Cascading Styles

I have most of my beads in organizers cases by color, but sometimes I have items that will not fit into the cases like wire and other tools and items that I use. I keep them in a small cloth organizer box that you can find at most stores that sell things for your house. Mine started as a place to keep larger items, but as time has gone on other things have found their way into the box; jewelry that I started but for some reason did not work out, extra beads that I did not have room for in the organizer for that color bead and various odds and ends. The other day I decided to go through the box and try to find homes for some of the items, well I came across a pack of beads that really caught my eye. I don't remember where I got them, but when I looked at them a necklace just came together in my head.

I really love this necklace! I added it to my sea collection and named it the Sea Foam necklace because the colors remind me of the translucent colors of waves along the seashore. Every time I look at this necklace I love it more! Even the design inspired me to create a couple more pieces that are similar but not the same. I was looking through my bead boxes and came across some deeper blue beads and I realized that they matched the color of these beautiful glass heart beads that I had so I brought them out and they came together beautifully!

As you can see the design is similar but not quite the same. I added this into my sea collection too since the colors remind me of the deeper parts of the sea. I named it the Heart of the Sea necklace, the name really just popped into my head! I do love blue and have been trying to find a way to use that blue heart bead in a new and different way.
My third necklace is similar only in that it has multiple pieces that dangle down in a cascade. I have these really pretty iridescent green beads that I wanted to use for a necklace and since it is spring, what better time to use them. I used a lighter and darker green bead for contrast and an oblong marbled green bead as an interesting little pop.

This necklace needed to be in my spring collection and I named it Leaves in the Springtime. I almost named it after a weeping willow, but I did not want it to have sad connotations! Spring leaves are a sign of rebirth and new hope and I thought that was more appropriate.
Still on this cascading dangling necklace kick I decided to try and use some of my gemstones to do a more natural look. I decided to use some green turquoise coin shaped gemstones as the main focal point, but I wanted something with a little contrast to make it really stand out. I was looking at the turquoise and it has shades of blue and green and a brownish gold color, so I found some brownish gold lampworked glass beads that matched the color in the gemstones perfectly. I even made a pair of earrings to match, but did not add the brownish gold beads because it would have made them too heavy.

I am pretty happy with the jewelry I made this week. Now I need to find some inspiration for some new pieces! ☺