The Pretty Palettes theme for January included heather gray, pink, dark red, and dusty plum. As soon as I saw the challenge colors, I knew I'd finally get to use those strands of sparkly rondelles I'd been saving. I didn't intend to make another heart-themed necklace so soon after last month. However, these beads seemed especially suitable for a Valentine's Day necklace, as they look like little candies sprinkled with sugar.
Design Tips
- The rondelles come packaged with mixed colors on a single strand. This makes this necklace especially quick to string.
- For a bolder, more contemporary look, you could sort the rondelles by color and them string like colors together in solid blocks. Add silver-plated spacers in between each set of colors to help mark the separation.
- The silver-plated heart pendant has a hammered texture on the front; the back has stripes of black, making this a reversible necklace.
- I love to make necklaces with a little bit of interest near the clasp. If you wear your hair up for your romantic night out, you'll have something beautiful hanging at the back of your neck. If you wear your hair down, it will be hidden from others, but you'll know that it's there. Sometimes it's fun to wear jewelry with a little secret.
- Speaking of the heart beads, these are designed like bead frames where you normally would string a bead in the middle to fill up that empty space in the middle of the heart. To keep the hearts open, I used head pins to create simple loops on the top and bottom of each heart.
- Hmm ... as I'm writing the point above, it occurred to me that there is some nice symbolism here. Shouldn't our hearts always be open? As a jewelry designer, you may not have a specific theme or message in mind when you start your project, but it may reveal itself once you've finished.
- I couldn't resist making a cute pair of matching earrings. I stacked the colored rondelles so that they weren't in the exact same order for each earring. If asymmetrical earrings make you nervous, this is an easy way to take the first step.
- I always use jump rings to connect elements together (like the hearts) because doing so adds movement to the earrings. I like to make earrings that sway and move as you walk or turn your head. If you prefer less movement in your earrings, connect the simple loops directly to one another without jump rings.