Funky polymer clay and tatting necklace

Finished! I'm happy with this mix of polymer clay beads and tatting - it's really funky :)

I made up the design as I went. The front of the necklace worked out fairly easily, with only a minor setback of one polymer clay bead breaking. Since I haven't done much with polymer clay, my sculpting skills are still very basic. But, the broken bead was quickly replaced, and I do like how the colors match my hand dyed size 10 thread (Mardi Gras). I also added Lizbeth #685 Evergreen Dark.

I was unsure of what to do with the sides, and my first thought was a quick finish with metal chains, but I wanted to keep an all handmade, organic theme for this piece. Corina Meyfeldt's post on Nina Libin's technique of beaded rings with one shuttle gave me an idea! So, I combined that technique with single shuttle split rings.

I like the results - especially how the colors blend - but next time I may use 2 shuttle split rings, because having 2 threads connecting the rings seems stronger than only 1 thread. Something that probably only matters if the project has some weight to it, as this necklace does.

In between the beaded rings and the front, I added some free-form tatting, using node stitch (sets of 2 first halves followed by 2 second halves). I like how node stitch chains are easy to keep straight, or curve in various directions. (Hmm, now I'm wondering if I should capitalize the names of techniques, such as Node Stitch - any tatting editors out there?)

Anyway, I like my necklace. In the future I may try something similar for the Etsy shop or the next art/craft sales event or exhibit, but if so will try to do a more refined job of sculpting the polymer clay.