A Necklace a Day - Two

When it comes to accent beads, I’m a bargain shopper. I always like to add a strand or two of this, or a baggie of that to my usual thread and seed bead orders. I find that having an assortment of accents around can help bring in ideas when other inspiration is low. Sometimes the beads I find end up sitting around for a long time before I have any idea how to use them.

Today’s necklace was a bit of a surprise. When I saw a strand of Czech glass coins in turquoise and black on sale, I knew that I had to have them. And I assumed that I would get around to using them, one day. It was very exciting to take them out of the package and instantly know what I wanted to make with them.

Desert Sun Pendant

I really like Egyptian or African color palettes, with their pretty combinations of gemstone hues like turquoise and carnelian. I wanted to capture that ancient desert vibe, without being completely obvious, so I kept my palette down to three colors: turquoise, black and topaz.

To keep the real focus on the coin beads, I stitched up a simple brick stitch pendant, then added strands of turquoise beads and tortoise druks with reverse daisy chain. The piece has a nice, subtle shimmer that gets stronger the closer you look.

There are still a handful of nouveau coins leftover. I know this drives some beaders crazy, all those loose bits with nowhere to go. I like knowing that they’re there if I ever need them.

Copyright 2010 Inspirational Beading