I've always loved pearls. My husband gave me a lovely strand as a wedding gift, and as many of you know, I spent the early part of this year creating pearl and crystal jewelry for my niece's wedding. Those pearls were white, but I've also worked with freshwater pearls in deep purple, lime green, Autumn gold, peacock blue, and other rich colors! Pearls also come in some surprising shapes beyond the basic round, looking like everything from a stick to a piece of cereal! But whatever their color or shape, pearls add a look of luxury, sophistication, and beauty to jewelry designs and fashion.
Shapes, sizes, quality, color, luster, and other factors help determine price. While you often "get what you pay for" when it comes to pearls, it's also delightful that you can get nice-quality pearls at reasonable prices, and interesting, wearable pearls for even less! It's all what you want at the time.
My selection today is a 1/2 strand of freshwater pearls I bought at my favorite local specialty bead store, aptly named, The Bead Store. :-) They have an interesting rectangular shape, are wine colored with lots of shine, and interesting black spots along the ends that look rather "burnt." These are what I've decided to use for my entry in Michelle's "Pearls! Pearls! Pearls!" Blog Hop.
Maybe a pearl expert can tell me if those dark ends are a bad thing,
but in the meantime, I rather think they just add character and charm!
I was immediately drawn to these pearls, but had a difficult time trying to decide what to pair with it. I had purchased a lovely jasper donut-shaped stone pendant at the store to use with the pearls, and also bought some unique metal pieces while there. When I got home, I could not decide between one of these or something else! Decisions, decisions!
In the end, I went for this beautiful pottery pendant made by Marti Conrad of Marti's Buttons-n-Beads. I've been saving this quite some time--
I purchased this handmade pottery pendant
(and the matching pottery beads shown below)
from Marti Conrad's Etsy store,
I added Greek Mykonos beads, copper rondelle beads,
and blackened round brass beads.
I also found some Czeck Picassa glass beads
that matched the color of Marti's beads very well and added those!
There is blackened chain in the front and the back,
for a slightly different look,
inspired by the 1920s.
I'll add small handmade darkened copper clasp in the back.
I wish I had some glamorous dress from the 1920s to go with this, but in the meantime, I think it will look great with more casual outfits too! (That's the fun of pearls!)
I hope you've enjoyed my entry in the Pearls blog hop! Please hop over to the other entries too!
Pearls!
Pearls!! Pearls!!! Blog Hop Participants:
Sharyl’s
Jewelry and Reflections
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17 comments:
Sharyl, I love your necklace - it will definitely go with jeans or a nice dressy outfit - or anything in between. I also really love the color of your pearls and I think the darkened portions blend nicely with the dark chain and adds contrast to the rest of the necklace. I really love your focal bead - beautiful! Your design has an over all vintage look to it that makes it just fabulous! Thanks so much for participation in the hop - I hope you've had fun!
Lovely necklace! I like the shapes and colors you combined with the pearls.
Sharyl, your necklace is lovely, I love pearls of any kind! Thank you so much for including these pieces with the pearls, great job as always!
really like the colors you've used here! and great vintage design! just lovely!!
Hi Sharyl,
Your necklace is beautiful! I love the color of the pearls in your piece they bring out the aqua color in the clay components.
Therese
I just love the pearls you choose and how you ended up using them. Ceramic and pearl, well of course. Why didn't I think of that? Absolutely gorgous!
Love the color of the pearls and the necklace they became--amazing design! Gina H
Wow! Love the rich, fall colors in this necklace, Sharyl!
And absolutely, I can see this with a nice dress or casual outfit. One of my favorites of the blog hop.
Lynda
Wow! Love the rich, fall colors in this necklace, Sharyl!
And absolutely, I can see this with a nice dress or casual outfit. One of my favorites of the blog hop.
Lynda
I do like your necklace! Thank you for all the close-ups -so nicely done. Beautiful components.
Enjoy the hop ;)
Hi Sharyl,
Love your necklace...it is fabulous. The shape and color of the Pearls are just wonderful and fun!!!
Awesome necklace, Sharyl! You know I love that aqua color - it looks great with the pearls!
Those are super cool pearls! And love the design...I like the black chain you used there.
Oh this is a lovely piece~very earthy but with that vintage feel to it. This would be a daily wear piece for sure! I just love your color and texture combinations.
Your color scheme is so perfect for fall and I love the black chain! It came together beautifully!
Awesome piece...those colors really rock together. And they really showcase the pendant! Great job. Thanks for Sharing!
Gorgeous, the colors are so rich and earthy, very beautiful!
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