I love it when ideas collide.
Idea #1: Space
I just finished reading The Astronaut Wives Club by Lily Koppel. I really enjoyed learning more about this untold part of U.S. history from the 1950s and 1960s. It's amazing to me that there was a time when women were told to get up at 5 a.m. every morning to make their man steak and eggs because it's their patriotic duty and the success of entire future of the space program depended upon her. These women went from being ordinary military wives surviving on a salary of $7,000 a year to having writers and photographers from Life magazine and other publications following them everywhere they went. This book is a fairly quick read. You can read or listen to an excerpt. I've heard it's going to be a TV show, too.
Idea #2: Color Palette
This pretty palette that Erin Prais-Hintz picked out for this month's Pretty Palettes challenge combines yellow/cream, deep purple, light gray, and a mauve pink. (It's funny that the women on the book cover are wearing some of these exact same colors. The copy I checked out from the library had a different photo.)
Somehow those two ideas of the book I'd just read and the color palette swirled together in my head. I looked in my stash and knew immediately which beads I wanted to use for this project.
The Beads
These beads from Michaels look like like 1960s space-age beads with those sparkly dots and the iridescent tones of purple, yellow, black, and gray. They're plastic, so they are extremely lightweight. (For some reason, plastic has a "space age" feel to me, so they seemed especially suitable.)
Orbital Ring Necklace
I can totally see this necklace with a mod style 1960s dress, maybe something you could wear to tea at the White House with Jackie Kennedy. I originally designed it as a long chain necklace, but then decided to add the round pendant to give it a stronger punch of color. I added the beads to the large jump rings first and then decided how I wanted to connect them. I often work that way, creating some small components before I finalize the design. It's a nice way to keep your hands busy while your mind daydreams about possible designs.
Project Tips:
- Sort your beads by hole size. The ones with larger holes will slip onto the large jump rings. The ones with smaller holes can be used to make the pendant.
- I added the smaller jump rings in between the bigger ones to give the necklace more movement when worn.
- When using an assigned color palette, give yourself permission to go a little darker or lighter or skip one of the colors altogether.
Check out the Halcraft blog to see other designs with this same color palette.