Resolutions of the Heart Necklace

Everyone has been asking to see the finished product of my Resolutions of the Heart Class. As always in a class like this you NEVER FINISH the project in class. I came home & continued to work on my piece. I need to go & buy a heavier gauge copper wire (& the patina) to make my S or Fish Hook clasp for the back of the necklace. Until that time... I will simply slip it over my head when I wear it.

Here is the precious card that our teacher Diane Cook made for each of us. I love the illustration of the two young girls holding hands & then her quote was Take my hand... We'll learn together. On this beautiful card was the vintage locket that Diane had aged with patina (both inside & out).

This is my mannequin proudly wearing my finished necklace. No, she is not generally so plainly dressed but, I wanted the necklace to stand out.

You can see some of the details in the photo above & below. I had a very difficult time photographing my necklace. Many emails ensued between Diane & I about this. After all this the best suggestion was good natural light (but, not to bright or too much sun). Well the weather has not cooperated for this advice & I wanted to post the photos I did have.

Above is the necklace laying on a piece of paper with beautiful script & a heart shaped doily. In the previous class with Diana Frey we used Sterling Silver wire & findings. For this piece we used copper & then varied the finish with patina. I also mixed silver & brass findings. With the different colors in the stones & pearls I think it is an interesting mix.

The photo below has too much flash (sorry it is a bit bright) but, it shows the bead we made using Sari Silk. We made a bone bead & wrapped the silk (which had a LOT of stringy pieces which I think made for an interesting texture) with wire & tiny amber crystals. Also, I LOVE the silver hearts I bought from Diane to add to my necklace.

Here you can see the precious brass bird charms that I added. Also the smokey colored glass heart beads. Lots of little tiny beads done as dangles to give movement to the necklace when I wear it.

Below is the beautiful locket from Diane with the wonderful large smokey crystal bead & the amber stoned bezels. This is hooked on a portion of a vintage rhinestone necklace that I took apart so I could use some of it for this project. I LOVE using vintage jewelry & re purposing it. A mix of BLING against the look of aged & patina makes for an unusual look I love.

We did have a short intro into etching metals in this class. We did not make anything with the pieces we did in class. It was a teaser for us to want to take the next class she has on etching metal & Diane you can count me in on that one. I did have one piece that I etched & liked so I will be creating something in the future with it. I hope you LOVE my necklace as much as I do. I will try to take a photo of me wearing it & share it at a later time. I urge you to go visit Diane's site & see the talent of this designer & teacher extraordinaire! She is teaching at ADORN ME in Houston this March (as is Diana Frey & Riki Schumacher whom are friends & wonderful teachers from California) For those of you in TEXAS this is an amazing chance to top NATIONAL teachers to be in a location near us. Click the ADORN ME Button on my sidebar & come join us! Have a great week my friends. HUGS! Charlene