Sometimes a fun new design comes from nothing. These two gradient necklaces started as a pile of leftover white beads on my dining room table. I make these double stranded necklaces for the gift shop where I work. It is hard to be a jewelry seller online with so many great designers out there, which is why I don’t have them in my Etsy shop, but they seem to sell themselves in person. My most popular colors there are always white/champagne and turquoise. So I had the leftover bits of both of those on the table and leftover bits are a pain. I don’t want to sort everything back out into its components and the color mix will never be just right for the next thing. So I started to wonder. Could I use up all of the leftovers and make a gradient (which is ultra trendy right now)? Why yes!
A friend asked me my method of laying these out. For these I had 3 piles of beads: light, medium and dark, and in each one a variety of sizes from tiny Japanese seed beads to chunky turquoise and shell bits. I started beading the lightest first with about 2-3 inches of just white. Then I gradually added the lightest of the medium beads one or two at a time, alternating with the light ones for about an inch. Then about 2 inches of medium. Same transition to the darkest and then back in reverse. The second strand I pay more attention to placement of the larger beads, so I have a nice staggering of those between the two strands and not big clumps anywhere.
Next up is a white to black gradient, I think.
A reverse of this gradient would be pretty too with a dark shirt..and I’m guessing that a lot of the white stash matches a sparklie or two here :)
You are right, I think there are still some white beads that you might recognize. ;)