This commission project was a number of years ago (hence the terrible photos) but it's still one of my favorites.
Karoline was originally going to wear a lavender silk dress, and asked for fairy-colored leaves. Because she wasn't sure how she wanted the necklace to look, I opted to design a very long organic vine-like piece that could be looped a few times like a scarf, or twisted into a more sculptural piece. The set included a similarly constructed hair ornament and a pair of dangly earrings.
Disaster struck shortly after I started working on the set: the tailor who was altering the dress managed to completely destroy it. (Don't ask.) Karoline ultimately settled on an ivory-to-steel-grey ombré dress instead, so I added some silvery pearls to tie the design together into a cohesive whole.
This is Slippers.
Slippers is a Very Helpful Cat. I did several Skype sessions with Karoline while I was working on her jewelry, and during one video call Slippers nonchalantly climbed into my lap and oh-so-stealthily reached a paw up to the workbench to steal a bead.
And then he did it again.
And again.
And again.
Basically, it was like this, only with beads instead of a fish:
Despite the Very Helpful Cat, the set turned out perfectly, and Karoline wore the necklace wrapped multiple times, which gave it a very delicate floaty look:
And then there was overwhelming cuteness.
But sadly, there were no llamas.
(Black and white wedding photographs by Becky Holladay, New York City.)
