from the sea

I've always loved pearls: their variety of shapes, their textures, their soft luminescence. I saw a bracelet like this on etsy a while back, but at $300, it was far, far out of my price range. I say this as preface: this was not my original idea. And, as I've no skill whatsoever with making chainmaille, I'd have been stuck but for the wonderful friends I have.

I sent an image of the original to a friend and asked if he might be able and willing to make me a small base. I completely forgot about the matter in the flurry of stress and excitement that was my first year in grad school, but then out of the blue, one day I received a package in the mail - the chainmaille base! Oh, how fabulous and wonderful Joe is - and what a nice surprise! I'll almost forgive him for being so irritating intelligent for this. =)

I had to take some of the length out - it was a bit long, and I couldn't afford enough pearls to do the thing as long as it originally was. But then I accidentally took out too much and had to add two extra loops to the end for the clasp (more for ease of attaching than anything - if someone else puts it on my wrist for me, the short length is perfect). I ordered headpins from this incredibly talented Etsy jewelry artist. Once they arrived, I promptly went out to Beads of the Earth in downtown SB, where the wonderful woman who runs the shop cut me a great deal.

All in all, with paying for artisan-made silver headpins and the shipping and buying the pearls, I spent about $56 or $57 on this project. It's actually more expensive than my usually jewelry-making escapades, but a far cry from $300, and oh-so-worth it. The pearls shift and move around as I wear it and the chainmail glints from underneath.

Thank you, Joe! I couldn't have done it without you!