This Saki focal necklace with its simple quad stitch chain
is on its way to my sister. Despite a
very trying year, she inspired us all by taking the month of November to post
everything she was grateful for on Facebook. This is going to her to let her
know how grateful I am that she’s part of my life.
I fell in love with the modern Asian design aesthetic of
Saki Silver when I came upon one of their pendants at my local bead store. When
I saw they were exhibiting at an Atlanta bead show last month, I was there when
the doors opened, meeting and chatting with co-founder, Liz Chumtong, and
learning about their company and products. The toggle that serves as the focal
in my sister’s necklace is made of shibuichi, a copper/silver alloy. Having happily spent my entire show budget at Saki,
I stopped by only one other booth, manned by the Atlanta Bead Society, where I saw
a very simple necklace made of quad stitch and learned it was from Beth Stone’s
Seed Bead Stitching.
The palette for my neckstrap began with a tube of café au
lait seed beads from Beverly Ash Gilbert. I added some bright accents with 3
and 4mm pacific opal crystals, and lots of silver beads, including 2mm sterling
rounds, 3mm cubes, and 8/0 3-cuts for sparkle. To add more depth and echo the
undertones in the toggle, I added some rich burgundy pearls and jet crystals.
And now for the fun part. I am so grateful to those of you
who take the time to stop by my blog and share in my beading adventures. So I’m
sharing some of my favorite things with you! 
Just be a follower of my blog and
leave a comment on this post. I will be sending one follower a generous portion
of my bead soup recipe and two Saki toggles – a 34mm shibuichi like the one in
my sister’s necklace, and because I think this soup would be fantastic with
silver, a 36mm sterling silver sunburst design. And a copy of Beth Stone’s Seed
Bead Stitching, where you’ll find some interesting variations on traditional
stitches. I’ll choose the winner on Sunday, December 9th. Good luck! (Note: If
you don’t have e-mail turned on in your profile, please leave a way to contact
you in your comment.)
