She Made~She Made...aka: the Brightness in my Dreary January

 This month's edition of She Made ~ She Made seemed almost impossible to work with.  I was the one who picked for this month so I only have myself to blame.  Here is the selection I made:

I adore those vintage brown beads so much and I thought the red blister pearls were perfect for this time of year.  But I struggled.  And then I made this:

And put it down for a day or two and I pondered my next step with it.  In the down time, Therese called me and told me she was beading around the vintage beads and I squealed, "Me Too!" so we promptly exchanged photos of our unfinished work.  It was funny how we both went in the direction of beading around these babies.  It wound up being the only one I beaded around.  Here is the end result (I deeply apologize for all my photos.  Sunshine is a big ol' ZERO in these parts of the woods.  So I had to do it in the dreary weather with a flash.  The first two necklaces I made photographed relatively ok, but the last one...YIKES!):

 

I used lava beads for the chain and a drilled bone piece for the center. I had other intentions for those lava beads but I will be back at the bead show in March and will pick up some more then.   

The red blister pearls seemed like they would be fairly easy to work with when I selected them.  Hahahahahahaha!!!!  I cannot tell you how many way I strung them.  I lost count.  I should have photographed all my pitiful attempts so we all could have a good laugh.  But it all worked out in the end.  Whew!

 I used tila beads and seed beads and the pearls for the front of the necklace and this gorgeous antique button for a side clasp.

 For the back of it, I made this chain out of twin holes and seed beads.  I know that this chain is going to become a regular in my repertoire.  I really love how it looks and feels and how sturdy it is. 

My final piece has the same button clasp as the one above.  I added freshwater pearls and seed beads and twisted two-cuts and this grey jasper to go with the red blister pearls.  Here she is:

( Please excuse the dog hair)

I am really happy with the results of all three necklaces and cannot wait to see what Therese made!

Thanks so much for stopping by ~ Hope you have a great week!