Making special sets for special occasions is something I love to get the chance to do...

This week I have had a great project on the go, making a set of charm beads and a matching pendant to go with an outfit for a wedding in July. I love doing the real one-offs and getting deep down into what is desired for the occasion.

Here is the dress. She is going to team it with a very light silver grey shawl or cardi and shoes in the same colour. It will look very elegant...

My lady wanted to bring out the bright cornflower/electric blue colour that is apparent on little patches in the pattern of the fabric and have a statement set of beads made especially for the day.

Here are some inspirational pictures from nature that show off this wonderful colour...

Of course there are delicate cornflowers, electric lightning bolts, the iridescent blue on butterfly's wings or beetle's wing cases. I wanted to try to create all the energy that this colour evokes with glass...

So I started to focus on the colours within the colour...

There's actually not one 'colour' here at all; there is a mixture of lighter bright turquoise electric blue, which then merges into bright electric purple at times and fades down into the deepest navy.

I needed to make the beads 'pop' in the same way and utilise these nuances of colour within the glass to bring the beads alive..

Here are a few close ups.

The wrap bead is the darkest of them all but the pure clear wrap allows the light in a bit. It has a flow about it and it has great tactility.

This one on the right is a kind of speckled design. I liked it because it also lets the light burn through but in a different way... There are 3 different shades of blue in this one!

This is the flower petal one.

Not really a cornflower, but still, so delicate and graceful..

I'm loving these silver droplet ones at the moment...

This one is all about electric currents and energy.

This one is my fave!

Made with that glorious silver glass again and a very light blue encasement! This one is a bit 'under-the-sea' ish.

And now for the pendant!

I definitely got that lush water-mouthy feeling when I got this one out of the kiln and straight away said to my customer that if she didn't want this one, there was no trouble as I would have it myself!!! (...But unfortunately, she loved it straightaway too!!)

The beautiful swirls of colour are dreamy. It's about 3 cm in diameter.

I made it so that she cold wear it on her Trollbead necklace, so it has a 4mm silver core like a regular charm bead but it is oh so much bigger...

This type of bead makes a real statement on the Trollbead necklace. They are so unusual. Guaranteed to catch the eye! Very versatile too; as they sit quite comfortably on ribbon or simply strung on cord or leather when one fancies a change..