The Bridal post: part 2

As I mentioned earlier, my recent bridal commission began with a request for hairpins for the bride. Her dress was an empire style gown with a tulle overlay embroidered and beaded in beautiful gold and vintage pastel tones.

The swatch

We went back and forth on a few ideas; I ended up designing five Swarovski crystal and freshwater pearl pins in coordinating tones for her updo; with rhinestone accents and gold toned brass stampings:

I painted the comb bases to match her dark hair colour and incorporated extra loops near where the beading meets the base (you can see one clearly on the left of the bottom right pin) to anchor extra bobby pins as the bride was concerned about their grip in her notoriously thick hair.

Detail: Each pin was approx. 2 inches in width and 3 in length.

MUCH MUCH More below the jump!

Also; a bracelet and earrings for the Bride:

Simple post drop earrings with rhinestones and sparkly Champagne Cubic Zirconia briolettes. A double strand Light Colorado Topaz Swarovski crystal bracelet with Swarovski rhinestone spacers.

The Bride had a rhinestone detail on the neckline of her dress so decided not to wear a necklace. The bracelet and earrings provide just the right amount of sparkle and tied her look together beautifully.

The Flowergirl's jewellery was designed around her love of pink. I went with a pretty floral design with a muted pink/purple theme, and paired it with simple and age appropriate (11 yrs) drop earrings.

As with the bride's jewels, 14 k gold filled wire, Swarovski crystals and freshwater pearls were used. I wish I managed to get a non-blurry picture!

I also designed and made hairpins for the Flowergirl with Swarovski crystals;

I tinted the pins to match her lighter hair colour. By the way; when considering hair pins like these an odd number always looks better than an even number. (Just one of the laws of the universe!)

To store all of these precious bits and pieces in, I made zippered jewellery rolls using dupioni silk and scraps of the embroidered and beaded tulle as accents;

For the bride

One for the Flowergirl too.

After all of this... I was exhausted! And happy to step away from all things beady for a month or two. I love love love to do these kinds of jobs.. but throw in a (lately very demanding) full time day job and study and it all became a bit too much!

I am back though, and looking forward to sharing more of my recent work, inspirations and other things that stick in my mind with you all. If anyone is still reading..

Comments

[Miss Dot]

still reading... :-)

[Amy]

YAY!!! You're back on board!!! Love these pics and the little bag and jewellery rolls are divine. I can't WAIT to see more pics of what you've been doing over the last few months.... keep it coming... and fast!!!!

(sorry for the exclaimation mark overload - i've been checking in almost daily for a couple of months and then got all excited to see new pics from you... hehe)