Grand Prize Bronze Runner-Up in the Fire Mountain Gems and Beads 2011 Seed Bead, Glass or Acrylic Jewelry-Making Contest

My copper peyote stitch necklace with the blue Czech glass dangles was selected as the Grand Prize Bronze Runner-Up in the Fire Mountain Gems and Beads 2011 Seed Bead, Glass or Acrylic Jewelry-Making Contest!!

Copper necklace with blue dangles

The inspiration for this necklace is a modern version of an Elizabethan ruff.  It is the next iteration in a series of experiments composed of variations on a peyote stitch chocker base supporting layers of ornamented wires.  It is similar to the Grey Necklace, or the Bronze and Prickly Necklace.  However, in this case I have used a wide flat band of peyote stitch rather than a tube and nine staggered rows of of blue czech bead dangles on copper colored wire.

Detail of the copper necklace's blue dangles

As with all projects, this necklace has been a series of missteps overcome.  Initially I had thought to weave the dangles through the peyote base as I did with the tubular necklaces, but with the weave flat, the wires created too much distortion in the peyote base.  So, it became necessary to stitch additional beads over the surface of the peyote stitch to carry the wires from which the blue dangles would hang.  Then there was the issue of sizing the wires.  If the wires were too thick, they wouldn’t drape properly, but if they were thin enough to drape nicely, they slid through the beads that supported them.  It became necessary to stitch over the wires in their bead supports to hold them in place.

The dangle necklaces are still a work in progress, however, I submitted this one to the Fire Mountain Beading Contest for seed beads.  This piece was selected as a finalist and I am awaiting the result of the final judging.

Detail of copper necklace peyote stitch band

This necklace is a further exploration of the round peyote stitch spiral weave already shown in my Spiral Bracelet.  In this necklace, I tapered the  spiral to two ornamental “Dragon Claws” which create a transition from the spiral to the loop and toggle clasp.  I learned the “Dragon Claws” from a kit by Laura McCabe, but I was not fond of the colors she selected and so I ventured off into exploring other forms of color combination.  The shape Laura teaches is four sided and evolves from a combination of herringbone (Ndebele) stitch and peyote stitch.  I have seen it done in a two sided version which yields a similar, but simpler shape.

This is another version of the Zig Zag necklace. I used the  same basic pattern of 2 drop flat peyote with increases and decreases that I used in the first Zig Zag Necklace.  However, I have played with the colors to emphasize the zig zag aspect, and this creates a much bolder graphic design.