Female Voices :: Ruth Bader Ginsberg

I've been absent for some time from the blogosphere, and for no better excuse than simply life taking up my time in other ways. Funny how Instagram has taken over as my typical way to stay in touch with people. It is so easy to snap a quick picture, add a few words (not even a full sentence), post and be on my way. So if you follow me on Instagram you know that there have been travels and the occasional beading project. 

Lately, I've had a lot on my mind about people who seem to be a beacon in the world for good. People who's voice is heard above the divisive rhetoric. During the mid-term election cycle, I heard the push from female voices. In social media, in reporting, through documentaries and in my everyday work environment. It was loud. What I kept thinking was that women are not asking to be in charge; just that they want to be heard and to feel that they are equal. What is it about winning? Does there need to be either a winner or loser? 

I recently saw the Ruth Bader Ginsberg, RBG documentary. If you have not yet seen RBG, then do. It is both inspiring and refreshing to hear the force that is Ruth. "I ask no favor for my sex. All I ask from our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks." Well said, Ruth. A recent speech at Georgetown University, Ruth said she is inspired by the #MeToo movement and that, "women nowadays are not silent about bad behavior." She has such measured responses, and speaks with such strength. People stop and listen when Ruth has something to say. She is absolutely on my list of people I wish I could meet.

So while I was watching the RBG documentary, I was working on a beading project. Lately, I've wanted to feel something substantial in my hands while I bead, and so I've started to bead collars. Not sure exactly why, but I do love the way the beads feel in my hands as I work the project. And then I noticed that Ruth wears these, and that she has quite a collection of collars. I was thinking that I should call these my RBG series. What do you think; would Ruth wear one of mine?

Take Two :: Menat Necklace

I don't know what it is about this necklace that makes me want to keep beading more, but it seems to have that effect on me. 

I did a Menat style necklace a few months back, and when I found some gorgeous piccaso blue drops I knew I had to make another one of these necklaces. This Etsy shop is actually in the Czech Republic, and had such a great stash of Czech beads. Weird question. If this shop is in Prague, does that mean that any beads it sells is by definition Czech beads?

A few people asked if I would have my lovely model pose for a picture in the necklace. So without further ado, as requested she is modeling my latest necklace. 

This is a slightly different pattern from the first necklace - it is a bit shorter, and beads up faster. Not a bad thing. However, when I finished the necklace I just didn't like the alternating bead color along the bottom ... it needed more dark blue drops. So I went back through the edging and added more. I like the alternating depth of the edge; it gives it so much more character. 

The other thing I added was a thin grey leather cord along the top. The beads were a little wonky at the top edge, but the leather gives it a nice finished along the neckline. As fancy as this beading is, and could certainly be worn with a simple black dress, I actually prefer this dressed down look tucked in to a denim shirt. It gives it such a nice boho vibe.

Life In Between

My oldest daughter started college last year in Boston. She was so excited to be out on her own exploring an amazing city like Boston. You could hear it in her voice as we skyped each weekend. For me, it was wonderful to catch up and see how she was doing as it was so hard not having her around. I would stop and just look into her empty room. I missed my girl.

She is home now for summer. In between semesters, and in between the phases of her life. She has her college stuff stored away for the summer in boxes, and she really hasn't unpacked much. She knows she's home for only a few months then back to school come August.

I remember vividly this period in my life when change just seems to endlessly come at you. Shifting from the over stimulation of school, classes and friends, to the quiet of being home for the summer. I would work two jobs to earn money for school. My day job was working in a store, and I waitressed nights. It was a time to give my mind a breather from academics as I really couldn't think of much beyond working or sleeping. 

I found Kate reading a book on Transitions the other week, which struck me as much more mature than I was at this age. She will be switching schools in the Fall to the University of Connecticut which will be a big change. A much larger school with a lot more going on around campus. 

For now, I am just enjoying the breather between semesters with her. It has been wonderful having her home, chatting and just seeing how much she has grown this past year. I can sit and bead as we chat. This one she is wearing is a simple herringbone rope, which I think she wears quite beautifully.

Egypt: Menat Necklace

Whenever I visit a museum I always seem to end up for hours staring at the ancient beaded jewelry trying to remember the patterns and colors. Many times they don't allow you to take pictures, so I will sketch and take notes.

The NYC Metropolitan Museum of Art is one of my favorite places where I can spend hours just looking at the Egyptian jewelry exhibit. I have a tendency to get separated from whomever I'm there with as I won't hear them mention that they are moving on to the next room. It happens (almost) ever time I visit.

