire crochet and using a component in a new fashion!

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  4. Beautiful Piesces. I love wire crochet too, this choker is Dead on Awesome.

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