09/24/2026
๐ญ ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฑ๐ถ ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐๐ฒ๐
๐พ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ณ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ช๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐
Sometimes the most interesting materials begin with what someone else might have thrown away.
My popular ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฑ๐ถ ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ผ๐น๐น๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป gets its name from the riot of colorful beads associated with that annual celebrationโand these newest pieces may capture that spirit better than ever. Turquoise, coral, lime green, pink, cream, red and earthy browns tumble together in beads where no two patterns are quite alike.
โป๏ธ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐น๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ถ๐๐ป'๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ผ๐น๐ฒ ๐๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐. Mardi Gras beads begin with remnants left from the manufacture of colorful, dyed Impression Jasper beads. Instead of discarding those fragments, the pieces are collected, mixed together and compressed in resin, which solidifies them into new material that can be cut and polished into beads. Waste from one manufacturing process becomes the raw material for another.
For ๐๐๐ง๐๐ ๐๐ง๐๐จ ๐ฟ๐ช๐๐ฉ, I paired 10 ร 20 mm double-drilled rectangular beads with tiny 4 mm rounds and pewter cylinders and spacers. The rectangles bridge two separate strands, allowing all those colors to play against one another.
And there was a little design problem to solve. The upper strand could run relatively straight from rectangle to rectangle, but the lower strand has farther to travel. Making both strands identical wouldn't allow the necklace to lie properly. So, I gave the lower strand additional length, creating small scallops between the rectangles. What began as a practical construction decision became one of my favorite features of the designโthe scallops add movement and make the necklace feel even more celebratory.
The 19-inch necklace closes with a granulated pewter heart toggle. A coordinating 7.5-inch bracelet repeats the two-strand design, but because it doesn't need to accommodate the same curved drape, its two strands are identical.
โป๏ธ ๐๐๐๐ฎ๐๐ก๐๐. ๐๐๐ช๐จ๐๐. ๐๐๐ฅ๐ช๐ง๐ฅ๐ค๐จ๐๐.
Material that could have become manufacturing waste instead gets another chance to become something beautiful.
And that seems particularly appropriate for Mardi Gras. ๐ญโจ