My favorite pieces always seem to be the beaded collars. I am amazed by the age of the beads, the colors and the extravagance of the patterns. This particular type of wide beaded collar is called a menat. Typically the strings of beads come together in the back with a heavy counterweight (when worn as a necklace) to keep it in place. The counterweight could also be held in the hand to make a rattling noise like the sistrum, an ancient musical instrument, which literally means 'to shake.' Egyptians believed that the noise drove off evil and would defend them against their enemies.

The sistrum and menat date back to the 6th Dynasty as symbols used (mainly by women) in the cult of Hathor. Often the dead would be buried with a menat as it was the symbol for divine protection. For the living, the menat would be held in the hand of a high priestess'  to act as a medium through which the goddess' power was transmitted. Because the queen herself could function as the high priestess of Hathor, royal wives would be seen offering the necklace to their husbands. You see this in King Tut's tomb where his wife and queen, Ankhesenamon, is offering the pharaoh a menat necklace signifying rebirth of the dead.

I have wanted to make a beaded collar like this for quite a long time, but never found the right design. When I stumbled on this pattern I decided to pull out some gorgeous tear drops from Stinky Dog Beads. This collar beaded up quickly and has a nice weight to it. It feels substantial on, and the beads have such a nice sound to them. I didn't include the counterweight in the back, but instead beaded the collar all the way around to button in the back. I think it looks wonderful with a pair of jeans.

UFOs :: Round 2

Karen announced another UFO hop, and like many of my bloggy friends we're all in. The motivation to work through all those half finished pieces on the bead table is strong. 

Many of us have stared down these UFOs for years shifting the piece this way and that trying to capture a glimpse of what the piece might look like finished. Myself included. I know I, for one, want to see these pieces come to life and move off my bead table once and for all!

The process is slow trying to work through my collection of UFOs, but I have finished another piece. This one actually includes two UFOs into one (score!). I paired a bezeled glass cab with a small bit of grey, beaded herringbone to create a 'bib fringe.' Not sure if a bib fringe is a real thing, but hey I'm in to fringe these days and I'm trying all kinds of variations. I liked how it looked together, so I went for it in this piece.

The problem was that I could tell that once I tried to include a backstrap it was going to twist and turn. So I mounted it (aka glued it) on a heavy gauge piece of silver that I had hammered. This created the perfect anchor for the focal and an easy way to attach some leather. Not sure why this final UFO was such a struggle with so many starts and stops, but it is finally in the finished pile. Now I'm trying to decide what might be next to tackle from this pile of UFOs.

Be sure to check out everyone else's finally finished UFOs: Karen, Francie, Christine, Therese, Bobbie, Kim, Liz, Liz E, Amy, Hope, Christi and Margo

UFOs :: Flipping the Rorschach

Oh those UFOs, they are the bane of a beader. They taunt you from the bead table, calling to you, as they lay there unfinished. You simply stare down at it knowing you need to either change direction or rip it out. Ugh, but the amount of work that went into it, and that original image you hold in your head keeps you from ripping it apart. Sound about right? Sigh.

I have so many of these unfinished objects that I've lost count. I knew for this hop I had to pull out the mother of all UFOs ... this beaded collar. Or at least that is what it was supposed to be, and yet when I assembled the collar it hung like a large rectangle. Why? Because I had the curve of the collar at the neckline completely wrong. Or should I say that it had no curve at all, it was a straight edge. I mean come on, who has a triangular neck? Clearly I had not thought this through, and yet I'd spent all this time putting these beads in place. Yep, the moment you just want to chuck it at the wall. This is my first attempt at a collar necklace, and a mistake I won't make again. Hugh sigh. 

I could not get myself to rip this one apart. Look at this piece. I spent hours upon hours beading in vintage, irregular Turkish seed beads and then lined the edging with vintage glass pearls. Then backed the piece with suede. There was ab.so.lute.ly no way I was pulling this thing apart. And so it sat on the bead table for more than a year. When Karen announced this UFO hop I knew I was going to pull this thing out and force myself to deal with it. 

So here is what I did. I decided that the one side of the collar could actually be the focal of an asymmetrical necklace. I went back to my stash to pull out more vintage pearls to balance the other side. My mother had given me a pile of old pearl necklaces that matched the small Turkish pearls from a friend. I also needed to pull out the backing and get rid of one of the connector jump rings I'd embedded on the left side. I left the other connector on the right to use as part of a toggle. I wanted to balance the width of the pearls to the collar so I added a square plate that I could anchor the pearls. Then it was just a matter of adding a backstrap.

