That being said, I wanted to work with the heart lampwork beads I got from Rings & Things for the blogger challenge. These big beads are heavy and because of their size I think they look great on leather. They also have a 'tween' feeling to me. I wanted it fun, leather, bright and youthful. I decided to go with a lariat style necklace. I cut the leather 38", so when doubled it would hang about the same as a 20" necklace. I wound coils of 18 ga. sterling to use as anchors on the ends of the leather and attached 5 links of sterling cable chain to the coils. I packed the links with beads, using a white and red theme. Shells, pearls, sterling, seed beads, jade, like I sed - packed :)
Using the lampwork beads as the focal of each chain link, I had to add a sterling daisy spacer to the bottom of the head pin to keep it from slipping thru the hole of the bead. It made a nice look.
The hearts listed here are:
*28-335-13 - 16x20mm 'love' heart, red/white
The red faceted red chinese glass:
*28-000-002-252 - 8mm facted roundelle - siam
*28-000-003-252 - 8mm faceted helix -siam
This one I had a blast with. I started out making a pendant ,but it quickly turned into what I think would look awesome on the top of a stick pin. I used 18 ga. sterling to create the free form pendant. Then hammered the silver to harden it and give it texture. Using 24 ga sterling wire, I wrapped seed beads, coral, labradorite and rhodonite to add a little bit of love and peace to the design. Topped it off with a length of sterling chain attached with jump rings.
The heart listed here:
*28-335-12-02 - 2) 16x20mm 'dotted' heart, pink/white/blue,
I don't have any stick pins, but that didn't stop me! If anyone would have them, Rings & Things would. I was not disappointed!
Here is what I found:
Safety Pin, Bend-it-yourself (White) - Stock#: 30-650-1
And to hold it secure -
Clutch, Stick Pin (White) - Stock#: 38-858-1
All you would have to do is shape the hook into a loop and attach it to the bail on the pendant.
I contacted Dave at Rings & Things to see if that clutch would work on the safety pin. Dave took the time out of his day to find this answer for me. He confirmed with one of their designers that yes in fact, it should fit perfectly!
That my friends is customer service!!!
*FTC compliance disclosure: the '*' items mentioned in this post credited to Rings & Things were provided as a promotional gift as part of the Blog Partner Program. These items are for review or design purposes. Find out more about the Rings & Things Blog Partner Program
