My Impression

Yawn! I could not sleep at all last night. I kept getting these tics (NOT ticks!) all over in my calves and feet; it was driving me crazy. So, around 1 am, I mosied downstairs to fiddle with a necklace that I had put together some time ago that was constantly giving me problems. I wanted this necklace to work like a lariat, but the dangly part kept falling out of my metal, donut bead/pendant. I think it's because the pendant is so heavy and the dangles are just adorned with small dove charms that don't weigh anything. I couldn't put a big stopper charm or bead on the end because then you wouldn't be able to get the thing over your head or the length would wind up being longer than I wanted. I did rig up something that kept it in place, but it looked awful and completely messed up the drape of the necklace. While I was fidgeting around in bed last night, the answer came to me.

Here's the main attraction for this necklace:

I call it "Holy Spirit". It looks good either centered or off to the side. Because of that, I couldn't have a clasp in the center back--it had to be uninterrupted chain.

Here's the solution I came up with:

The doves are hanging from two chains threaded through that big bail on the back of the pendant. I couldn't fit any more chain through the bail's opening. I made a special pin (wrapped loops on both ends) with two chains attached on the left side and a lobster clasp clipped onto the right. You should be able to click on any photo to open a very large version of it in a new window. Anyway, problem solved and I'm happy. This Sunday, I'm talking to the kids about Jesus's baptism, so I really wanted to be able to wear this necklace!

With that problem out of the way, I was still not ready for sleep. I started another project around 2 this morning. I had a large, faceted, square pendant that was labeled as "turquoise jasper (dyed)" and a bunch of coordinating round beads and some amethyst to go with it. Figuring out what to do with such a cumbersome pendant was tricky. I talked to my sister about it a couple of days ago and I decided to hang the pendant from a torsade. The colors and the mottled nature of the pendant reminds me of a Monet painting. Especially "Water Lilies." Take your pick which one! So, I call this "Monet." (http://www.art.com/asp/display_artist-asp/_/CRID--43/posters.htm/_/posters.htm?ui=F66DCE717229402BBC06CC9FCFD8987B)

Necklace:

Earrings:

I'm really behind on boring housework, so I think I will have to stay away from my work table today. :( I won't be doing any laundry today, though! My older daughter generates about 90% of the laundry, so as of today, laundry is her duty. Nyah!