What took so long to come to this solution? A solution that took me roughly 2 hours to complete? I think it is the same angst for all UFOs. You start a piece with a vision in mind, and it is hard to re-set that lens. But once you let go and flip the Rorschach you can finally re-imagine your piece. 

There is a crew of us working on UFOs, so check out the rest of the blog hop: Karen, Christine, Amy, Therese, Kim, Liz E, Margo, Cathi, Liz and Francie.

UFOs :: The Everyday

I showed you my first grouping of UFOs in my last post. There are more. Many, many more. But let's work on this pile first.

Next up is the dark purple glass cab to the right of the green one I just finished. This purple one almost looks black and has a faint pattern in it. It is so hard to photograph to bring out the pattern, but this picture off to the upper left was the best I could do.

I was wearing this one around the house to check how it hangs and if it needed any adjusting. My husband actually noticed saying "oh that's a pretty one." He so rarely comments on any of my pieces that it threw me. I do like the simplicity of this one, and that it would be good to wear for everyday. I wear a lot of black and this one might just be ok to wear to the office. I might need to take it out for a test drive for a meeting I have tomorrow.

UFOs :: Completing Unfinished Objects

Hello, my name is Cynthia, and I am a bead-aholic. I get distracted like a child in a candy store when I'm standing in front of a table of beads. My mind races with possibilities, but many times fails to complete the thought.

We all like to joke about UFOs (UnFinished Objects) lying around our bead tables. I have a hopeless, and chronic issue with them. I start many projects, but get distracted somewhere along the way.

I'm not sure what causes it. Perhaps it comes from the rush I get when a pattern appears in my head and I hurry to get it worked out through the beads. And once I see the beads come together I get distracted by yet another shinny objects on the bead table.

Sometimes it is a technique I'm practicing and I work it over and over in my hands. It is like when I was a child and was learning the piano. I would work the same couple of bars in the music over and over again until my family would beg me to move on because they just couldn't listen to it any more. It could also be because the piano sat in the middle of the living room not far from the television. Yea, on second thought it could have been that. 

Lately I've been obsessed with cabochons. Tiny ones, misshaped ones, shields .... anything that can be glued and beaded around seems to be in progress and lying on my bead table. My kids like to joke with me that I think almost anything can be beaded. Perhaps. I do love a challenge. So when Karen put out a call to start a support group for UFOs, my beady friends assembled like moths to a flame. First up for me is this green glass cab that I have had sitting around for roughly 3 years. Not as old as some UFOs, but certainly time to finish. Part of my mission with completing these UFOs is to also try to use beads within my existing stash (aka no buying of new beads .... OMG did I just say that?). This necklace uses green aventurine that I've had much, much longer than 3 years.

Soothing the Soul

This piece speaks to me on so many levels. It combines a Native American look and feel with a traveler's compass. That embodies so many of the things I love. 

The first magnetic compass was invented around 200 BC during the Chinese Han Dynasty, but not really used in its traditional navigational sense until the 11th century by the Song Dynasty. Amazing just how long ago this was invented and how advanced the civilizations that used it must have been.

The last time I took some time away to bead for the weekend with Christine, she asked if we could practice fringe. Ah fringe, how I love it. I had with me two of these leather compass focals that Melinda Orr had made. I punched several holes in both of them and we got to work. One of the many things I love about beading with Christine is that we can sit, and bead, and just be. We can talk non-stop for hours, and then we can sit quietly and bead. Both are important, and both soothe the soul.

This piece actually hangs long, not quite at waist level. And when I wear it it swings and gives a bit of a musical sound with all those brass feathers. I don't keep many of the items that I make, but this one just might make the cut. 

Taming the Beaded Beast

Lately, I've been packing a 'bag-o-beads' with me whenever I am away for the weekend or on vacation. I find that there is always downtime. Whether that is a lazy morning with a cup of tea or late afternoon waiting for the family to assemble for the evening. That is the perfect time for me to get lost in stitching. Just feeling the beads in my hands and relaxing.

