There wasn’t enough going on this month, so I jumped in and decided to join Lori Anderson’s 2nd Annual Bead Hoarders Blog Hop.
Here’s what Lori wrote about it…
Seriously, this is an awesome idea. No need to buy beads. And blog hops are just too much fun. The idea behind them is that a bunch of people all post on the same day and you “hop” between blogs and leave notes for them. And they do the same for you. And its fun!
So… here’s what I picked. Center – a sand dollar I’d been hoarding. It had been a gift from someone and I had been saving it for something really special. Offset drilled freshwater pearls. 15/0 aqua AB seed beads. White gold matte 11/0 seed beads. silver 4mm firepolish. light green AB two-hole Starman Beads triangles. 6/0 clear aqua lined seed beads. 8/0 pearl finish seed beads.
So, I got going on some basic bead embroidery. The idea was that I wanted to combine the sand dollar with a sea star shape, but still go easy on the bead embroidery. I got all the way through the embroidery and added a piece of ultrasuede onto the back and… DISASTER! I put my finger right through the sand dollar.
Figures, right?
What followed was a whole fit of swearing. I thought about just gluing a big rivoli in there and trying to patch it up with epoxy. What I refused to consider was scrapping it and starting over, especially with a whole new palette. Most of you who are reading this know that I generally cover mistakes with a lot of fringe, but this was falling apart as I looked at it. I had no idea that sand dollars were so fragile! I should really have fixed the whole thing with resin before I started.
I thought maybe a coin would work instead, but I didn’t have one big enough. I had an antique brooch from my grandmother that had a broken baking, but it was completely the wrong color and I wasn’t really ready to give that up into a for-sale piece yet. So, I went rummaging through a few boxes of “stuff” that i hadn’t really looked at since I’d moved. And you’ll never believe what I found – a metal brass cabochon Art Nouveau face that I purchase years ago from Diane Hyde and had never gotten around to using. i’d been hoarding it so well, I’d forgotten about ti.
And guess what – it was the perfect shape and size. I only had to remove one row to fit it in! Ready to see it? This is after the row was removed, the cabochon glued in place, and then the row reworked. I added a few rows of embellishment around it…
Talk about a happy accident! Its better than the original plan.
Here are a few photos of the finished pendant. It is available for purchase upon request. Just email me at goodrivergallery@aol.com. The piece is $85 plus shipping. It includes the 18″ light blue ribbon necklace with extension chain.
Melissa Trudinger https://beadrecipes.wordpress.com/
Hannah Rosner Designs 
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