I may be becoming slightly addicted to entering beading contests. I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing though since it can lead to people buying my jewelry and/or me winning free beads.
Anyway, I just entered this lovely piece in the Rings and Things “Your Designs Rock!” 2010 contest.
Calico Chaos Six Strand Necklace
Like all contests hosted by bead stores, the Rings and Things contest required that the entry was made mostly of supplies from their store. When I heard about this contest, I didn’t have money to buy new beads to create something, so I had to rely on the beads I already had from them – Fiber Optic glass beads in various shapes, sizes and colors. I’d used most of the small rounds from that order to make my Calico Colors Collection, so I was mainly left with 6mm rounds and rondelles. Normally, I would make something single strand with those, but it’s really hard to make a single strand necklace spectacular enough to be a contest entry. Doing something multi-strand would just make it look bulky and heavy and chunky which I didn’t want. I spent a while playing with the beads and trying some different design ides but nothing worked. I was about to give up when I was rummaging through my bead supplies and found some rubber cording I’d bought awhile back for a project that never materialized. I had a sudden inspiration to use the rubber cord, which is hollow, as a long bead in between sections of three 6mm Fiber Optic rondelles. The finished piece ended up being a 6 strand necklace of varying lengths and colors. I love it’s masculine yet delicate, organically funky look.
It’s been submitted to Rings and Things so let’s all cross our fingers that in June, I get a “Congratulations, you’re a winner!” email.