On my recent trip to Mexico I was practicing a Cellini spiral (or as I like to call it a Bernini). There is something freeing about a stitch that has troubled you for so long; when something just clicks and it feels like you've unlocked its secrets. For this one, once I realized it was just a simple peyote stitch it no longer seemed so complicated. After I had the first couple of rows in place, I would just slip a pencil or thin pen into the center of the beadwork and follow the peyote around in a circle. 

There was one other thing that saved me many times from pulling out the beadwork. Because this is a twisted pattern (yes in oh so many ways) you can lose count on what bead size or color comes next. Just remember that the bead you are coming out of is the bead you are adding next. After that, it became a lazy stitch in my hands.

One Man's Trash

Anne at Summer Camp

One man (or woman)'s trash can be another man's treasure. And so it goes with this necklace. Last summer Anne was away at camp and one of her cabin mates was about to throw out a string of wooden beads claiming "what will I do with these? no one wants these do they?" Anne jumped into action "I bet my mom could do something with those." 

That's my girl! She stuck them in her duffel and handed them to me a few weeks later. Only to sit in my stash for awhile, but then I remembered I had this amazing wooden bib piece with a hand painted henna pattern on it from Summer Wind. When I bought it I had absolutely no idea what I might do with it, but when I put the string of beads up next to it, it was as if they were made for each other. I love when that happens.

Pretty Palettes

Erin Prais-Hintz of Tesori Trovati asked if I'd like to partner with her this month for her Pretty Palettes series she hosts over on the Halcraft site. I always get so inspired by both Erin's designs and her creative challenges. So, she pretty much had me at 'hello' before I even knew what I was signing up for. 

She mentioned that for September she was thinking about a challenge to design using school colors. She let me choose between my alma mater, University of Oregon (go ducks!) or my daughter's current school, Simmons College. 

As much as I loved my college, I'm just not wild about designing jewelry using kelly green and road-crew yellow. Nope, just couldn't do it. So it took about half a second to decide I'd rather go with Simmons colors of blue and grey. Go Sharks!

Erin sent me a gorgeous stash of blue and grey with druzy in both colors (LOVE druzy) and hematite in both silver and a green-blue hue. I started with the druzy, of course. And used them to bring out the colors in a glass cab I've been hoarding for years. I picked this up in a little hand blown glass studio on the Oregon Coast called Fernhill Studios. I kinda love the weight of this necklace. It is simple with substance. 

I kept thinking I needed to try designing with a shark, but I don't have a shark bead, nor have I ever seen one. But, I do have lots of fish. And so I decided to use a whole school of them for this next design. Plenty of fish fringe in this piece and a bit of shimmer in the silver sequence and hematite. I kept thinking about the story I used to read to Kate when she was little called Rainbow Fish. She loved that one.

So one last design as I really wanted to try out those square heshi spacers in the green-blue hue. I went for an accent color in a pair of earrings. And yes Erin, you're right! They do kind of look like a wild version of a shark's tooth!

Don't forget to hop over to see some of the other designs over at the reveal on Pretty Palettes. And check out Erin's designs! A stunning necklace with coral reds and creamy pearl white. Love the feel of this piece! Go Badgers!

Erin Strother also joined our challenge with with her school colors of purple and white. She created a beautiful piece of amethyst and pearls. Elegant and spirited all in one. So much fun to join these guys in a fun challenge. Thanks for letting me play along this month Erin!

Summer Design Series :: Oranges of Summer

I love this carnelian orange color. It reminds me of those deep colors of late summer and fall. I guess some would call this 'burnt' orange, or even tangerine which is what ZnetShows calls these tube beads of sea glass.

The thing about color (at least for me) is all in how you pair it. Sometimes you need to give a vibrant color a little breathing room. So when I paired it with some hematite and gun metal colored crystals I noticed that it seemed to deepen the orange color and create a very rich combination. Where black might have been striking, the grey was rich. It does really pop paired with Kate's pale blue boho dress.

This is the last multi-strand necklace that I created for this summer design series. All of these necklaces were the same pattern, but I changed up the colors and textures between ribbon, leather and beaded accents. Funny how just a small adjustment can seemingly create a whole new look.

Along the Saugatuck

Saugatuck River at Westport, CT

Kate and I have been working our way through photographing my growing pile of jewelry. We took a stroll down by the Saugatuck River near the downtown area of our little New England town. There is a wonderful wooden walk way that runs out into the tall grass that grows in the upper marshes of the river. 

It was a gorgeous day, and perfect to get our photography started. I still have quite a lot to photograph, but at least we're putting a dent in it!









