No Pain, No Gain, by Caprilicious

Hello my friends, how are you? It's been a lovely day and the sun is still shining at seven o'clock in the evening as I type this in readiness to put out first thing tomorrow as I go in to work. I'm working all weekend, and hoping for a quiet one so that I will be fresh and ready for the week to come. 
The garden is beginning to wake up and the Canterbury bells in the rockery are flowering - they come back year on year and last for ages, so they are a good investment in any garden.

---

I started the piece I'm about to show you in December of last year. It has taken me ages to get it to a stage where it is wearable - part of the reason was that I ran out of beads and had to send away for more and then I had to decide how to finish it off and send out again for the grosgrain ribbon which makes a beautiful contrast to the haematite beads. The other reason was that sewing shiny black beads with a tiny needle and a fine black thread takes a lot out of the eyes. Added to that, I only had the time to make jewellery at night when already tired from the day job. I only managed to weave about an inch at a time before the eye strain told on me.
However, I think it was entirely worth it - the facets on the haematite beads shimmer and gleam in the light and the necklace has a pleasing weight. I have left the ends of the ribbon loose, so that it can be worn at any length chosen, but I'm happy to set up a clasp if that's what is required. 

Anastasia

The beads are woven together using a rot proof, fray proof, monofilament nylon thread using a technique called the Cellini Peyote stitch, and I've ended the ribbon with a fray proof paint so that it doesn't fall apart. I think I'm very happy with this one.

 Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna was the youngest daughter of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and his wife, Tsarina Alexandra. Along with her parents and young siblings, Anastasia was captured and executed during the Bolshevik Revolution. She is well-known for the mystery that surrounded her death for decades. In the years following the execution of the Romanov family, conspiracy theories began to emerge. Beginning in 1920, numerous women came forward and claimed to be the Grand Duchess Anastasia. There is something Russian , dark and mysterious about this necklace, which is why I named it after the doomed Grand Duchess.

That's all I have time for this week, folks. have a wonderful weekend and I'll catch you next Friday, same time, same place.
Until then
​xx