Crystal Drop Necklace

I was in Cathy Lampole's store, That Bead Lady a few months ago, and she had a lovely necklace on display with terrific beaded beads, and the store manager A. explained that the design had been submitted to Bead and Button for publishing later this year. When the magazine came out, I recognized the beaded beads, but they had changed the design to an asymmetrical one instead of the balanced one Cathy had in the store. Frankly I really like Cathy's original a lot better, so it is too bad they did not use it on the cover instead of changing it. The beaded beads were what interested me most, so what I did here is make the medium bead and added a sterling silver bail as this was a Christmas gift for my daughter.

The instructions are in Bead and Button October 2009 (Issue 93) and as usual with Cathy's designs are easy to follow. I made the top beads go further to make the pearl in the interior less visible by adding a few more rows of reduced peyote, which worked well. The crystals are a dark blue (Montana) AB and compliment the silver well. I added three drops to the bottom, with sterling 22 gauge wire for the head pin.

This makes a really elegant beaded bead that looks great on it's own on a silver chain. I think I will make some more of these for gifts. The bail is Bali silver from Cathy's store, and really raises it up a notch, so the bail is well worth the expense.