When I was asked to make something for this special jewelry celebration month at Michaels.com along with 20 other notable DIY bloggers, I had only a few days to make it happen. I went to Michaels and had no idea what I would do. I quickly navigated to Design-Seeds.com on my smartphone and right there in the Bead Gallery aisle I stumbled upon the image that would inspire me. Color is such a fabulous muse for me. Since this was a celebration, champagne seemed like the obvious choice! With my color choices selected, the next step was finding the beads that would work. I found my favorite beads and the rest was easy.
When I sit down and start creating and it just seems to flow from my fingers, I know that I have hit upon something good. This necklace came together very quickly once I decided to make it in four segments that each referenced the other. That is a great way to get a design that is random-looking but is actually planned out. So if you are someone who struggles with asymmetry or informal balance, then this is a great one to try! Each strand does in fact have a pattern of your choosing and when you put them all together it looks cohesive without being bland.
I loved this necklace so much - it is totally the color palette I love to live in! - that I had a hard time putting it in a box to ship to Michaels! So I tested myself... I made the same necklace in a variation of purple, magenta and fuschia for a wedding I was attending. It worked! So that is the impetus for this Michaels Toast of the Town Variation blog hop.
You can see their variations of this design contributed by other bloggers in November 2012 on my Pinterest board.
http://www.pinterest.com/
Since then, I have made this necklace design in a dozen different ways. In fact, just this past month, I made one with three strands instead of two in an emerald green random pattern colorway for a VERY blingy alternative for my daughter's dance director!
You can use any color palette and any beads that you like. My preferred method is to create this in a more random way rather than patterned as in the instructions. As you can see from my design, they do not have to be the same size, shape or color. The key is using a variety. I decided on four. You may already have all the beads you need in your stash, or if you are like me, this is a good excuse for a trip to Michaels! There are a lot of beads in this particular design, but hopefully you will have things you can use. You do need a larger toggle clasp for this, or a large link, and hopefully you will have one that will work. I am sure you can find something suitable.
I would love to see what you make inspired by this design and would add it to my Pinterest board. If you have a blog and share your creation, please be kind and share the credit for the design and a link back to these instructions:
Happy Creating!
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