Miriam Haskell Inspiration Part 1

Sometimes when you are searching online for something, serendipity hits and you end up discovering something new and amazing and suddenly your obsessed.  Okay, maybe that last part is just me but I can not get enough of Mariam Haskell jewelry.  Tomorrow I will share resources and lots of links for making these awesome bead collages.  Today I will share some tips for how I made this Haskell-inspired necklace.

The bouquet is worn to the side in this asymmetrical design, inspired by this piece by Mariam Haskell!

The necklace focal is actually the clasp and starts off as a screened surface that you sew and wire-wrap the beads onto and then attach it back to the base of the clasp.  I had one of these in my bead box from years ago and had no idea what to do with it until yesterday!  I attached all of the beads with either long headpins that were wrapped through the screen, back up and around the base of the bead.  Or sewed/attached the beads on with a thin flexible beading wire.

Plan out your design before you start.  Think about how you will layer elements so they will be secure and strike a good balance for the overall design.  I started with the large leaves first and then worked from the center outward to make the wire wrapping easier, adding the bead clusters with headpins.  You'll need your pliers to pull and maneuver your wire.  Bent nose pliers can be a big help! The darker leaf is a Vintaj blank that has a texture stamped onto it.

The art beads: vintage inspired or not, I have to add in some artist created pieces.  This bouquet is actually brimming with art beads.  I have one of my polymer clay disks in teal.  A lampwork bead from Sea of Glass.  One of Nadin's headpins and the handpainted lucite flowers and a leaf from Vintage Meadow.

After I had my larger elements securely attached I filled in any empty spaces with Czech glass teardrops that are attached with a thin bead stringing wire that knotted easily.  This always covered up some of my messier wire work.

When I was done with the top, the screen fit back on the clasp with prongs to hold it in place. The last step was stringing the necklace, that was the easy part.  And I tried crimp covers for the first time ever. 

Here is a hint if you are going to use this style of clasp with crimp covers. Start on the side of the box clasp where it doesn't detach, add your wires and crimps and then do the crimp covers on that side. And then add the covers to the other side while it's removed from the box part of the clasp.  I put the crimp covers on after I was done stringing the entire necklace, swear words were muttered.  It was not a pretty picture.

I'm not 100% crazy about using box clasps. They are hard to find and it's a little fidgety to take on and off.  For my next creation I will probably work with a Vintaj filigree for the base and add a toggle clasp to the design like I did with the leaves.  Just make sure it's really secured to the filigree!

Join me tomorrow for part 2 of my Miriam Haskell obsession for a little history, design lessons and online resources.