Inspired by.... bibs?

Life with a 1 year old involves a lot of bibs. So it's no wonder I've been inspired lately to create bib like necklaces. These type of statement necklaces have been around for quite some time now, and I just love them! They can turn the simplest of outfits into something spectacular. I have found that it's best to wear them either completely on your bare neck, if your neckline allows. Or completely on the fabric of your top - meaning, a high neckline. I've been showing quite a few of these in recent posts (The necklace I wore in one of my Anthro outfits - postage stamp skirt - and the necklace I created for the Bohemian Inspired Jewelry book review). And here are a few others I've put together this week.......

This first necklace features 15 peacocks!!! LOVE! I had bought this chain at Michael's some time ago that had these peacock connectors on it. It was pretty much ready to use - a nice length of chain with the peacocks and some blue beads set at even intervals. While sometimes I do like the ease of something like that, I knew I wanted to do something really cool with these feathered friends. I took all of them off the chain and just laid them on my desk for a while. At first, I was trying to put them in a bracelet but it wasn't working to my satisfaction. Then, I started laying them out, realizing that if I turned some of them upside down, they fit together like little puzzle pieces. This could be cool, I thought. From far away, it looked like a pretty pewter neck piece, but when you get up close you see they are all peacocks! The only question was, as it always is with intricate linking like this, is "will it lay right once they are all linked together". A lot of this depends on the type of jump rings you use so the spacing is just so. Luckily, it worked out!

This next piece has a little bit more movement. Textured links hang in a graduated design with flower dangles off each one. A mix of copper and brass tones, with a fringy feel. This one will be listed in my Etsy shop soon.

 

I got several of these brass blanks, with cutouts, from Rings & Things with the intention of using them with my tin. While I have used them one by one in some designs, these scallops were asking to be put together. Once laid out, they looked to me like fish scales or a peacock's tail. Having several peacock tins, I wanted to put the eye of the feather in each circle. At first, I was going to cut the tin in the same shape as the scallops so that I could just connect it with the two top holes I was going to drill into them. But then I realized that would be a great waste of tin designs with so much of it hidden behind the brass. So I came up with the idea to cut the tin in circles, a bit smaller than the openings, and dangle them from an additional hole that I drilled in the center. This worked out well, and the piece has some movement. The linking together came together good, but then when it came time to put it on a chain I didn't like how the top row would naturally curve around the neck. I wanted the design to stay straighter as it looked better. So I hammered out a little bar for them to hang on. I can definitely see myself making this design again with some different types of tin.