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I often struggle with irregular beads in order to get them to lay right and play nice with each other.  I tend toward round beads because I know how those work.  I like other beads, and sometimes even buy them, but I end up struggling when I use them in a piece.  Take this necklace that I made today.

turq teeth close

I think this turned out pretty good, but I might make a couple of little tweaks (or I might take it apart and completely remake it.  I never know how much stuff is going to bother me until I wear something.)  The turquoise teeth (as I think of them) are obviously irregular shapes and sizes.  The copper tubes in between the turquoise are similarly rough and non-uniform.  The turquoise drops and tiny metal drops in between the colored beads don’t always hang right and it was a challenge to get the strands the right space apart so the drops didn’t hit the bottom strand.

turq teeth full

I do like the elements that came together for this necklace.  I used a focal by Andrew Thornton, and a metal bail by Metal Me This.  This is the first time I’ve used this colorful flat fabric cord.  I’ll see how I like this after wearing it for some time.  I often wonder how other jewelry artists get their things to look so much more finished, even when they use a variety of materials and have multiple points of connection.