Transformation.

I found this necklace at Coldwater Creek a couple of months ago and haven't been able to take my mind off it since. Actually, it wasn't the necklace I couldn't stop thinking about. It was the beads. I needed them. This happens to me occasionally where I want something so much that I continue to think about it for weeks and weeks, and drop into the store every chance I get to make sure it's still there and to see if the price has improved at all. I kept tabs on this one for a little while. I was making plans to purchase and dismantle it to make a necklace as a birthday gift for my mom. I was finally able to purchase the necklace just last weekend and then I made a trip to a bead store in Bellevue to get a few extra supplies.

This picture doesn't really do it justice but the beads are a gorgeous color and I love the shape and facets. They're definitely some kind of stone but it isn't something I recognize and I haven't been able to figure out what they are yet.

A sunny Saturday morning in Enumclaw seemed like the perfect time to work on my little project. I haven't worked with beads in quite some time. I think the last time I made jewelry was at 6 o'clock in the morning the day of my wedding when I couldn't sleep and decided it would be a good idea to get up and make earrings for all of my bridesmaids.

I had to sneak over to my mom's house the other day to "borrow" some supplies: pliers, crimps, fishing line, tiger tail, bead boards, etc. Then I took all of my beads to Starbucks and sat in the sunshine for a couple of hours to work (also discovered that I like decaf iced americanos with one pump of vanilla and a little bit of half and half -- yum). I purchased some little orange beads (love love love blue and orange! couldn't resist...) but they weren't really jiving with everything else I had going on so they got left out. I did, however, use some bone beads and almost an entire string of these great little bronze rondelles. Check it out!

I think we can all agree that it's a huge improvement form the original :) I'm decently proud of my work on this one. The beads are heavy, which made me feel oddly important and somewhat glamorous wearing it. I admit, I sort of wanted to keep it for myself but this one had Mom's name on it before I even created it.

Love this sweet little bronze clasp that I found -- lock and key.

Ta-dah! I'll have to make her some earrings to go with it as soon as I can find some bronze head pins. I set aside 4 of the blue beads and a few of the others as well. Now if only I could afford to keep up this lovely little hobby...