WireWrapped Heart Pendant

This pretty beaded heart is about a month late, no? I imagine posting it around Valentine’s Day would have been a good thing to do, but it came about in an unusual way and Valentine’s Day had gone by the wayside. But a good one to remember for next year. This heart is fairly easy to make, and I’ll describe how in a moment. First, I’d like to share with you who this heart is for.

The back-story

My parents have a dear friend named Bunny. Leota is Bunny’s Mom, and they live together in a small town in Maine.  This is such a blessing since Leota is going to be 100 years old on October 6, 2010! How incredible it is to have a parent stay with you for your adult life, don’t you think?  Leota is the longest living graduate of Erskine Academy in China, Maine, and just this last May had her 80th class reunion. She has 4 children, 8 grandchildren, 20 great-grandchildren and 10 great-great-grandchildren! Recently the family gathered to take a 5 generation photo. What an amazing opportunity!

Had to mention this honor...

Leota is Turner, Maine’s oldest citizen and because of this she was gifted the Boston Post Cane. This walking stick is one of many originally given out by Edwin Grozier of the Boston Post to the oldest residents in hundreds of towns in Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Massachusetts. The cane’s are ornate with silver or gold and are engraved with the name of the town on the handle. Leota is definitely deserving of such a special and honored piece.

Visitin’ with pals

When my folks get to spend time at Bunny’s they’re also blessed by Leota’s company. They visit, play dominoes or basically chew the fat. When the subject of jewelry came up (something Leota loves) my Mom mentioned that I did beading and had made her a whole slew of pieces. Leota decided she wanted to look at my Mom’s jewelry, much of which had been made by me and my sister, Deb. You know Deb if you’ve ever ordered beads from the Beadin’ Path… shipping Manager Extraordinaire and shamelessly talented beader. So my Mom took some jewelry over to Bunny’s house for Leota to look at.

Falling in love with a heart

After much ooohhhhing and aaaahhhhing over it all, Leota selected out a heart necklace that I had made for my Mom, similar to the one pictured in this post. It was the glitz, the sparkle, the twinkle in the crystals that she was smitten with. She asked my Mom if she could purchase it, and was disappointed to learn that my Mom had received it as a gift from me and she didn't to part with it. Soon I got a call with a request to make a heart for Leota, to which I was so happy to do.  

Caught in the sparkle

Leota’s favorite necklace is a strand of lucite turquoise beads with twinkling bugle beads in between. She says it’s the and sparkle of the “crystals” that gets her, and she, too, has been hypnotized by the glitz like the rest of us crystal-crazed-women! And even nicer is that her vintage Lucite strand has a fabulous seed beaded clasp that’s a treasure in itself. Vintage is so yummy. I think instead of saying “oldies BUT goodies” we should say “oldies ARE goodies”!

Pitter pat goes my heart

So this heart I was about to make for Leota had to be sparklie! I got out some crystals, then some more crystals and finally a few more crystals. I used 18g wire for the frame of the heart, and then just attached 24g wire to one side and made a “clothesline” of beads across. I kept winding these clotheslines back and forth until the heart was full. There’s a sweet purple butterfly in there and also a Czech flower bead with a Swarovski Pagoda in the color of wisteria placed in the center. These Pagoda’s are collectible, rare and old and hard to part with. But Leota is well worth having one. So much in fact, that I put a Volcano colored on in another spot, too.

An outline of twinkle

Once the heart was full I decided to do a wire wrapped seed bead edge on it, simply by attaching a 26g wire at one side and wrapping a single bead on the edge each time I wrapped the wire around. This gave it a splash of pink color and made it sort of frilly and girly. For the chain I chose some raspberry colored firepolish glass that has a swirl of white in it, and some matching raspberry spacers with Swarovski bicones in clear spaced in between each one. A quick string up job using Softflex and some crimps. A magnet clasp will make it easy for her to take on and off.

Not enough

When it was done I took a look at it and decided it was naked. So I made a matching bracelet and a pair of dangle earrings to go with it. Now Leota can be the belle of the ball and be properly adorned. I mailed it off to my Mom and waited for her to receive it. I got a call saying that Leota love her set, and that she was wearing it and sitting in the sun for maximum sparkle effect! I’m so happy that she likes it!

Lucky me!

I feel honored to have been able to make this heart for such a sweet lady. And this is why I love making beadwork so much. When you are able to make someone else so happy with your beading it’s the best thing in the world!

“Everything I make is with hearts. When I make pies I cut out hearts in the top crust. When I make quilts I put a signature heart in there somewhere. And when I bead there are always hearts. Just doing my part to spread a little love around.” ~ Mira Shoemaker, all around artist