Necklace-scarf “Claudia”

Claudia's Shawl-024 Claudia's Shawl-027 This necklace was made especially for a wonderful, kind and charming woman – Claudia; the smooth and soft lines and folds of this necklace were called to underline Claudia’s gentle beauty and the colour of it goes so well with her skin and hair. In my strong opinion, every piece of jewelry which any woman wears must be in a harmony with her inner beauty and outward appearance. It must underline all the best things in a person and shouldn’t be just a thing, catching anybody’s eye by itself, covering it’s owner.

Materials, used in this necklace: Japanese glass beads sizes 10 and 11, Swarovski glass pearls, Czech glass drop beads, Crystal beads, “cat’s eye” glass beads, sterling silver clasp.

Set (necklace and earrings) “Fancy Pansies”

Fancy Pansies-035 Fancy Pansies-041 I love flowers. There are lots of them in my house. Some of them are exquisite, graceful and elegant, like orchids or irises, some of them are amusing, bright and joyful, bringing a smile to my face every time I look at them.

The idea of this set sprang up in my mind when I was looking through the old issues of  ”Beadwork” magazine. my eye stopped at one of the brooches of Nome May, created in the shape of a flower (“Beadwork”, April/May 2002, p.14)

In this set I wanted to show the joy which suns warmth brings to nature and to our lives every year. With the vivid colors, combined in these pansies – bright yellows, reds and greens, this captures the spirit of summer; and in spite of classic noble materials, which I used in this necklace (pearls and coral), the feeling and whole impression of this set is quite opposite from the classic elegance – YES! SUMMER FUN!

Materials, used in the set: Japanese seed beads # 15,11; antique Italian microbeads # 18,20; pearls and coral; leather and Sylamid waxed thread; gold-filled clasp.

Necklace “Magadan: Spring snowmelting”

Snow Melts in Magadan-025   msm_1.jpg This necklace reminds me about a place dear to my heart. In Far East Russia there is a city named Magadan. Nine months in a year it is covered by snow, even in June there can be snowstorms.   But in April, you can already smell the clear aroma of Spring.   Snow begins to melt under the bright rays of the sun, and if you’ll go up to the hills, the thin crust of ice on the snow will not bear your weight. You will leave behind deep footprints in the snow drifts, the length of your leg which appear sparkling-blue because of the purity of the snow.  And you will hear the silver streams, gathering strength under the thickness of wet snowdrifts and running from the very top of each mountain.

Look at my necklace – and you will see all these in the pictures.  Blue mountains at a distance, pools with deep blue water, covered with very thin veins of ice, spring clear streams, running from hills to mountain lakes and ocean bays.  Dark thawed patches here or there and “gold” tracks of pyrite saturated sand on the earth so recently uncovered, moistened with water from melted snow…  See the beauty of the harsh wilderness while looking at this necklace, and feel the gentle touch of romanticism and nostalgia, depicted in this piece of bead-work art.

The necklace is made from antique micro-beads size #18, Japanese beads #11 & #15; Czech teardrop beads; crystal chips; jasper. Materials used: black leather, Japanese fishing line, Cylamid waxed thread.

The front embroidery has a button-like fastener on each sides and can be fully removed.

Dream of Marvelous Spatula

Dreams of Marvelous Spatula-150 Dreams of Marvelous Spatula-156 Here it is – my FINALIST IN BEAD DREAMS  2009, the most prestigious bead competition in the world.

This necklace brought together my favourite things: beautiful nature and flowers, elegance and finesse, practicality and the capability to wear it in many different ways. The idea of this necklace occured to me when I found on the Internet pictures and videos of  a spectacular little humming bird, the Marvelous Spatuletail or Marvelous Spatula, which got it’s name for it’s interesting tail: the bird has just four feathers in it. It’s most remarkable feature is the male’s two long racquet-shaped outer tail feathers that cross each other and end in large violet-blue discs or “spatules”, which he can move independently. This humming bird is one of the rarest on the Earth  and it is on the Endangered Species list, there are approximately 1000 specimens of this bird living in the forests of Peru. Here is the video, where you can admire this amazing bird and if you would like to learn more about it, check out ABC Birds. I was so in awe of this fantastic specimine of God’s creatures, that I wanted to capture it forever in beads and show it to people to get attention to the  fragile nature and to the miraclous work of our Creator.

This necklace is a transformer; there are about 15 different ways of wearing it. The part with the humming-bird is removable, has different beaded clips from two sides: one in a shape of a flower and another one in a shape of twisted branch of a tree.

The beaded Marvellous Spatula humming bird was made in natural size and in natural colours, inherent in this bird. To be able to make this bird that small I used antique Italian microbeads (sizes 18, 20, 22, 24) – beads such small are not produced in nowadays world.

Hope, you’ll enjoy it!

Galaxy of Pearls

Pearl Galaxy-063 pg7.jpg I used different shaped pearls to form geometric shapes with coral and “Cat’s Eye” accents. A magnificent design for any “Black Tie” night! Unique luxurious asymmetric necklace whose geometrical figures attract an eye with delicate shine of real ocean pearls. Accented with coral and “Cat’s Eye” stone beads as well as pieces of rock crystal add the feeling of purity and freshnessto this masterpiece. The nobleness of the necklace shows up in every detail, from beautiful big pearls 0.7 cm in diameter to Japanese micro beads and silver clasp.

Necklace “Queen’s Serpentine”

Queen's Serpentine-031 tz3.jpg When I first took this stone in my hands, I was fascinated with its warmth and the surprisingly pleasant feeling of something good and kind. This stone definitely had his own originality and required a very special touch, it didn’t want to be in a necklace for just, “every day use.”

My original intention was to make this a simple display of the beautiful lines in the stone, but as I continued in the design, the stones “queenly nature,” appeared. Thin lilac veins on the light-yellow-greeninsh body wanted to be  accented by lilac colour beads and with a wide palette of green color tones and shades.

The stone demanded luxury and charm, beginning with the antique italian microbeads (sizes 18-20) and ending with the Swarovski bicones and crystal beads. The main elements are embroidered on high quality leather, so the cabochon is resting on a “pillow” of  two-layered leather.