Creating: Sterling Silver, Citrine and Leaf Pendant Necklace
Sep 28th, 2009 by admin
I admit it; I’ve been in a rut lately. I mentioned this a few weeks ago, and said that I’d found a way to get back on track. Certainly, working has not been the issue; I’ve been on top of my bookkeeping and writing furiously, but I’ve had no inspiration when it comes to jewelry.
It’s hard to say what’s caused this. It could be that I’ve been avoiding gem shows, since I have a bad habit of spending too much when faced with delicious new shiny things, and shopping is inspiring. It could also be that it’s a year and a half since I worked with a retail beading store: I found it much easier to create after I first left, when beads stopped being work, but maybe I’ve come down from that. I definitely miss the inspiring people I got to work with. I can’t tell what the cause is, so I’m very happy to have finally finished a project.
Sometimes just one element will help get a design going. I bought a bunch of these real birch leaf pendants a while ago, and had used just a couple of them in a slave earring design, but they’ve been sitting on my desk ever since. I finally pulled this copper one out and started laying other elements around it. I thought spiral chain would work well, but also added some silver mobius knots to the pile, wondering if they’d add some texture and interest.
I made the chain, and since the pendant didn’t fit over it with the size of the rings, I knew I’d either have to add a second strand of something else, or work out an elaborate bail. Intending to try garnet (I love the look of copper and garnet; it’s so warm and rich), I dug through my beads and found this citrine. The color matched almost perfectly! Since I didn’t have a full strand, I thought I’d add in the mobius links between strung or wire wrapped sections of beads. I tried a few inches and laid the elements out again, only to find that the whole thing was getting too cluttered.
After the citrine was strung and crimped I realized I’d forgotten to string the pendant! While considering restringing, I added the fine chain to the necklace and loved the mismatched shape created by the single strand with weight on it.
I love those little 3 to 1 components; they help bring down multiple strands without messy multiple crimps on a single ring and give a hinged effect. To finish the necklace, I made a stretch of Half Persian chain maille. It lays flat against the skin, and has a similar look to the spiral chain, so the design doesn’t feel disjointed.
The finished necklace is utterly elegant, yet totally wearable!
