Xs & Os Folk Art Inspired Necklace

This month's challenge was... challenging yet again. I chose to work in the three primary colors in the spirit of the folk art used as inspiration.

 

For the beads I initially planned an elaborate written message about love. And in the end, I chose to use one of my favorite letter signatures ...

 

XXX

OOO

 

...i.e. kisses and hugs, for the beads. Each base bead is a hand shaped rectangle of a primary color with trails of the other two colors wrapping around it. One one side is an "X" and the other is an "O."

 

For the jewelry, I originally intended a bracelet but as I was working, the beads dictated a larger piece.

 

I used a teapot / teaspoon toggle to add to the homeyness of the piece. Swarovski cyrstals in red and blue as well as a few silver beads were added for accents. The art beads all float on a silver chain and there is a heart link chain running throughout the piece as well as a dangle from heart chain on one side. The heart shape was added for emphasis to carry out the love theme.

Done