Rediscovered: One-of-a-Kind Bead Art Jewelry Returns to SWCreations

When you've been designing jewelry for more than two decades, apparently it's possible for some of your own creations to disappear.

Not physically, thankfully.

Recently, I've been going through older SWCreations jewelry as I update and reorganize the website. Tucked safely away were several one-of-a-kind bead-art necklaces and pendants that were no longer featured in the online collection. Some had appeared on earlier versions of my website, while others somehow managed not to make it onto the current site at all. Some might have older pictures and were removed for that reason alone.

The jewelry was still here. The website had simply lost track of it.

So I've been photographing these pieces again, documenting their details, and returning a small group of them to SWCreations.

So far, five rediscovered bead art pieces have made their way back.

A Different Kind of Beadwork

These aren't typical beaded necklaces.

Many were created during a period when I was heavily experimenting with dimensional beadweaving and sculptural beadwork. Rather than beginning with a fixed design that I intended to reproduce, I often started with beads, crystals, gemstones, or an unusual focal element and allowed the piece to develop as I worked.

Seed beads might be woven around a gemstone. Swarovski crystals could become part of the structure. A pendant might develop two completely different sides and become reversible. Occasionally, the beadwork took on a personality of its own.

That's certainly what happened with Kai – Keeper of Keys.

Kai – Keeper of Keys

Of all the pieces I've rediscovered, Kai may have the most personality.

Created in July 2013, Kai is an entirely hand-beaded little fish constructed from hundreds of tiny seed beads in cobalt blue, violet, lavender, silver, and iridescent glass. Raised fins, dimensional beadwork, dangling glass accents, and even his underside were individually finished in beadwork.

And then there's his mouth. He makes me smile every time I look at him.

Kai appears to be holding a blue cat's-eye glass bead... a tiny detail that eventually inspired his name, Keeper of Keys.

The fish is only about 1 inch wide by 2 inches long, but there is an extraordinary amount of detail packed into that little space. His coordinating 19-inch necklace continues the blue, violet, and silver palette, keeping the beadwork the centerpiece.

He was safely stored away for years and has now returned to the SWCreations collection.

Woodland Tapestry — Beadwork One Bead at a Time

Woodland Tapestry is one of the most elaborate bead art necklaces I've recently returned to the SWCreations website.

The necklace features six individually handwoven Cellini spiral bead sections, each constructed one tiny bead at a time. Changes in bead size create the distinctive raised spiral and dimensional texture, while rare Swarovski Vitrail crystals, no longer produced, add flashes of iridescent color throughout the design. Bali .925 sterling silver provides contrast between the intricate woven sections.

At the center is a one-of-a-kind artisan lampwork glass focal bead in earthy shades of ivory, charcoal, taupe, and vivid woodland green. This piece predates my own lampwork beadmaking, so the focal was created by another glass artist and carefully selected to become the centerpiece of the necklace.

I originally learned the Cellini spiral technique from a published tutorial, most likely in one of the beadwork magazines I was reading at the time. What fascinated me was how changes in something as simple as bead size could transform tiny seed beads into a sculptural form. I began incorporating those woven sections into my own jewelry designs, combining them with crystals, artisan glass, gemstones, and sterling silver.

I can't begin to calculate how many hours went into Woodland Tapestry. Each of the six woven sections had to be completed before the necklace itself could even be assembled.

Looking at it again now has also given me an idea. Today, I make my own lampwork glass beads, and I'm very tempted to revisit this kind of elaborate bead art necklace someday... this time beginning with one of my own handmade focal beads.

Midnight Tides — Beads Made from Beads

Midnight Tides explores another side of beadweaving: creating the beads themselves.

Throughout this one-of-a-kind necklace are individually handwoven beaded beads in three different sizes, each constructed from tiny glass seed beads around luminous Swarovski pearls. The varying shapes and sizes create rhythm throughout the necklace, while iridescent blues, violets, bronze, and subtle flashes of green change as the beadwork catches the light.

