Schachlo

I've been watching some traditional folk dances on Youtube.  It's quite inspiring.  There's always a sense of grandeur associated with folk dance and costumes, no matter how simple or sedate the actual steps are.  Well, I discovered a Russian Gypsy dance performed by Schachlo.  It's really quite beautiful.  Her costume and her jewelry features simple, repeating patterns and soft flowing feminine drapes and contours.  I just fell in love with the necklace.

Of course, I don't have a ton of gold coins and chains laying around.  Surprising, right?  Well, I can't recreate her necklace exactly, but I can make something similar, you know what I mean?  I set out to make this necklace some time ago and I've only recently gotten decent photos of it.

Bronze colors bring out the brilliance of the opalescent glass.

An iridescent crystal gives the whole thing more weight and charm.

The actual necklace rests just below the collarbones.

I like how it turned out.  I used some more beads and findings that I found in my stash to finally pull it together.  It's a bib-style necklace with dusky desert tones.  I love its sort of wild, tribal feel.  It's also very jingly.    My mother over at the Mahogany Stylist Blog loves it.