The Beadful Life @ BeadFX: Inspiration Monday: The Origin of Life

Monday, June 24, 2013

Inspiration Monday: The Origin of Life

InspirationFX
Get your creative juices flowing

The Origin of Life
by: Dwyn Tomlinson

This shipment of Blue Green Quartz - well - sorry - but I can't hear the phrase "blue-green" without thinking of "Blue Green Algae" or Cyanobacteria - the bacteria that started photosynthesizing and churning out oxygen as a by-product - thus changing the planet's atmosphere from largely carbon-dioxide to one with enough oxygen for a whole new biodiversity to evolve. It may be bacteria (ick) but - yay - oxygen = eventually - US! So hooray for blue green algae - we wouldn't be where we are today without you.

Course, if you don't live and die by National Geographic specials the way I do - all of this may seem pretty esoteric to you. Downright geeky, in fact. So you'll just have to enjoy the aesthetics of this blue green translucent quartz (with some beige and brown thrown in for good measure) on it's own merit.

This is a very organic necklace - in that it grew - rather than having a specific design. I intended to made a multi-strand necklace - alternating the tumbled nuggets and the rice shapes - but I ran out of the rice shapes, and just carried on. You may want to plan your necklace more carefully, (for instance - the two strands are exactly the same length - can't do that if I try - but noooo - happens by accident), or you can duplicate this exactly (well - every strand is a little different - so not exactly!), or you can make your own, organic, "happy accident of design."

1. To string, I took about 65 inches (about 165 cm), and looped it over the jump ring on the clasp, and secured with a crimp. I strung a tumbled nugget, alternating with a rice shape, each separated by a triangle accent bead. After 13 stone beads (not counting accent beads), I added a faceted hex bead. I carried on the same way, nugget/rice, for a total length of 26 inches (66 cm).
2. I added a crimp, added the jumpring from the other side of the clasp, and back through the crimp, and crimped it to secure it. To avoid a big clump of beads on the back of my neck, I threaded back through two stone beads, and then added TWO accent beads, and then started adding stone beads/accent beads. I was just about out of the rice beads, so the second strand is mostly all tumbled nuggets, with the exception of 2 of the faceted hex beads, at about 14 inches (35.5 cm) from the end (2nd end). I then carried on to almost the end,
3. and ran the beading wire up through the last 3 stone beads, secured it with a crimp on the first jump ring (which was tricky - because you don't have a lot of space at that point), and then tucked the end back down into the stone beads again, and trimmed it where it poked out.

So it is all strung on one piece of softflex, left to right and back to left again.

With these S hook clasps, you need to gently open one hook a little so that you can slide the jumpring on and off easily. They come closed up so that they (hopefully) don't lose their jumprings on their way to you!

The gold and the green are a particularly nice colour combo - and the flat surface of the triangle beads reflects light and makes a nice sparkle, without being overly glitzy.

Enjoy!