Something New

Another long day of schooling and a another ghost town of a day in the shop. I really am trying to stay optimistic, but it's getting more difficult by the day. I finished up the last of the cross stitch designs in the kit and like I said I would, I got stir crazy. I had to make something. I started by skimming through antique books hoping for inspiration, but it was actually a quick glance at the front page of Etsy that gave me the source material. I saw this antique engagement ring. It was just the bit of inspiration that I needed and I made this, not quite right yet, pendant.

It definitely wasn't right straight off. The amount of negative space was too little and the whole thing had a cramped feel. I wanted more of that classic cartouche shape so I kept on working. I tried it with beads between the elements and while some people liked it, it was a pain in the neck to make. I also think the shape was still off and I didn't feel like making yet another attempt with the fiddly beads. It was the top one in this set that I finally settled on. More negative space, the right shape and using a lock chain for the hanging loop makes it less noticeable. In the first one, it took too much focus.

The crystals for all these were sewn on, but I did make one with swarovski rounds where the beads were encapsulated, the bottom one here. It's also more fiddly to work with and my thread is generally too thick to comfortably double inside these beads, but I liked the way it looked as well. I only have these crystals in clear, but I have rounds in all sorts of shades, so I may list them both and offer a bit of customization. They are pretty small and quick to make so I might get them listed today once I have a few more color examples. Or I might slide into ennui and get nothing done. It's really too soon to tell, but at least I did something yesterday, right?