Charmed Bracelets

Juicy Orange Lampwork Heart

Lampworked beads are handmade by melting rods of glass with a torch and then forming the molten glass into beads.

This heart has a sweet flower-and-leaf design on a translucent heart of orange glass.   

The heart is about 19 mm in size and was handmade in California by a company called Grace Lampwork.

I used sterling silver wire to attach the heart to a jump ring with a wrapped loop. Then I threaded a yard of brown grosgrain ribbon through the ring, and added a high-quality cultured pearl on another jump ring.

The ribbon is long enough to tie a bow at the back of your neck. It's also long enough that you can adjust the length of the necklace to suit whatever you are wearing.

If you find the ribbon is too long, cut it with a very sharp pair of scissors. 

The necklace is one of a kind, of course. 

Price: $85, which includes postage, insurance, and so on. To order: 

I would love to make lampwork beads myself, but I don't think I have the necessary hand-eye coordination, plus, I'm afraid of the torch.

If you feel like trying your hand, here are some instructions, from the Beadworx site:

How to Make a Lampwork Bead

Photos: @ Monica Strasen 2010.

@ Jeanne Sather 2011.  

 

Elegant Lampwork Heart Necklace

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 You could search a long time before you'd find glass hearts as beautiful as these.

In fact, I did search for quite some time before I found these handmade hearts in various designs and colors. 

This heart has a dramatic but sweet design of flowers, swirls, and little raised balls of glass. One is the center to a flower, the others are part of the overall design. 

The heart is about 19 mm in size and each one is handmade individually in California of Italian and German glass by a company called Grace Lampwork.

I used sterling silver wire to attach the heart to a jump ring with a wrapped loop. Then I threaded black velvet ribbon through the ring, and added a high quality cultured pearl on another jump ring. 

You can't see the pearl in this photo, but here's a different necklace with a pearl: Glass Hearts: a Variation

I have some earrings made with the same pearls and jump rings: Precious Pearl Earrings

The black velvet ribbon is long enough to tie in a bow at the back of your neck. You should be able to adjust the length to suit the neckline you are wearing it with.

If the ribbon seems too long, just cut the ends with very sharp scissors. It won't fray as long as the scissors are sharp.

Price: $85, which includes postage, insurance, and taxes. Buy this necklace:

See also: How to Use This Web Site

Photo: @ Monica Strasen 2010. 

 

@ Jeanne Sather 2011. 

 

Branches of Pearls Necklace

Here's another view of the Branches of Pearls necklace, modeled by my friend Laurie. 

Here's the link to read more about this necklace, or to buy it: Branches of Pearls

See also: How to Use This Website

Photo: @ Monica Strasen 2011. 

@ Jeanne Sather 2011. 

Not Your Mother's Pearls

One of the reasons I like pearls is because of the place they've taken in our language. Cliches, granted, but sometimes it's fun to play with cliches. At least for me.

"Pearls of wisdom."  "A pearl of great price."  "Pearls before swine"--originally a quotation from the Bible, but now the name of a comic strip. 

Brides wear pearls.

I didn't, of course, but I was not a traditional bride. My legal marriage was at the courthouse in Seattle (no pearls). The joke is that we lived in the premier wedding destination of Hawaii at the time, so we flew to Seattle to get married. 

Then my Japanese husband and I had a traditional Japanese marriage in his home town on Awaji-shima, an island in the Inland Sea known for its Bunraku puppets. I wore kimono and a wig, plus the heavy white makeup. No pearls. 

Anyway, back to the pearls. I've started playing with pearls recently, cultured pearls of course, but very nice ones. And I've made earrings with them in several different designs. I wanted untraditional designs with a bit of zing, and I think these have them. 

Double Pearls

This pair of earrings has two pearls of different colors--cream and peach--on each earring. The pearls came from the same strand as the ones used in this necklace, Branches of Pearls, so they match (if that is important to you). 

The last pair of these is sold, sorry. 

Price: $32. 

Single Pearl 

The single pearl earrings are attached to sterling jump rings and then to posts, also sterling. 

The two pairs are different colors--creamy white and peach. When you order, please be sure to specify which color you would like. 

Price: $28. 

