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| Inspired by Disney's Big Friendly Giant story. |
Dreams do come true. Especially when we apply a little imagination and a lot of action.
This beautiful cabochon necklace came about when I fell in love with the cab itself. A glory of colors reminiscent of the Aurora Borealis, that magical light that comes from our Creative Source, no matter how we define it in scientific terms (for those, too, are certainly within the vast realms of our Source).
I am sorry I do not have the name of this cabochon's creator, but I do know that the artist worked in layers with fire and glass, which is composed of tiny bits of gemstone and elements of Earth herself.
I thought I had my own ideas for its embellishment.
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| My ideas, hm.... |
When I finally sat down to work on it, suddenly I noticed a bowl of jet-lined topaz seed beads that contain just about all the colors in the rainbow and shimmer in the light. They called to me, PICK US! Well, who am I to deny the muse? So I did.
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| The peyote stitched border, in which I listened. |
I sewed and sewed into the wee hours of the morning with these shimmery seed beads, and when it was time, I picked up the tiny bronzy-gold 15/0 beads to do the inside, which is what you have to do to make it tight so the beautiful cab will never fall out. Each stitch bedazzeled me, as I listened to old movies on the TV in my studio. And I did not sleep until the borders were done around the cab. They never tangled, which always tells me she's so happy to be made, and she looks forward to life with her new caretaker. In working with the initial border, I have to use a thread that's very, very long so it'll go around with no break, no knots, no new introduction of new thread. And tangles can happen, but when they don't, I know it's a bit of magic happening and I just LOVE that!
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| She had something to say about her necklace straps. |
The next step was to choose the beads for the straps that would compose the necklace. I had a couple to choose from: some round ones that had the iridescent colors of beautiful hematite, or the rondelles, which you see here. She most certainly wanted the rondelles. They are not "pinchy" as flat heishi beads can sometimes be, they're smooth yet their shape blends beautifully with the cab, which is mostly horizontal. So another night passed with old movies and me sewing, sewing, sewing.
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| Up and back, up and back, pay attention! |
To do the necklace straps, I use 6lb WildFire line, which has a final tensile strength of 24 lbs on each side, so it's strong, and it will last a long, long time, given proper care, after all, it's jewelry. Easy care means don't get it wet and give it some light attention with a soft cloth now and then. She has a gold-plated magnetic clasp, which makes for really easy on/off but is very strong so she will not come off until you're ready to take her off. I'm picky about that. She also has wire guards protecting the cording next to the clasp so it won't rub against the loops of the clasp. I go through four times, and yes, I have to pay great attention to every single needle insert to make sure I pick up all the seed beads and don't skip any (otherwise the thread will show, a total no-no) and don't pierce any thread that's already in there. I'm good at this now.
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| An indication of size with my liberty quarter. |
She's not too big and not too small, just right. So the next step is to trim all the purple ultrasuede from around the cabochon and attach the backing so the threads and knotting won't show. I always do the necklace straps separately in case there might be changes needed later so I don't have to redo the whole piece, should changes be required. She called for tiny gold-plated accent beads to introduce the necklace straps and I just love them.
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| Does she want fringe? |
One of the last steps before I do the final backing and border is to listen and see if the cab wants fringe. Well you all know I'm a total fringe girl and would deck myself out in Western leather with fringe all over the place, plus Bohemian beading with fringe down to my navel, but I must listen and she was very discreet. "Just a bit," she said. So I did. And then I glued the final backing on and had to wait 72 hours for the glue to cure, because I found out the hard way that if I don't wait, I get glue brainy working on it and sniffing it so close to my face and my pupils dilate and I feel just awful. But after 72 hours it's all cured and no more fumes to escape.
So finally the ultrasuede backing is on and I trim it with my special super sharp scissors, praying that I don't cut any of the border threads, which I keep close to the piece itself, and I can sew the shimmery beads around, going through them twice so they sit all aligned and beautiful. And voila! She's done! Just waiting for her adventures with you. She helps you to keep your dreams close and never give up on them XO
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| TA DA!! Here she is! In a bit of evening sunlight. |
She will be available at Art a la Carte in Bellefonte in the next few days. Or contact me at dreamkeepercreations@gmail.com.
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