Using Up the Stash #9 - Constellation Necklace in Purple Velvet Satin with CZ Pendant

Does this happen to you? You're working on one piece and an idea you tried with it isn't quite right, but you like the idea enough to make it its own piece? That's what happened the other day when I made this necklace.

I was thinking to make the bracelet from Saturday into something with multiple strands and had strung a length of dark purple Swarovski pearls, CRYSTALLIZED™ Swarovski Elements Purple Velvet Satin 6mm bicones, light purple 3mm Swarovski bicones and tiny sterling rice beads. It just didn't work with the bracelet but I really liked the strand on its own, so I made it longer and added the Violet 7x30mm faceted CZ drop which I got from Lima Beads last year.

I have a lot of those rice beads, so I gave this necklace pattern a name (Constellation) and will be trying similar looks in different colors.

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I've been working on a necklace project using the shell beads sent by Rings & Things to their blog partners last month that I'd hoped to have finished by today. It's tediously full of wrapped loops, so it's taking forever.

I'm also stymied with how to finish it off - mostly because my work room is a total wreck, half of my stuff is upstairs and the rest is here and there everywhere all over the room. I need to go through my stash and see if there is a length of chain that would work with this (so I don't have to buy more and thus can't Use Up the Stash). The prospect of digging through the piles upstairs had stopped me from finishing the necklace. Then I remembered I received a $20 gift certificate with Fire Mountain Gems from Bead Trends for submitting a necklace that was in the March issue. I decided on a substantial double cable oval link aluminum chain - hoping the aluminum will be light because all those shell beads aren't - and threw in some sterling silver bead cap purchases, too.

My efforts to get organized started last weekend but were cut short by the miserably lingering head cold I'm still slowly recovering from. I did clear off the wooden hutch in the back of the room and get all the mixed media craft/stamping stuff over on the work surface there where I can actually use it.

I really want to get finished, but my sinuses are still giving me horrific headaches when I do any bending and lifting. Plus, I'm still lacking strength for carrying stuff up and down stairs. I did go get some shelving at Target Saturday morning, so I've got an incentive to clear off the space and get those put up. Maybe this week I'll be able to share some pictures of the *yet again* re-organized work space!