A bezeled cameo, strung with delicate chiffon.
This necklace is another exercise outside my comfort zone. I’m not usually one to do religious work, though the cameo is obviously that.
I think the Virgin is pretty spiffy with her red and gold crystals and matte gold beads.
There was a bit of a struggle about what type of necklace to use. I wanted something softer, less mechanical than my usual stringing.
Red chiffon ribbon, living in the stash for years was just the ticket.
Every time I look at this necklace, I think it needs to be worn by a gentrified lady wearing hoop skirts in the drawing room of a long-ago plantation.
Must be something about the colors. Or the hair style.
A Day of the Dead cameo beaded round in pink, peach and gold, strung with champagne pearls and bi-colored crystals. There are even gold beads, just because.
Now that the season of insanity (also know as Presidential elections) is over in the US, it’s time for everyone to say a little prayer. We survived!
Though I’m sure many folks watching overseas were getting quite the chuckle from the goings-on.
Onwards!
A Virgin of Guadalupe cameo, bezeled round with beads and bugles. She’ll trumpet a new beginning. Get it. Bugle. Trumpet. I couldn’t resist!
I was a bit nervous before starting this brooch, but it turned out even better than I expected. The twisting beads that make up the border add just the right pop of color, don’t you think?
As do the peach beads surrounding the cameo. Not all blue. Not all white. Just a little different.
I’ve been seeing a lot of dragonflies this summer. Some flitting around the back patio, others (alas) in the garage. I suppose it’s due to the wet Spring we had.
Seeing them inspired this brooch. The cameo is very dimensional, standing out from the blue background at least 1/4 inch.
Seed beads of various sizes make up the peyote stitched bezel. No lotus under glass this time.
The edge-work is pretty simple, having a running band of beads with crystal picots every so often. It needed something more, so I added fringe, but not too much. Just right, as Goldilocks would say.
Mum. Mum. Mum
Though I’m not at all certain if the cabochon of this brooch is in fact supposed to be a chyrsanthemum-mum-mum. Or not.
Either way, whatever botanical beauty it represents, I think I’ve done it justice.
It was fun and interesting to play with colors I don’t usually gravitate towards – blue, peach, crystal. The peach is enough of a contrast to the blue that it shows, but isn’t garish. You should have seen some of the other colors I auditioned (then shrieked at!). A more muted palette was definitely called for.
Like the other brooches I’ve been making recently, this one has faux leather and a pin on the back.
A sweet hummingbird looking for midnight nectar.
Another brooch, this one decorated with plum seed beads and ecru pearls. A full-sized pin on the back, finished with faux leather.
There’s something about the mix of colors in the cameo that I really like. The translucency of the tail feathers, the intensity of the background colors.
Maybe this is a vampire hummingbird, looking for nectar from flowers that only bloom a night?
Carmen is another Day of the Dead brooch. The same size as Esmerelda, so 2 inches top to bottom, give or take a few millimeters.
Unlike Esmerelda, Carmen is already flushed from dancing – she’s been waltzing under candle light all evening.
Lucite cameo bezeled with black and pink seed beads (sizes 11º to 15º). She’s edged with shiny black druks with a light pink picot.
