Sheryl's Rose Quartz beads

My friend Sheryl gives me old broken beaded necklaces to create new necklace designs for her. A few months back she gave me some Rose Quartz nuggets and a Rose Quartz and purple crystal beaded bracelet, along with 3 green "wedding cake" beads (lampwork glass with lacy looking details).
It took me a while to get the inspiration to make something with the Rose Quartz. I like Rose Quartz, don't get me wrong, but it never looks as pink once you remove it from the pink string they string it on. The color is almost off white or pale flesh, especially when you mix it with other non-pink colored beads. But, I finally found inspiration!

The first necklace I made was inspired by a design I saw on the Vintaj website in their idea gallery. (they've got a TON of eye candy/ jewelry porn!) They wired a bead to a circular filigree. This was just the thing I was looking for! The wedding cake beads were not big enough to be used as a "focal" for a necklace. But wired to a brass stamping, it became the focal I wanted. The other 2 wedding cake beads were used in the necklace, on either side of the focal. The rest of the beads are Rose Quartz and purple crystals from Sheryl's bracelet. I added antique brass bead caps and some iridescent size 8 seed beads.
My photograph is awful - the Rose Quartz beads look blue in the photo!!

 

 

 This was a more experimental design, but Sheryl liked it. Again, the Rose Quartz looks blue in my photo. These were the larger nugget beads. I created the 3 drops and put them on a curved antique brass spacer. The drops can slide and move around, but the weight of the beads keeps them towards the middle. This necklace reminds me of an Art Deco light fixture, for some reason. I plan to revisit this design in the future!

I will post the photos of the rest of the wedding jewelry (see previous post) soon!
Thanks for stopping by!