Gold and Pearl Rosary

[Nicole]

Here is the rosary that I made for my wedding in November. I used CFWP, 14K parts and wire, and Swarovski crystal beads.

Thanks to everyone on this forum who offered advice and support.

Over the next few weeks I hope to share more pearl-related stuff from my wedding. I hand beaded my veil using CFWP, and also used them to replace the nasty plastic pearls on my dress.

Nicole

[Raisondetre]

Wow, I'm not religious but that is absolutely gorgeous. Wish I could bead. I'd love a hand beaded veil. Well, not getting married so it won't be a wedding veil, but I've got the cheap plastic ones that I would really like to convert to freshwater pearls.

[Caitlin]

I am just getting an 'invalid attachment' message......

[Nicole]

I'm replying to my own message to ask how to post a message with photos in it. I tried adding them as attachments and I tried inserting an image using the little "Insert Image" button. I resized them when I added them as attachments, so now maybe they are too small. What am I missing?

[GemGeek]

You probably had it right the first time because Raisondetre saw them.

When you are in the text of your message, click on the paper clip symbol which takes you to Manage Attachments. Upload up to five photos, then go back to your message. Place your cursor where the photo should be and click the down arrow and select the photo to insert. When you are done, click on preview message and they should show in the text. Hopefully, you will find it easy!

[Nicole]

Thanks GemGeek!

[knotty panda]

Beautiful! You've been popping into my mind the past few days and I keep thinking I'm going to e-mail you and don't do it! Ok, the cross, you're right. Never seen anything like it. I love it! Where did you get it? I love the Our Fathers. Never seen a design such as that. How did you solve the "black stuff" problem? How was the 14KT to work with? You wrapped it so it doesn't kink! Great work! A lovely heirloom.

[GemGeek]

No pun intended, but it's Heavenly! <sigh>

I like to see the photos in the message. In fact, you'll figure out fairly fast that I like photos, period.

I would love to see some closeups of the other items. You must have felt like a princess wearing all those lovely pearls.

[pearllove]

Oh, your rosary is beautiful! The cross is quite unusual and striking. Yes, please post pictures of your hand beaded veil. It sounds lovely.

[Hanaleimom]

NICE !!! I wish I could find something like that as gifts when my kids had their First Communion.

[john675]

That rosary is absolutely stunning. I have quite a few rosaries I collected while living in France - they pale in comparison. It makes me want to learn how to bead...
John

[GemGeek]

Watch out John - it can be habit-forming!

[pattye]

Just gorgeous and a sentimental treasure. I too look forward to additional photos!

Pattye
so many pearls, so little time

[boo]

That is beautiful - great work! Thanks for sharing.

[Nicole]

Wow, thanks everyone! I guess that what doesn't come across in the pictures is how large it is. I used 7-7.5mm pearls, and my loops are really huge because I'm not that great at working with wire to begin with, and I found it really hard to work with the 14K wire. The whole rosary, if I hold it from the middle and let it dangle is 25.5 inches to the bottom of the cross.

I ended up with that cross because I needed to find a larger cross or crucifix since the rosary was turning out to be on the large side. This was the only large (about 2" x 1 1/4"), real gold cross that I could find for a reasonable price. I actually kind of didn't like it that much, and hoped to replace it some day with something I like better. Its actually yellow, white, and rose gold-- I don't think that comes across in the pictures.

The other thing that doesn't come across in the pictures is the blingy-ness of the whole thing. The pearls are glowy, the crystals are sparkly (I used clear/crystal rounds and Golden Shadow AB bicones), and the yellow gold is so warm and colorful and pretty.

I calculated what I ended up spending on materials, and it turned out to be over $550! That does not seem at all sensible to me, and I still don't know how to feel about it. I purchased things here and there along the way, and didn't really keep track of how much I was spending. There's this tendency when planning a wedding to lose one's mind.

Anyway, thanks again to everyone for your kind comments. I really had no idea what I was doing, and I value the opinions of the experienced beaders here.

Nicole