This artisan statement necklace is truly one of a kind. It features an ornate vintage brass plate, moss agate, glistening white and green seed beads, deep red pearls and Baroque soft green pearls intertwined with an aged brass chain.
It was a labor of love finding the right colors and pearls and stones to tell this story of the beauty of nature in the winter.
The main focal is a cabochon Gary Wilson created from a vintage metal drawer front. It created the theme of this piece of winter berries. It has a lot of detail and reminded me of Art Nouveau design. I bead embroidered it to a backing of ultra-suede and added tiny glass seed beads from Japan in various shades of icy white, mossy green, bronze, and sparkling dark red. Freshwater pearls in a deep rich red are of course the berries.
Dangling from the main focal and bronze filigree piece is a bead embroidered drop of exquisite moss agate. I loved it when I purchased it from Gary Wilson and knew no matter what piece it ended up in it would look like moss hanging on through the winter. Sometimes I wish stones could duplicate themselves, because I could've made several different takes on this lovely stone.
Although I wanted to use the Baroque pearls in this very soft green, I felt it was a little too sweet for this pendant. I also wanted to balance out the size of the pendant (about 5.25 inches long,) giving the the neck strap some weight. I wove the pearls and some special glass beads in that same frosty white as in the pendant pieces through some antiqued bronze colored chain. It softened the chain by making it look like a ribbon!
This one of a kind statement necklace is adjustable from 15 to 19 inches. I've used a simple lobster clasp and dangled a vintage charm with faux pearls off the end of the chain along with my signature tag.
Truly one of a kind.
This piece has been in my mind for some time. I set the beautiful moss agate cabachon in with the sage green pearls soon after I brought them home. It wasn't til I decided to start working with the vintage metal piece that I realized the winter berry theme and that the moss agate was like moss peaking out of snow on a rock. You can read more on my blog post.