Creepy Forest Necklace

Some images are so intriguing and inspiring, that they stick with us for years and years. Artists and designers of all mediums can attribute many of their ideas to experiences from the past that have never faded from memory. One of my favorite inspiration stories is the origins of the infamous villain Freddy Krueger, who has been able to scare audiences because of his creator's far reaching imagination. The combination of a childhood bully, a strange transient, and a fascination with Eastern religion gelled into what is now a celebrated cult classic film.

The Inspiration:

Now that my son is old enough to start enjoying cartoons and movies, I find that I am longing for the films that I enjoyed as a child. Although there are some exceptional family movies being produced today, none of them have the same charm that make classics appealing years later. It's interesting that one of my all time favorite movies - Disney's Snow White - was already a classic when I watched it, and is still around for a new generation to enjoy.

One of my favorite scenes from Snow White - the one that sticks with me - is the forest scene. After being condemned by the evil queen, our heroine must flee through a dark and terrifying forest before finding refuge with seven kind little men. In particular, the life-like trees that seem to reach out and grab at poor Snow White are a thrill to see. Those trees were the perfect inspiration for some dark and mysterious beading.


The Beads:

I started with some dark brown iris 11/0 seed beads, and added black and gunmetal. For accents and color, I grabbed a few olivine Swarovski bicones, and Picasso 8/0 seed beads. I wanted as many dark finishes as possible, so I also picked out some jet AB bicones and pretty black bugle beads.

The Beadwork:

My first idea for creating some scary forest trees was to use branch fringe. After some musing and sketching, I decided to use netting as a base, and create a forest of fringe along the edge. Each point on the netted color has a tiny set of branches, with gradual increases in size. To keep the necklace from getting too busy, I maintained a strict number of beads for each fringe, with the centers of the "trees" growing larger every few rows.

Copyright 2009 Inspirational Beading