Statement Necklaces for a Black Tie Affair, Etc.

Bead Up had a very, very busy weekend. A very project filled weekend! For starters, the husband and I made 3 (count 'em, 3!) display holders for the upcoming jewelry party! I will be blogging about them every Wednesday until the party :) Let's just say that they all turned out better than I had expected and well within our budget! Secondly, I finished making the most of what I call "dainty necklaces" for the party, and have now moved onto making earrings (I find that I can make more when I stick with one type of product and just produce them in mass quantities rather than jumping all over the place). Next on the list is bracelets and then gifts, and before you know it, it will be party time! I also made a few pairs of earrings for one of my high school friends who asked me to make her something to match the heirloom yellow pearl necklace she is wearing on her wedding day. Abbey originally asked me to make all the wedding jewelery, but after finding her grandma's pearl necklace she made some earrings to match it for her bridesmaids. She called one day in a frantic because she just couldn't come up with a design she liked for herself. On the right is a picture of what Abbey made next to her Grandma's necklace for her bridesmaids, and below is what I came up with. I figured I would give her options in addition to paying homage to the design she originally came up with, but with some extra length to differentiate :) What do you think (I personally like the middle ones the best!)?

Lastly, I also spent some time making several attempts at a statement necklace to go with a little black dress I planned to wear for a taping of Dancing with the Stars. A few months back while in Chinatown I bought some crazy golden coral stick-lookin' beads (which my shopping buddy Erin though were horrendous!). I also bought some beautiful turquoise crystals in downtown LA last month that I have been dying to use. Here is necklace #1:

($26 on Etsy)

I like how it turned out, and though I never mind wearing brown and black together, I didn't think this necklace went well with my dress. On to design #2. I bought a bunch of REALLY heavy, funky, beautiful agate pink and purple beads at a craft store next to Mood Fabrics (the one as seen on the current season of Project Runway) in West Hollywood a few weeks ago and have been itching to use these, too. Here's a little choker of a piece that I came up with:

($30 on Etsy)

I liked how this one went with the dress, too, though still wasn't 100% satisfied as it still seemed to lack the WOW factor I was hoping to achieve. So I finally tackled some crazy big amethyst chips I have been avoiding in fear that I would only find frustration in them. Turns out, I found a winner! I added some little green beads as accent colors and double-wired the thing to make sure it wasn't going anywhere! So yesterday we set off to see a filming of Dancing with the Stars! Here we are before leaving for CBS Studios in West Hollywood. We waited in line for 2 hours before finally finding out that more VIPs came to the taping than they had expected and we were about 30 people shy of getting in. Though that was the sad news, the good news was that they would give us free confirmed seating VIP tickets to a taping of our choice! I left a happy camper after all :) I will let you know when I finally do end up going (I am hoping for next week!). Lastly, did you get a chance yet to enter Bead Up's October Giveaway on Etsy It Up? If not, what the heck are you waiting for? You have up to 13 chances to win one of my Fall Line necklaces! See you tomorrow when I replace tomorrow's I Love You, Wednesday's with I Love DIY Projects that Save Me Money!! ;)