Buy the single pearl earrings: 

The pearl earrings also go with the glass hearts that I strung on velvet ribbon with a pearl: Glass Hearts, A Variation

And they match this necklace: Branches of Pearls

See also: Precious Pearl Earrings

If you've never owned pearls before, you might want to read: Caring for Pearls

 

Photos: @ Monica Strasen 2011. 

 

@ Jeanne Sather 2011. 

Precious Pearl Earrings

I started playing with pearls over the holidays, when Nicky, the owner of my favorite head store, gave me a short lesson on cultured pearls. 

Since then, I've made a necklace (above) and a half dozen pairs of pearl earrings. Each pair is slightly different. 

The first two pairs are shown here.

The pair on the left is $28.

The pair on the right is no longer available, sorry. 

Photo: @ Monica Strasen 2011. 

@ Jeanne Sather 2011. 

 

 

Touchable, Elegant Pearl Necklace

Everyone who sees this choker of creamy freshwater pearls wants to touch it. Then they want to try it on ...

It's just that beautiful. 

The pearls are very unusual--they are about a quarter inch in size and round but slightly flat--not spherical, as most pearls are. The flattened shape allows the pearls to lie perfectly around the base of your neck. In addition, they are drilled off-center so that they make this pattern when strung on silk cord. 

I strung about 13 inches of pearls on silk cord and then attached sterling silver chain with a delicate handmade hook for a clasp. With the extender chain you have a total length of almost 18 inches, which allows the necklace to adjust to fit necks from about 13 inches to 17 inches. The extender chain is weighted with a crystal in a pale color called "silk."

This necklace is one of a kind. 

Price: $110. The price includes taxes, postage, and insurance to U.S. destinations. 

The pearl choker doubles up beautifully with a love token necklace like this one: Classic Love Token Necklace

Photo: @ Monica Strasen 2010. 

Design and text: @ Jeanne Sather 2010. 

Custom Order: Megan Models the Pearl Choker

 My photographer, Monica, and I decided that my readers and customers needed to see my necklace designs being worn by a real person, in order to get a better idea of how they look on. 

So here's the first of the series of photos Monica shot earlier this week, with my friend Megan, 20, as the model. 

These "button" fresh water pearls are drilled towards the top, which allows them to be strung like this. They lie beautifully around the neck, as you can see. 

I've sold one of these, but I have another strand of pearls and can make a custom order. Price: $110.

 

 

Photo: @ Monica Strasen 2010. 

Design and text: @ Jeanne Sather 2010. 

A New Skill: Restringing Pearls

A couple of months ago, a reader asked if I could restring some pearls for her.

She had three strands that I believe belonged to her mother-in-law, and she wanted a necklace made using all three strands. 

Now, I've never restrung pearls before--but when did that ever stop me? 

It did, however, take me an embarrassingly long time to actually GET to the project, because it was something new, and I had to have the right kind of energy to tackle it. And I did my research, both online and at two different bead stores, to find out the best techniques and tools for restringing these beautiful pearls.

But now that I am in the middle of this project, I am really enjoying it. It's one of those things that you can't rush, just slow and steady and pay attention to where everything is--coordination is key, in other words. It's a kind of meditation. 

As I work, I'm remembering reading about a woman in one of Colette's short stories--in Paris, of course--who made her living restringing pearls. I'm thinking I could never do this fast enough to make a living at it. 

One other interesting bit of information I found online: If you have real pearls and you wear them regularly, you are "supposed to" have them restrung every three months or so!  

The Basic Technique

There are a number of ways to string pearls, but the main point is to have a knot--a nice, neat knot--between the pearls so that they don't rub on each other. You use silk thread, and the thinnest possible needle. The one I have is made of twisted wire and came attached to the thread, which makes life much easier, because there is no stopping in the middle of the strand--the whole strand has to be strung with one length of silk thread. 

So, I clipped the existing knots on one strand of the pearls, and then strung them all on one length of the new silk thread. Then, you go back through each pearl with the needle, and tie a knot after each pearl as you backtrack. I'm about halfway through the first of three strands, and so far so good. My knots are nice and neat and the pearls are evenly spaced. 

I feel like a Colette heroine, in my attic, stringing pearls!

@ Jeanne Sather 2010.