Vaucresson rose necklace

In pretty much the last minute, I uploaded my entry in the Art Bead Scene monthly challenge for July. For a long time I couldn't think of what to do and figured I'd skip the challenge just as I've skipped or missed most challanges for months now. After playing with my stash or embroidery floss, yarn and ribbons this week, I finally got an idea last Friday: wouldn't it be a perfect opportunity to make a new ribbon flower pendant? I haven't made any for ages now and hopefully one will pass as an "art bead". The artwork that was the theme of the month, Morning in the Garden at Vaucresson by Edouard Vuillardit,  features some lovely white and pink roses that seemed perfect to translate into ribbon roses.

Bias cut silk ribbon is pretty flimsy so the flowers you make are very delicate. Just like the flowers in the paintings (though I admit in jewellery "delicate" and "flimsy" are not normally properties you strive after as it makes the piece difficult to use without damaging). I used hand-dyed pink and grey ribbon for the petals and then stitched the rose to a old rose ox dapped filigree. The metal adds some needed weight, makes it easy to attach bails or jump rings and protect the flower from some of the wear and tear.

The rose pendant is made from hand dyed bias cut silk ribbon, mounted on a piece of filigree. The necklace chain is made from space-dyed viscose gimp that I stitched into a three-strand necklace and added linen thead on which I knotted vesuvianite chips and yellow "jade" beads. It's a pretty simple necklace, which is of cause due to me getting the idea so late and finishing the flower even later (petals are easy to stitch, tricky to puzzle together to make flowers). That's the real reason, but it also makes the necklace look like the rose bush in the painting where the flowers sit on winding branches with few leaves.

From the palette I choose just to work with the pinks and greens with a hint of yellow, omitting the periwinkle/mauve/greyish blue tones eventhough I liked what they added to it. If I'd come up with my idea earlier perhaps I'd have time to think of a good way to use them, but of cause I had to come up with a last minute idea and had to think of a design on the top of my head.


Instead of the dull and simplistic collage I ended up uploading on Flickr, I initially wanted to make an inspiring and beautiful etc etc collage incorporating the painting that inspired the necklace, but I just couldn't make something nice today. This is what I ended up with and I'm adding it here more just to show the painting I'm speaking of than to show a good jewellery collage.