The wonderfully talented Susanna from
sent me these lovely things to work with all the way from Finland.
Susanna made the large beads herself, even the cute rabbit/hare. Also with the beads came the wonderful clasp which Susanna's friend Solen from
www.etsy.com/shop/solekoru made.
I am a textile designer who plays around with beads so naturally fabrics had to feature in it somewhere.
Susannah's lovely beads
Earrings
A bracelet on memory wire with some more of my hand made beads
A key ring with another of Susanna's beads
I started off aging some fabrics with vegetable peelings, ( yes the pinky red on the fabric is beetroot!) found some shibori dyed fabric made for an earlier project and made some beads with them. I looked through my boxes for various treasures. I found an escutcheon from my sister Caroline, fur given by an elderly neighbour, a piece of driftwood from Cornwall, a piece of treasured Mother-of Pearl and lots of recycled beads. It was lovely playing around with the gathered bits and pieces and the project grew.
When I was finally finished I thought that maybe the amulet with the hare on it had grown a bit too big. Although the right size for me! When the reveal date was postponed I had time to change it slightly and add to it. So off I went to the local Workaid charity shop and bought some leather and now I can wear the necklace and it can be transformed into a handbag too.
I hope Susanna I have done your wonderful beads justice and a big thank you to Lori and everyone who helped behind the scenes for making this possible for all of us. I had a lovely time making these.
Marjolein X
