My First Collar

So towards the end of may I finished my very first bead embroidered full collar. I was so relieved to finish it and I love the way it turned out. I named it the Celtic Bride Necklace. My husband took all the lovely photographs down by the creek near our apartment which turned out to be a stunning backdrop.

I had created this necklace for the Esty Beadweavers monthly competition. For June it was to create a bridal piece for the theme "June Bride". I figured the majority of people would probably be doing something in shades of white, so I wanted to do something a bit different. 

 

The centerpiece of this collar was based around a gorgeous vintage glass button from Czechoslovakia. I purchased this button at a bead show in Richmond from Karen Thomas who is the owner of The Queen's Beads which is based out of White Oak, PA. You can find her here on facebook. The two brass stampings I ordered from and etsy seller named BareNakedFindings and the 3 square swarovski slider beads I also got from etsy, from a seller named PeriwinkleBlueGap 

The collar features an art deco themed, double locking, box clasp in gold over sterling set with crystals. The inner circumference of the necklace is approximately 17 inches and the width of the necklace at its widest point measures 4 inches and at its thinnest point measures 1/2 inch. The whole collar is backed with a dark green Ultrasuede for a clean look and soft feel against the skin.

In my mind I kind of imagined a wedding scene like this would go along with this necklace.

Yes this is a scene from Braveheart...... but this was kind of what was going on in my mind while making the necklace. Anyways.... as I had said in the beginning of my post, I was entering it into a contest for the Etsy Beadweavers. So I entered my piece, and I didn't really expect anything to happen but low and behold, my piece won first place! I was blown away, I had never expected my first necklace to win anything.You can see the whole list of competitors and their pieces here. Also, the necklace sold to a lovely lady in North Carolina only four days after I listed it.  So all in all a happy ending to this fairytale wedding piece

Jewel Of Jaipur

I know I haven't posted in a while but I will try to catch up lol....

Last month I finished a necklace which I decided to name The Jewel Of Jaipur. Using glass seed beads in varying hues of pink, orange and gold, I surrounded the center piece of this necklace which is a vintage pressed glass button from Czechoslovakia. This piece is a one of a kind, hand embroidered by me. It is accented by beaded fringe with swarovski crystals and backed with orange Ultrasuede for a nice soft feel against the skin.

The removable beaded rope measures 18 inches and has a gold filled lobster clasp. The pendant with fringe included measures 4 inches long and 2 1/2 inches wide.

The bright pinks, golds and oranges reminded me of the colors of the buildings in Jaipur which is also known as "The pink city".

And the pattern on the Czech glass button reminded me of the patterns in textiles used in the beautiful sarees worn by the women of India.

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I truly love everything about the colorful culture of India and its people and I think it really showed through in this piece. This is my second piece using that beaded spiral rope which has turned out to be a very useful pattern. It is extremely easy, fast, strong and easy to customize. Here is a link to the tutorial I used to make it.

Valentine's Day Giveaway

Okay so, I have been a bit busy with the holidays but now I'm back! And to start off the new year right, I'm doing a free giveaway through my Jadebutterfly Designs Facebook page!

I will be giving away this beautiful blown glass heart necklace, hand made by me on Feb. 5th. 100% free including shipping. The are 3 Simple Steps To Enter...

1.) Like my Jadebutterfly Designs page on Facebook
2.) Share the contest post (along with any lovely comments you have ;) )
3.) COMMENT on the contest post to let me know you have completed all 3 steps. Make sure to do all 3

That's it! Enter and win!!!
I will assign a number to each person's entry and draw a number. The winner will be announced on Feb. 5th and notified by Facebook message. The necklace will be mailed within the next 2 business days. Perfect to keep for yourself or to give as a gift to your special someone!

Best of Luck to all my supporters :)