Purple Rain

Some of your may know that I belong to the ArtBeads.com blogging program. A while back I received some gorgeous Cubic Zirconia products from them. I’m ashamed to say (and apologise profusely) that it’s taken me this long to create something with the products they sent me. The reason why is… I chose items that were completely out of my comfort zone, both in terms of material, shape and colour. When choosing, I usually try to pick items that I wouldn’t usually chose for myself… to try something new and different and to challenge myself.

This is what I received… way back in December:

From left to right:

1. 9x36mm Light Amethyst CZ Faceted Flat Teardrop Pendant
http://www.artbeads.com/cz-lam-td36.html

2. 12x18mm Light Amethyst CZ Faceted Fan Pendant
http://www.artbeads.com/cz-lam-fn18.html

3. 20x30mm CZ Faceted Oval Drop - Light Amethyst
http://www.artbeads.com/cz-lam-ov30.html

The Teardrop Pendants were a no brainer! They would make perfect earrings!!! And I knew I would use the Oval Drop as a centrepiece for a necklace…. but the Fan Pendant…. that left me really baffled! The shape was quite bulky and a bit awkward… for some reason I was expecting it to be a bit flatter… so rather than dwell on what I didn’t know how to use, I started beadweaving around the Oval Drop. I wanted to show the beauty and transparency of the Cubic Zirconia by bezalelling around it and had this image in my head of creating something very graphic and modern…. but when i finished… I wasn’t so happy with the results, so I put it aside and went on to other thing… finally last week I decided it was time once again to revisit the started piece… well I really hated it, so I unpicked it and decided to treat the pendant as though it was a cabochon (yes, back to my comfort zone!). That was the best decision I made!!! and I was able to realize what I had envisioned… but best of all I even found use for the Fan-shaped pendant that had been the cause of my creative block! :-) and this is what I made:

Purple Rain – OOAK Necklace

I beadembroidered around the pendant with some beautiful silver-lined AB purple Japanese seed beads that I bought a really long time ago, but had no idea what to do with them, and my favourite beads, Swarovski pearls in dark purple. Once the centrepiece was finished, I had no doubt that using the pearls in lots of different sizes in a Right Angle Weave would work perfectly with it!!! Isn’t it great when you finally get it together using materials you had no idea what to do with! I love how this piece turned out!!! It’s pretty, it’s elegant, it’s perfect!!! :-)

The earrings were easy once the necklace was finished:

Purple Rain – Earrings

I mentioned in my last post that I was working on a bracelet to match… well I’ve been sick all week and just didn’t feel like beading… or doing anything else for that matter… so the bracelet is still a work in progress… hopefully I will finish it over the weekend… in the meantime go and check out all the wonderful Cubic Zirconia products that ArtBeads have on offer – they come in so many lovely colours and they are really nice to work with!
http://www.artbeads.com/cubic-zirconia-jewelry-beads.html

Now I’m going back to bed to nurse this stinking cold!!!

Wishing everyone happy beading!!! :-)

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Disclosure: I am a reviewer of Artbeads.com products and a participant of its blogging program. I received all Cubic Zirconia components free of charge. This post reflects my honest opinion and Artbeads.com is not compensating me for my endorsement as it pertains to the products received and reviewed.