Russian Firebird Necklace

When I saw that the UK Beaders theme this month was "holiday destinations" I knew right away that I had to make something about St Petersburg.


I love all things Russian and have shown here some of the photos and postcards from my holiday there last year, which inspired me to make the necklace.

I was thinking especially of the traditional costumes, beautiful patterns, decor and lacquer paintings. I get really carried away with it all and have collected loads of odd bits and pieces over the last couple of years.

I've been wanting to do something Russian-esque for ages so I'm glad this challenge came along and I could start having a good think about what to do.

I started with a lacquered brooch and based the whole design upon that.

I had also bought the book "Beading with Cabochons" about a month earlier so I was dying to try this out and thought the elaborate and decorative beadwork would fit in well with my theme.

I've also taken some pictures of the cabochon as I was beading it to show how it was made up.


Gluing the brooch on to the backing material and beading three rows of seed beads around the edges.


Adding hoops of seed beads to the top. Which will allow the pendant to sit on the straps.





The finishing touches. Adding a fancy fringe and border in red, gold and black to match the brooch and straps.

Edited 23/09

The Russian Firebird necklace won the "holiday destinations" challenge! I'm really pleased and thank you so much to the members who voted for it.

Here is the link for the artist of the month blog:

http://www.uk-beaders.co.uk/artistofthemonth.htm