One of My Favorites

I just finished one of my favorite necklaces. Mind you, that is saying a lot because while I may like the necklaces I make, I usually do not think anything I make looks good on my neck so I never wear them. But this one does and I'm tempted to keep it for myself.

I've had this abalone shell in my stash for a long long time and kept pulling it out to ponder its significance. My original plan was to put it on a bracelet/cuff which I actually made. Of course when I was 90% done with it, I ran out of one color of seed beads and had to put it aside until I could order more. Several months later....



I finally got around to finishing the cuff and had completed the beaded bezel around the shell. But when I went to attach the shell to the bracelet, it just didn't look like I wanted, so off it came and I pondered some more. There was a hole in the top of the shell and I thought about what to do with that - cover it up or use it as part of the pendant? I opted for the pendant and created some fringe to fill the hole and hang down the front.



Having decided on a necklace, I made some beaded beads in matching colors but ended up setting those aside. Then I tried several different spiral stitches and ended up using one of my favorites. I used 3 black seed beads (to start the center of the spiral) to a spiral grouping of 2 rocailles, 1 silver delica, and 2 more rocaille seed beads. After finishing the length of the spiral I wanted, I wove the thread back through all the silver beads drawing them into a tighter spiral and it was just the look I wanted.



I did list the necklace on Etsy here, but in a way I'm almost hoping it doesn't sell. lol