The Wild West Meets "Minnie Pearl"

by Michelle Buettner of MiShel Designs
(Glendale, AZ)

Okay - so Minnie Pearl was famous for her hats, . . . not pearls, but I just couldn't think of a name for this, . . . and still can't!

Living in Arizona for over 20 years I've seen lots of exquisite pieces of Indian Jewelry featuring beautiful turquoise stones and I am always taken back by the attention to detail surrounding each piece of turquoise and how the craftmanship brings out the stones rather than hiding it.

So, to honor one of my favorite stones - turquoise - along with my life long love of pearls, I've been hand-knotting different turquoise and pearl designs and this one just reminded me or Arizona - so to speak.

This necklace and earring set features chunks of African and Chinese turquoise (I do have some beautiful Arizona Sleeping Beauty Turquoise pieces - just not in pictures yet!) some dyed freshwater cultured pearls which exhibit some very interesting tones of brown, along with some Swarovski Bicone Crystals as well and all have been hand knotted on 100% silk cord. The earrings are also strung with 100% silk cord and come on my own .925 sterling silver hand crafted artisan earring wires.

The fun of this necklace, aside from the absolutely huge chunky turquoise focal bead, is that it allows the stones / beads and pearls be the center of attention and since they're strung on cord that is a very neutral color, they seem to float along your neck and also down from your ears - and the colors just pop!

I love making these 'tin-cup' style necklaces with pearls and all sorts of other gemstones and beads - they make for some interesting pieces of jewelry!

Michelle Buettner
MiShel Designs
MiShel Designs blog