Gemandpearlover's Lowly Beading Adventures

[Gemandpearlover]

I find stringing and beading fun and relaxing and here are my latest treasures.


Blue Akoyas with vintage blue cloisonné beads and strung with sky colored Beader's secret thread.



Some very odd shaped baroque grey Akoya pearls strung on pink Beader's secret with rose quartz beads. This was a vintage strand that was so dirty- it was hard to see the beauty of the pearls. But they cleaned up nicely and have so many different overtones in the pearls.



Next up- some dyed grey freshwater rice pearls strung on Plum color thread with cloisonne beads.



More to come.....

 

[Gemandpearlover]

I went on the hunt for used pearl clasps on Ebay. I came across a nice strand of metallic apricot colored pearls with a 14k gold clasp. The strand was recently re-strung but I took it apart as soon as it arrived and re-strung it with Gold Beader's secret thread and gold colored french wire. The color of the pearls disappears on my skin so I might re-purpose the clasp and change out the pearl on it. Or maybe it will look nice worn with a dark strand of pearls or in the summer with a tan.

 

[linda.wald]

Wow, some lovely necklaces! I especially like the blue akoyas with the cloisonne beads.

 

[amti]

What a great idea to use the cloisonne beads in the necklaces. They look great. I love how they all turned out. Could you wear the last strand a little longer with a dark shirt? I think they would pop that way.

 

[Charlotta]

You have been busy, lovely creations. The cloissone beads are really pretty with the pearls.

 

[Gemandpearlover]

Thank you Linda, Amti and Charlotta. I like your suggestion Amti and will try the pearls with a dark crew neck shirt to see how they look.

My next experiment in beading will be with tiny metallic button pearls that look similar in shape to rondelle beads. At least I hope in real life they do. They sit on my table- in a bag just waiting to be opened. I am letting the suspense grow..........

Also kind of disappointed that the Etsy seller for the quartz beads did not send the apatite beads that were bought at the same time. She said they should have shipped together and will get back to me. Still waiting to hear from her.

 

[JerseyPearl]

Love your redos! On the ebay find: those pearls would be fabulous with rose gold. I would wire wrap them into a long chain using rose gold and maybe some golden pink sunstones.

 

[Gemandpearlover]

Love your redos! On the ebay find: those pearls would be fabulous with rose gold. I would wire wrap them into a long chain using rose gold and maybe some golden pink sunstones.

That sounds like a beautiful idea- thank you for the inspiration!

 

[BWeaves]

Those are lovely restrings. The cloisonné beads really complement the pearls.

 

[Gemandpearlover]

Thank you BWeaves. I used plum colored cloisonne beads, amethyst beads, and 10mm white pearls to make this Christmas gift for a friend. She likes her necklaces "long enough so I can see them" and wanted a white pearl strand that was not traditional. Purple is her favorite color. I hope she likes it.

 

[amti]

That gets a thumbs up from me!

 

[CathyKeshi]

Oooh, I love those cloisonne beads; really lovely

 

[pattye]

So many lovely new combos; the Christmas gift necklace is a treasure.

 

[Charlotta]

I think that your friend will love that strand. It's really pretty.

 

[multichrome]

I’m really loving your combinations. Pretty and inspiring!

 

[Gemandpearlover]

Thank you Amti, Cathykeshi, Pattye, Charlotta and multichrome! I have been inspired by the lovely creations on this site. I am still waiting for my small button metallic freshies and my new apatite beads to arrive. I think those will be a lot of fun to work with. Also I need to learn how to wire wrap- I have never done that before and it looks fun.

 

[Charlotta]

I am sure that you learn wirewrapping quickly. I had wirewrapping as a project for my summer vacation 1 1/2 years ago. I bought two books, some tools, silver wire and some other findings that the books recommended. I should have used some other wire but the shop I found online only had silver and gold wire and I clearly have no patience. I have saved all of my silvery mistakes in a box, that online shop also buys scraps. It's really fun, wirewrapping that is, I sat for hours and did strain my eyes, so good lighting is a recommendation.

 

[Gemandpearlover]

Thank you for the advice Charlotta! I will definitely take it when learning wirewrapping.

Do you guys remember a few years back when PP was selling exotic metallic rice pearls? I hadn't yet discovered pearls back then but lucky pearl lovers snatched up those glorious strands. I found this out when reading old forum posts. I fell in love with those strands.

So I came up with my poor man's version. 10mm plump mostly metallic rice pearls strung on Beader's secret gold thread. I originally strung them on pink, but decided gold worked better. The clasp is SS.

 

[Pearl Dreams]

They're beautiful, and a good job with the photo too. I have a terrible time photographing my strand-- it always ends up looking washed out.

 

[Charlotta]

They look metallic to me, very nice. Those older treads had me chasing metallics maybe 5years ago. I wasn't to particular about the shape and bought some very egg shaped rather small but mostly metallic. Then I discovered that a lot of the colors in freshwaters don't look good on my rather pale complexion... Sometimes there is like a yellow cast to them and a whole strand of that clash against my skin. I don't have that problem with my rainbow strand, but then the pearls in it are really good. Every time I see those metallics, I start looking again.