This photo of Kate features a piece I've already shown on the blog back in April. It's a simple long, boho necklace with a bit of leather fringe. I do so love fringe in jewelry.

Through the winter I was trying to get my mojo back and started out slowly with some classic beading stitches that just felt good in my hands. I had swatches of beaded patterns all over the place with no clasps or closure. Yes, you can read closure anyway you like here. But sometime in the late spring my mojo sheepishly arrived and I started completing one piece after another. The simplicity of the patterns and closure to the project felt good. 

But my blogging muse was still on vacation somewhere North of the border. As you can see I've got posts stacked up and rolling out at this point. Perhaps my blogging partner has also decided to arrive; even if a bit late to the party.

Summer Design Series :: Beach Boho

So, this is the second in a series of multi-strand necklaces I've created with Sea Glass from ZnetShows. This one uses some beautiful silk to tie at the neck by Marsha Neal. I love the combo of necklace and Kate's cute baby-doll dress. Hard to believe just how grown up she is these days.

My daughter Kate has been doing quite a bit of modeling for me lately. And I have to admit that I am so enjoying spending the time with her. I don't have a lot of time left as she'll be off to college come August. I am feeling so nostalgic about her leaving, and it probably doesn't help that we've been cleaning out her bedroom and we're finding all kinds of things from when she was younger. It seems like yesterday that she was still small enough to crawl up in my lap and snuggle. So many sweet memories.

Summer Design Series: Yellow Sea Glass

NOTE: for some reason I deleted this post and lost all my comments. Thank you to everyone who did stop by and leave me a comment!

Recently Hope sent out a call for designers to work with some ZnetShows beads. As always, there were some great choices of Cultured Sea Glass. But there was also an amazing choice of Chinese crystal beads. I'm not normally one for crystals, but these caught my eye. And once I opened the package from Hope it was love at first sight. These have a deeper texture to the colors than your typical Swarovski. I much prefer this colorway.

I created a series of these clustered, double strand necklaces for this round of designs. I have two others but I thought I'd start with this yellow one. It uses beautiful honey colored sea glass with the Chinese crystals (in a sand color). I wanted to keep the tone light and so added a blond leather. The result is a beach-boho look for summer.

I have a whole series of photos for these designs as I think it makes such a difference sometimes to see them modeled. So check back this week to see my other designs modeled by my daughter Kate. You can also see them featured in the magazine here. Bonus, Hope surprised me with featuring this necklace on the cover!

Thank you all for your comments (I didn't want to lose them):
Karin: What a perfect combination of colors and materials, I love multi strand necklaces and this one has a lot of softness to it.
Duni: That's gorgeous!! Such a unique design and congrats on the feature :)
Linda: What a beautiful design and beautiful model. Love the monotone color scheme in this piece. Great job. Congrats on the cover. This piece is definitely a summer winner.
JoJo: Beautifully done!!!
Val: Oh I love it! The pale yellow is not a color we see to often in jewelry. It really makes it unique and so perfect for summer. It looks so pretty on Kate!
Patti: That magazine was certainly a feast for the eyes! I can count on one hand the times I have used yellow ...but this necklace is so soft ...you know?! Gorgeous! Love EVERY piece that you contributed!
Susan: very pretty and looks just right for a Summer party. I really like how you paired the crystals with the honey colored leather.
Margaret: fabulous design! Kate makes a lovely model!
Alice: I love the yellow beads. Just right for summer that blond leather is just the thing to finish the necklace.
Keith: it's absolutely beautiful :)
Stacy: Gorgeous!!! Unique and beautiful! I love your creations! Congrats on the magazine!!! Big Hugs! 
Claudia: Lovely yellow color, perfect for summer!
Amy: It was a perfect choice for the cover!!!! Bravo! Love your work in this recent issue of Creative Spark!
Edi: The yellow is such a pretty color and looks great on Kate :) Congrats on the cover feature!
Sharla: So pretty! Clever use of the sea glass! Congrats on the front page too!
Marcela: Beautiful necklace!!! Nice photo!!! Have a nice day!!!:))) Besos, Marcela

Mojo :: On Vacation

I know a lot of us out there in beadland have been suffering from a loss of mojo. Not exactly sure where it went but there appears to be a large group of mojo off on vacation touring somewhere without us.

I've started beading again. It comes in bursts with gullies of nothingness in between. At least it is a start. 