A large, one-of-a-kind artisan lampwork bead becomes the focal point, with swirling shades of deep blue, smoky gray, ivory, and taupe. Like Woodland Tapestry, this necklace was created before I began making lampwork glass myself, so the focal bead was made by another artisan and selected specifically for the design.

Bali .925 sterling silver beads and spacers separate the intricate beadwork, while matte brown beads provide a quieter backdrop for the Swarovski pearls, shimmering seed beads, and glass focal.

What I especially enjoy about these pieces today is remembering just how much work went into elements that might initially look like individual decorative beads. Each of those textured components had to be woven bead by bead before I could even begin assembling the necklace.

That's part of what made this period of beadwork so interesting to me. I wasn't simply designing with beads anymore. I was using tiny beads to create entirely new beads—and then using those handmade elements to create the finished jewelry.

Turquoise in Two Directions

Another rediscovered piece demonstrates something I particularly enjoyed exploring in my beadwork: reversible design.

One side of this sculptural pendant features a beautiful turquoise focal surrounded by layers of aqua, blue, lavender, ivory, and iridescent glass beadwork. Swarovski crystals and different shapes and sizes of glass beads create an almost free-form texture around the stone.

Turn the pendant over, and it becomes something different.

The reverse reveals another intricate surface with a decorative metal focal point nestled into the beadwork. Instead of simply finishing the back of the pendant, I treated it as another side of the design.

The coordinating necklace is created with tiny purple beads, Swarovski crystals, and additional glass accents. At approximately 16 inches long, it keeps the substantial beadwoven pendant close to the neckline.

It's essentially two pieces of wearable art in one.

A Reversible Study in Black and White

The rediscovered group also includes a very different reversible pendant worked in a dramatic black, silver, and white palette.

Like the turquoise piece, this design was constructed as a dimensional object rather than a flat pendant with a front and an unfinished back. Both sides were meant to be seen.

The darker palette gives the beadwork an entirely different character. Changes in bead finish, shape, size, and reflection create the detail rather than relying on a wide range of colors.

Pieces like this are a good example of why I have always loved beadweaving. Tiny individual beads can become something surprisingly substantial and sculptural when they're built together one bead at a time.

Five Pieces, Five Individual Designs

The remaining pieces in this newly rediscovered group have their own combinations of beadwork, crystals, gemstones, and unusual focal elements, but they share something important with Kai and the reversible pendants:

They were never intended to become mass-produced designs.

That's been a recurring theme throughout my years of jewelry making.

I enjoy figuring out how something can be constructed. I enjoy experimenting with techniques, changing colors and materials, and seeing where an idea leads. Once I've explored it, I'm usually ready to try something else.

That means many SWCreations designs were created only once.

Others became very small families of related pieces—similar techniques interpreted with completely different beads, gemstones, crystals, or colors.

Finding the Connection to My Current Work

One of the most interesting things about rediscovering these pieces has been seeing how much of my earlier beadwork still appears in the jewelry I make today.

My materials and designs have changed over the years, but the attraction to texture, dimensional construction, unusual combinations, gemstones, crystals, and one-of-a-kind designs never really disappeared.

Some of the techniques I explored in these older pieces can even be seen in current designs, such as my more elaborate bead art necklaces.

I wasn't deliberately trying to return to something I had made years ago. It's simply part of the way I design.

More Pieces Are Still Hiding

Finding these five has also led me back through years of old SWCreations photographs.

And apparently, I've only scratched the surface.

I've rediscovered photographs of elaborate Cellini spiral necklaces, gemstone beadwork, reversible pendants, hand-beaded focal pieces, domino jewelry, and even a tiny beaded book.

Some of those pieces may still be safely stored away. Others sold years ago and now exist only in my photographic archives.

As I continue sorting through the collection, I'll be sharing some of those earlier designs here and photographing any surviving pieces that deserve another chance to be seen.

For now, these five have officially made their way out of storage and back into the SWCreations collection.

After all these years, it seems only fair that they finally get their place on the website.