The theme for this week in the Year of Jewelry Project was right up my alley - At The Beach! That has Sherri written all over it. And as if that weren't motivation enough, a customer sent me this sea star palette (by Design Seeds) and asked if I could make her a bracelet in those colors. Boy howdy! I started by pulling cord and beads from my stash. I had a pretty good matching selection of cord, a ton of seed beads and several fun things. Those pale green beads are vintage (pre-WWII) Japanese. The glass flower headpin is by Amy Sutton, the owl and the round pendant next to it is by my friend Shelley Graham of Tori Sophia, and the fabulous seahorse and fish ceramics are by Sheri Mallery of Slingin' Mud. I told you this palette played right into my hand.
I started out using the colors in a pattern of deep waves. I do love the way the orange color makes everything else pop. But the waves got me thinking... and I decided to try something different. I used a wave pattern, but in cord colors graduating from the deepest teal up through the soft greenish color and then into the sandy tan. When I added beads, I kept them random, again mimicking the colors of deeper water with highlights up through the foamy green and into the sand.
And for the finishing touch, I added a little orange howlite sea star bead on the chain.
I had such fun with this palette. I'm keeping this bead and cord out and I hope to make more pieces in these colors and hopefully incorporate one of the artist's beads. I'll keep you posted. But for now, I'm putting a done stamp on Year of Jewelry Week 31 - nailed it!