I decided that if I could just weave some patterns my hands know perhaps I could find some rhythm again. The funny thing is that the first stitch I turned to was herringbone. I can hear Christine giggling as I say this. It is so unlike me as it usually is my least favorite. Perhaps an unconscious sabotage attempt? Luckily it didn't stop me, and I moved on to other stitches. 

The piece here is a chenille rope with soft creams and copper. I wanted to highlight the jasper focal with similar flecks of colors. I do love the earthiness of the stone and the inclusions are always my favorite. They make the pattern interesting, just like the bits and pieces in life. Life would be dull indeed if everything were simply smooth. 

Lanie's Heart

Nothing I like better than to make jewelry for a friend. Especially someone who appreciates handmade. 

This piece was made for a friend that enjoys hearts. But as she's grown up her style has changed a bit. She's wearing more leather, and more sophisticated things. So I decided that I'd have to up my game a bit if I was going to design a piece for her birthday this year.

I saw a vintage Czech glass button that I really liked and decided that if I cut the back off I could turn it into a cabochon focal necklace. The Bead Girl says she thinks this has a bit of a steampunk look to it. Perhaps. I just like its old world feel to it. I'm hoping that it looks great with her leather jacket and that she enjoys wearing it.

Ancient Stones :: Turquoise

One of my favorite stones of all time has to be turquoise. The veining in it is like a heartbeat frozen in time. I love the idea that this stone has been held in the hands of so many people and cultures through the ages. Mined, carved and adorned. It is a rock of rugged beauty.

It is rare to find stones naturally colored blue, and likely even more rare in ancient times without 'man-made,' synthetic stones. From across the globe people have treasured its blue color thought to represent the heavens to the ancient Persian, fertility, good luck and protection against evil to the Egyptians. 

In the Americas it had great healing powers and brought prosperity. Which is why the Aztecs offered it to the Gods and the Anasazi (known as the "Ancient Ones" and the ancestors of the modern Pueblo) used the stone to treat the sick. They believed it could prevent accidental injury, prevent blindness or ease stomach pains. The shaman would grind the stone and have the person ingest it to heal the stomach. Truly, turquoise has such a storied history.  

Persia (Iran) is known for the purity of its turquoise. Some describe a bright blue turquoise as "Persian blue" based on the prized high quality of stone. 

I actually prefer the American version of this stone. Full of inclusions, deposits and other minerals like iron which can infuse a green hue to the stone, or copper which gives it a blue color. Deposits from its host stone show up like a spiderweb of brown or black that stone cutters refer to as its matrix. Green turquoise and heavy matrix are less valuable, but I love to see the patterns in the stone. Today, the American Southwest produces some of the world's best turquoise, with Arizona and Nevada supporting more than 120 active mines. People who know turquoise can often tell which specific mine the stone came from, such as the Sleeping Beauty Mine which is known for its light blue turquoise without matrix. It is some of the most sought after (and most expensive) turquoise in the world.

My design is influence by the Mayan calendar which is comprised of two interlocking calendars working simultaneously: the Haab (civil) and the Tzolkin (sacred). The calendars work like a continuous churn of gears in a machine, and represent life as one eternal cycle. While the Mayans did predict centuries into the future, they did not see an end. That's the funny thing with the western interpretation that the Mayan calendar predicted the end of the world. That would have been a foreign concept to them. The turquoise in my design is actually a flaw as the Mayan did not allow anyone to wear it and reserved it as an offering to the gods. I just liked how the copper focal brought out the veining in the turquoise. C'est la vie. Sometimes the flaws in life are more interesting.

Working with Leather

I see a lot of tassel necklaces and I've been wanting to design with that in mind. So when I came across a brown leather tassel at a near by bead shop I heard it calling to me.

But I have been trying to use up my stash since I appear to have enough beads already to open my own shop. Shhhhh ... please don't tell my husband I said that. He'll put another ban on my bead shopping!

Ok, so brown. I wanted the beads to be the supporting cast, not over power the tassel as the focal. So I grabbed cream colored carnelian. Yes, those are carnelian. It isn't what you normally think of with its deep orange color, but if you look at the natural stone you'll see that indeed there are parts of it that are a cream color. 

Next I went hunting for brass beads in my stash. I guess I don't have a lot of those, but I did manage to find a set of Asian bar beads. I included small brass beads from India, which were the last of my stash on those. A bit of leather for the back strap and there you have it. A long tassel necklace that will look great with sandals and a flowing top. Who else is ready for summer?