This necklace was very satisfying to make, because it combines several elements that are usually perplexing for me. I love furnace glass, but I have a hard time actually using it. I've had the milk glass beads for ages, but until now haven't found anything else that I thought really worked well with them. The bead caps unify the different bead styles, and also soften the stark barrel shape of the furnace glass. A good trick with furnace glass (or any big-holed bead) is to string little beads that just fit inside the hole of the big bead. This keeps the big bead centered on the strand and really improves the appearance of the finished piece.
The Bali bead in the center is just gorgeous. I have a handful of these with different gemstone insets, and it's so tempting to string them all together! That would be luscious, but really heavy. One at a time is much more wearable. And all this blue and silver made the mother-of-pearl clasp from Pacific Silverworks a natural.
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