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BrideStyle #6: Designing wedding jewelry in search of the second right answer...and third, and fourth...by Stacy Werkheiser Last week in BrideStyle #5, we talked about design considerations to think about when making wedding jewelry: the bride, the dress, and all the rest (what the bridesmaid jewelry will look like, if the bride intends to wear her jewelry again, etc.). Now it's time to start putting those considerations to work by creating a few wedding jewelry prototypes.
Internationally renowned beader Diane Fitzgerald likes to quote Edward de Bono who advises us to always look for a second right answer. In other words, once you create a jewelry design you like, don't settle. See if you can find a design you like even better.
Diane has another favorite piece of advice - take pictures of every design you string. You want to be able to compare your newest design to the previous ones and maybe even go back to one of those previous designs if it turns out you like it best.
So that's what I did! Here are six permutations of my bridal necklace, plus the how and why of the changes I made.
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My first arrangement included all the parts and pieces I bought: pearls, crystals, bead caps, and crystal-studded rondelles. I found the combination to be too busy. I changed the pattern of the beads several times, but trying to include so many different elements resulted in a look more complicated than I was aiming for. Also, I noticed that small, shadowy spaces between the channel-set crystals in the rondelles made the metal look dark, even patinated in low light. This clashed with the bright white of the pearls and sterling silver of the bead caps. I decided to remove the rondelles for the sake of simplicity and the overall brilliance of the piece. |
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Next I tried patterns of pearls, crystals, and bead caps. Now there was too much white and not enough silver! I decided I needed to work in more of those bead caps. |
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More bead caps did the trick! I really liked this arrangement, as the white and silver are nicely balanced. Also, I started stringing 15/0 seed beads between the pearls and crystals, a suggestion from Bead&Button's Associate Editor Anna Elizabeth Draeger. Stringing seed beads, she says, prevents the pearls from getting scratched by neighboring beads and also gives the piece the look of a knotted pearl necklace (without the hassle of knotting). In addition, I liked that the seed beads kept the pearls and crystals from looking too crowded. Compare to Design #2 to see what I mean. |
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I'd done three strung designs and decided to take a different approach - wirework. I used some old jump rings, scraps of large-link chain, and inexpensive craft wire to simulate a design with rings linked by pearl and crystal units. Also, I tried the design as a Y-necklace, one of my favorite shapes in my jewelry inspiration from BrideStyle #2. I didn't dislike the design, but now the piece was starting to look strictly bridal - I really could not see myself wearing this outside of the wedding, and a major criteria for my jewelry was that I could wear it again. But I was glad I tried something new. I decided to give wirework another shot in Design #5. |
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When looking for inspiration pieces, I found lots and lots of bridal necklaces composed of plain loop bead units linked together. The plain loops space out the beads much like the 15/0 seed beads do in Design #3. I added a small dangle to the front for a more subtle Y-necklace. Not bad, though again I felt the piece might be limited to wedding-day attire. Also, the bead pattern I chose was somewhat simplistic. Maybe I'd try something that wasn't a mirror image for my next design… |
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…or not! The good (and bad) thing about inspiration is that you're constantly finding new stuff you like. When I strung this design, I had just seen the movie Julie & Julia, Nora Ephron's tribute to Julia Child and the cooks who aspire to master her recipes. Throughout the movie, Julia (played by Meryl Streep) sports her signature strand of pearls, even in the kitchen. I was transfixed. That's what I wanted! A single strand of classic elegance that could be worn over and over again for a multitude of occasions. I strung just the pearls and seed beads, and added a few bead caps for variety. Hmm, not quite right. It seemed to me that a strand of pearls looks best either unadorned or else interspersed with a hair more variety. Something more like Design #3, my favorite all along, but perhaps with a twist…
…which will have to wait until next Monday! Tune in then to see my final necklace design, as well as the earrings I made to match. Until then, I hope your own designs are coming along! Wedding season is right around the corner!
Coming next week...
BrideStyle #7: It's a bridal necklace - and earrings!
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