When I wrote about the Christmas gifts I made for my library co-workers, I mentioned one of them was also my Secret Santa drawing winner. Here are two possible gifts I made, how I made them, and why this is a conundrum.
When I was buying supplies for seasonal crafting, I was keeping in mind two of her criteria. You see, I devised some suggestion slips including not only names, but also some clues to help find something they may like. She had listed her favorite colors as blue and green, but also mentioned an interest in crystals and gems.
Color
I already know she tends to wear necklaces with larger pendants, but this is a large teardrop-shaped piece of what I assume to be dyed agate wrapped in a band of pseudo-gold, and it might be overkill.
It may not come across on camera, but there are shades of green under the surface. There is also what looks more like a white quartz blob emerging from (or sinking into) the pool of blue like the tail of a fish in a pond.
Crystal
This quartz crystal pendant looks a little bit like a slice from a geode. Maybe it is. At any rate, it is slightly smaller than the blue pendant above.
The photo is darker overall, but I think it caught the intricacy of the crystal structure fairly well in spite of being reduced in size for easy uploading. This also exaggerated the slight pink/red/purple tones in parts of the crystal. The color isn't what she wanted, but the material is quite nice.
Construction
When I wrote my first DIY necklace post for this season, I used cord ends that had to be pinched around my braided leather with a set of pliers. I am trying out a new method here using caps glued onto the ends.
This kit came with jump rings, two sizes of cord end caps, lobster claw clasps, and a short chain extender. The caps were a tight fit on the leather cord, and with the glue, it should be solid. My adhesive of choice is E6000. It's a bit stinky, but once cured, it works very well.
What do you think of these necklaces? Have you tried this kind of cord end cap before? Which one should I give away to Miss R. the Librarian? Comments are always welcome!
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