Slice of Lavender

This is another piece created during a bead workshop. This was my "challenge" piece for the year. My husband gave me the geode pendant several years ago, but I never wore it. The rather brassy edging meant it looked terrible with my gold chains, so the pendant sat in my jewelry box neglected and unused for several years

I decided to bring the pendant with me to the workshop to see if I could make something with it, and this necklace is the result - I wear it often now. (I've even been known to buy the occasional purple outfit so I have something to wear it with!) I've also made another necklace with the same color combination and amethyst nuggets (sorry, no pendant,) which can be purchased. Email me if you're interested.

Prayer Chain Bead Necklace

The beads for this piece came from a swap with over 200 beaders from all over the world - all members of 'Beadtalk', an internet mailing list. The beads were blessed, prayed over, or otherwise imbued with healing energy according to each beader's individual beliefs. As part of the exchange, each participant then had to create a design using ALL the beads. I used African (quadruple) helix in blues for the supporting necklace, and added the prayer beads w/ branched fringe. It seems like a heavy necklace, but is actually quite comfortable to wear.

At the Bead Workshop in Paradise I, in a session taught by Lydia Borin, the Beadwrangler, we wove an amulet bag using a variety of special fibers and then embellished it with an accent bead and seed beads. This was my first attempt at making something without a pattern, and without any idea about where the next bead was going.

It was an eye-opener for me! It took me forever to find a technique that I liked to use for the strap, but eventually I found the spiral rope chain on Anne Hawley's website, and wrapping that around the fiber braid worked perfectly. This is still one of my absolute favorite amulet bags! This is also the piece that freed me to develop my own designs, rather than relying on patterns made by other people.

Diane Fitzgerald was the lead teacher at the Bead Workshop in Paradise II. Her "Ginko Leaf Necklace" class was incredibly fun. If you ever have a chance to take a class with Diane, jump at it! She's a great teacher! I loved the Ginko Leaves, and have been making tons of pins using different colors, in addition to the necklace.

(BTW, the scans don't even come close to doing justice to the colors. The necklace has a lot of Delicas with a gold luster finish that really sparkles!)

I've gotten a lot of email about this pattern. Diane did sell kits for this at one time through her store, Beautiful Beads. The last known email address I have for her is dmfbeads@bitstream.net