5 Likes
7 CommentsI dropped everything and beaded yesterday. I have been wanting to use some of these amazing scallop shell pieces I find on my beach in the summer. I don't know how old they are, but scallop shells are pretty hard, so these worms (I guess they're worms) worked pretty diligently to make these awesome patterns. The mother of pearl is also abraded and worn by the tidal action.
For a long time I would just use them to skip back out to the bay, but this summer I gave them a second look, and a little light bulb went off, so I collected a few along with my usual sea glass. This is the actual shape I picked up--they range in size and shape, but most of them are uniformly worn, which makes me think that they are probably pretty ancient.
This is the "front" of the piece, it has a caramel glow amongst the wormholes that is a beautiful, m-o-p-ish. The texture and patterns are fabulous.
Here's the back of the cab; the different m-o-p colors show as kinda "glitter" flakes, but the surface is perfectly smooth.
So I have this wonderful piece, and I have this wonderful pic from the lab I worked at in Maine:
This is the kind of sea scallop that lives in Maine waters. The shell is NOTHING like the bay scallops from Florida, this shell is pretty darn, well, plain; hard to imagine it as jewelry. But those little eyes are intriguing. So I knew what I wanted the finished piece to look like, I just couldn't figure out how to get there...yet.
One of the best things I do is think myself to sleep. I have depression, insomnia, anxiety--you name it, but I have medication that really works. So I can direct my thoughts at night for the hour or so it takes me to fall asleep. I love peyote stitch, it has done a wonderful job for me in my beading adventures, but I needed to go in a different direction, so I thought it out, and decided that a stitch usually used for straps or bracelets might work for this piece, and might give me my organic scallopy look. With EYES.
Hello! Well, I am still learning the tricks to macro photography... But you can see the little eyes sticking out, can't you?
The shell is just sitting inside this, I needed to figure out a way to "close the bezel around the cab. I spent a good part of yesterday stitching and ripping, stitching and ripping, so I went to bed.
And figured out the answer. Now, I don't jump up and go try out my sleepy-time ideas; I just let them lie, until tomorrow. Which would be today. So, after a few more stitch, rip, repeat, rounds of beading goodness, I did it. It's perfect. It's not a finished, finished piece, but it IS a finished component. And that has been a long time comin'!
The once-tossed sea shell in beaded bezel finery. Swarovski crystals, vintage glass pearls and 15 and 11 seed beads. It's really gorgeous in real life.
So, whaddaya think? Did I capture what I was after?
This is a live scallop. I found the pic on the web after I had finished my bezel, but it sure does look like pearls and beads to me!
I'm happy. I made something FINALLY, and it was the stuff of dreams...
